The N.Z. Vintage Radio Project

The founder of the Radiojoy brand, F. W. Mountjoy, began manufacturing radios under his Radiojoy brand in his garage at 71 Quadrant Road, Onehunga in Auckland.  Vaughan B Mountjoy and Graham Mountjoy were his sons.  Vaughan joined the family business in 1937 as a radio serviceman. Both brothers were in the RNZAF and served in the Pacific theatre, Vaughan as a Radio Mechanic (servicing radar in the Catalina bombers) and Graham as an Aircraft Mechanic. Graham is believed to have come into the company after WW2. Graham and Vaughan took over the company during the 1960's.

Serial Numbers:

Pre-war 1933 to 1942 - In this period most serial numbers were four figure, usually beginning with 0. The number does not seem to increase over the years. Maybe it re-starts every year? Or with each new chassis? I'm not sure.

Post-war 1946 on: - After the war, Vaughan Mountjoy established a new serial number system. This system begins with either a three or four digit number. The first two numbers are for the year e.g. 48 is 1948. The next one or two are for the month, so 6 is June, 10 would be October. After that comes a three or four further digits. These indicate the number in consecutive production (presumably for that year?).