Original Audion RJ-4, In My Family Since Purchased New From Lee Deforest. See Ad

Description

Up for BUY IT NOW or BEST OFFER is an Original Lee De Forest Audion R.J.-4 The first commercial radio made with a Triode tube in the U.S.
SHIPPING; I am offering fully insured FREE shipping only to the lower 48 US States. Residents in Alaska and Hawaii will need to pay for fully insured FedEx ground or home delivery shipping.  Global shipping has been added to this sale and that is through eBay’s Global Shipping  Program. In that case eBay will be charging the buyer for their Global Shipping service.
This sale is for the RJ-4 radio and its Triode tube. Any other items in any of the photos like background display items are not part of, or included in this sale.
I did my best to get photos that show every detail of this rare item, even close ups showing the condition of the outside/inside of the radio and the original Triode tube. This is a very rare, museum piece type of item that can not be replaced. Since it is a one of a kind item it will be extremely well packed and it will be insured for the full sale amount. I have detailed shipping information below in the last paragraph. Because this is such a rare item I will not accept returns. All sales are final. Thank you!
That being said I am here to help with any questions you might have. If you want to see more photos or a specific photo of anything, just ask and I will be glad oblige. I can even take a detailed video for you and post it on YouTube if that would help you in some way. I will do my best to quickly respond to questions or any request you might have regarding this item. As a seller I want to be sure the buyer knows exactly what they are purchasing before I pack and ship this item. All sales are final.
Information on packing and shipping will be listed below. Thank you for looking.
The RJ4… Inside the top lid looking like it was written in pencil is “ F#22 “. On the bottom stamped into the wood in two places is the number “ 1251 “. The Triode tube still has its original labels and upon a very close inspection the two loupe filaments appear to be in good condition. A photo is posted showing a good close look at the filaments.
NOTE..UPDATE…I had someone message me and they had asked if I checked the continuity on the Triode filaments. Up to that point I did not do that so I told him that I would do that and let him know. It did pass the continuity test but as I told him, both filament loops are connect to the same + and - on the screw in bulb end so if one is good and the other is bad it would show that there is continuity on those connections. I tried to get a up close look at the filament wires with a cheep digital microscope that I have and the depth of field was not good enough to get a good focus on the wires. I tried my iPhone on macro and it looked like what you see in the photo I have posted so next I used a 10x jewelers loupe. Again really hard to see but I thought I might of spotted a break in one of the wires. Looking at the one angle everything looked good like in my photo but from the side I thought there might be a brake. I cant say for sure so just to be on the safe side I am going to say that there is a brake in the one filament wire.
I checked the wire that runs from the inside of the box out to the rheostat and all around the rheostat wire for continuity and that test did not show any breaks in the wire or the rheostat itself.
This RJ4 was (during my lifetime) was always displayed in a cabinet with a glass door in my fathers home office for many years till it eventually was passed on to me and displayed in my home office. The Triode tube is the original and was always stored inside the RJ4 in a old tube box that is lined with old protective packing material that looks like some sort of ground up soft material. The padded box that the tube is in is not the original tube box.
In my photos there are detailed close ups of the tubes internals, identifying numbers, all angles of the RJ-4 and its internal wiring. As I said above, if there is something you would like to see please let me know and I will take a photo(s) for you.Any questions, please ask. Thank You 😊
As soon as I am finished with the photos the tube will go back in its box ( not its original box ) and extra antique tube packing material will be put completely around the tube box so it will be secure and protected for shipping. Other padding will be added around that box for shipping and yes the RJ4 lid will get screwed back on so I don’t need to worry about anything happening to that precious item.
If you are reading up to this point you most likely know exactly what I am selling. The last original RJ4 I found for sale (research through WorthPoint) was on eBay back in 2019. I went back a bunch of years before that and I could not find anything more than a original Triode tube. Who knows how long it might be before another original one shows up for sale anywhere.
With lots of information to be found on the internet about this radio I am going to skip into the story as to how this radio has been in my family for just over 100 years. Hopefully I wont get to long winded in telling you some of my family history, but it is a history I am proud of and this adds some great background information on this R.J.-4.
It starts with my Great Grandfather, LeGrand C. Bush, born in 1869, he was president of a company he started in Chicago Illinois in the late 1800’s called the National Recording Lock Company. He was quite the inventor in his day holding several pattens on his locking devices that recorded information on when locks / doors and other devices were opened and closed. He enjoyed tinkering around with electronic items and he had some communications with Lee De Forest regarding some of his inventions and his electronic experiments.
Jumping forward to around 1909 my Great Grandfather was in negation’s with a J.F. Pixley who was looking to acquire my Great Grandfathers company that included a deal involving royalties for several of his pattens. His company was one of several smaller companies that was purchased in the early 1900’s that formed what is now known today as I.B.M.
On a side note, I have this original hand signed contract and need to find out more about it as I would bet it has some type of historical value.
The contract was finalized on November 5th 1915. Prior to that my Great Grandfather had secured a position at the International Time Recording Devision that was located in Endicott New York and moved his family to nearby Binghamton New York.
Enter into that my Grandfather, LeGrand Easton Bush who was born in 1898. He and his brother Richard both grew up intrested in electronics, morse code radios back then. It was somewhere between 1912 and 1915 that my Great Grandfather and my Grandfather got to meet Lee De Forest in person and that is when they purchased the R.J.-4 Audion Detector I have for sale here.
My Grandfather was drafted in 1917 and entered into the UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVE FORCE on April 29, 1918 during WW I and worked as a radio operator. His trade as listed in his Enrollment Record is listed as Radio. His rank was RADIOMAN 2c (PROV). I had read that at that time the government was looking to recruit some 2,000 radio operators to help with the war effort. He was discharged on September 30th, 1921.
There was a story I heard several times about how our government banned all amateur radio usage in the US durning the war. If you had a radio operators license you could expect a visit from a government agent who would disable your radio equipment by running wire that would essentially short it out if the unit was powered up. That wire had a wax seal put on it somewhere so the wire could not be removed without breaking the seal. The penalties were severe for those who tamper with a sealed unit. This RJ-4 had the battery removed, the lid was screwed back on and the wire was run through the binding posts around the outside of this unit and the wax seal was over the wires on the lid. All things I really wish I had.
The radio ban was lifted I believe in 1921. You can find information on this subject online. Its rather interesting reading if you have the time.
My Great Grandfather went on working at I.T.R. ( International Time Recording, known as the old I.B.M. ) till 1923. He then moved the family to Philadelphia and worked at the I.B.M. office there till he retired in 1937.
My Grandfather went on to work for I.B.M. after his service to our country. He was involved in their sales division that sold and installed time clocks used in everything from industry to schools.
My father was born in 1925 and went on to join the Navy during WW II. Yes you guessed it, he was a radio operator on a destroyer escort and he was involved some of the experimentation that was going on with improvements to radar at that time. When he got out of the service he was told to go see Thomas Watson, president of IBM who was in the New York City office as there was a good job waiting for him there. Well my father being the independent thinker he was had his own ideas and he always said he did not want to raise his family in New York City. And the rest as they say, is history…
SHIPPING…..
I am offering free, fully insured FedEx shipping with this sale to the lower 48 US States. Due to the high insurance amount, I would bet that signature conformation will be required. I have added eBay’s Global Shipping program to this sale. In that case the buyer will be responsible for shipping costs charged by eBay.
Packing…. The Triode tube will be in a padded box and that box will be inside the RJ-4 with padding all around it. The radio will be wrapped with bubblewrap and placed in a box. That box will be wrapped with bubble wrap and that will be placed in a heavy duty plastic tote style box with even more bubblewrap to completely fill up the plastic container. So the cardboard box will be completely surrounded with bubble wrap on all sides so any shock to the outside container by all of that packing material.
Holes are drilled around the top lip on the lid and zip ties are used to hold the lid on. I sold sewing machines on eBay for over 15 years and this is the way I packed up those heavy machines and I never had a shipping related problem. 😁
Should you have any questions, please ask. I will do what I can to help.  Thank You for looking!