[Ron Ramirez]

Not like they didn't have tube portables...

Exactly. Philco's 46-350 was a rousing success, which is why eBay is saturated with them now. And for the next fourteen years, Philco produced lots of portable models for the USA market...all of which were AM only save for the T-9 "Trans-World" and a few models with the "Special Services" band - the same band that was called the "police" band in the 1930s (1.5 to 3 mc).

What about FM? Philco did not build a single AM-FM table model radio in the 1955 and 1956 seasons. By this time they were not only building several different portable models, but lots of different clock radios as well. Imagine what might have happened if they had built an AM-FM portable in the 1950s!

Yes, there is a valid argument that not many people really cared about FM until the 1970s, but I think that if they had built AM-FM portables and AM-FM clock radios, they would certainly have been ahead of the curve.

Take a look through this site's Gallery sometime, concentrating on the years of the 1950s. You will see a trend towards dull, uninspired products with virtually no style. Almost as if they didn't care about radio by 1959-60.