The N.Z. Vintage Radio Project

Mullard valves had been widely available across New Zealand since the early 1920s - however, the introduction of radio models bearing the brand did not occur in any organised way until 1937.

The Mullard Radio Valve Co. of Southfields, London, was founded in 1920 by Captain Stanley R. Mullard, who had previously designed thermionic valves for the Admiralty...

Wikipedia - retr. May 2021

Mullard was founded in England in 1919 and it's activities centred around the new radio industry, with particular emphasis on wireless valves.

During the reconstruction of world distribution of Mullard products in 1937, a prominent New Zealand firm of radio importers was chosen to represent Mullard in this country.

From 'Philips in New Zealand', by H. A. Leighton Lord

The company referred to by Leighton Lord was C. & A. Odlin Ltd, a nationwide chain of timber and hardware merchants who had been importing and selling radios since the mid-1920s.  By about 1935 they had a separate division to deal exclusively with radio importation and sales, and in 1937 they took over the nationwide distribution of Mullard products.  This was disrupted in 1939 with the introduction of import controls by the government of the day - and this meant domestic radios needed to be produced locally, so an arrangement was made with Philips NZ* to produce radios here under the Mullard brand. 

This arrangement with Philips stems from 1923 when Mullard UK formed a partnership with Philips in Holland in order to increase their production capability.  Then, in 1927, they took complete ownership of Mullard, although retaining the company name and operations.  The Mullard name was in operation in the UK under Philips control until around 1988, although the name disappeared from use as a radio brand in New Zealand in 1955 when it was replaced by 'Fleetwood' (the name of a town in England where one of the many Mullard production facilities resided).

Mullard radios had been available in New Zealand before Odlins took over distributorship, although not in any organised way.

* Philips had a factory in Blair St, Wellington at this time, which had opened in 1936 to begin radio production.

 

Mullard model numbers

Through observation it has been noted by the author that the New Zealand Mullard model code can tell you a bit about the set - it has three digits - the first is the valve count in the radio (including the magic eye), and the last appears to be the year of release.  The middle digit seems to be the series of radio for that year - for example, there is a model 520 and a model 620: the 6-valve version seems to be identical apart from the magic eye, so both have a 2 for (what we will call) the series code, the 5 and 6 represent the valve count, and both were released in 1940 - hence the 0.  The year is generally right, give or take a year.

Philips codes from 'the Mullard years' have absolutely no discernable meaning that the author has been able to find other than similar models having similar codes - so, knowing the Mullard model code for a Philips equivalent means you can then find the year and valve count for a Philips model as well.  In the above example, the model 520 and 620 are equivalent to the Philips models 152 and 153.

Philips and Mullard model equivalents (Based on the NZVRS lists with date corrections based on the Mullard codes and advertising evidence - red models were imported from the UK, models from 1940 were manufactured in New Zealand, no models were produced from the last part of 1942 until mid-1945 as factories were engaged in war work)

YEAR		PHILIPS		MULLARD
1935		462		X44A
1935		463		X45A
1937		361A		X30A
1937		362A		X31A
1938		V7A Theatrette		MAS2 Westminster
1938		470		MAS12
1938		650		MAS15A
1938		660		MAS24A
1938		753		MAS17A
		PHILIPS		MULLARD
1940		042		410
1940		M042		M410
1940		152		520
1940		153		620
1940		252		630
1941		155		531 Long Distance
1941		773		701
1942		158		652
WORLD WAR II - WAR PRODUCTION
1945		540 (and 540E) Philette		515 Meteor
1945		593		525
1946		594		736
1946		598		776
1946		596		946
1946		600		996
1947		648		537
1947		599		567
1947		547		577
1947		461		627
1947		595		747
1947		597		957
1947		601		987
		PHILIPS		MULLARD
1948		647		548
1948		209		558
1948		545		618 Two-Way Portable
1948		465		638
1949		207 Purse-Size Portable		49 Personal Portable (Also HMV)
1949		305		649
1949		306		659
1949		499		669
1949		602		919
1950		208		420
1950		210		530
1950		603		610
1951		234		541
1951		645		681
1952		BZ126A		402
1952		BZ246U		522
1952		235 (also BZ626A wooden?)		552 (BZ626A might be 564 wooden?)
1952		699		672
		...in progress, more soon...