Thanks to all who weighed-in with their ideas.

I too feel that this is a homebrew artifact although I know in the 1930s
there were many kits sold by companies that used
readily available parts such as the National vernier. I am waiting for a
copy of the book suggested by K7FM and will compare the schematic to what I
find underneath this receiver. Frank Jones also had a very similar receiver
in his Radio Handbook which is why I am anxious to compare it to the E&E
Radio Handbook version but there are subtle differences in the Jones
version.

Also, it was not uncommon in those days (up until the 1950s) for a homebrew
project to appear in a magazine and...voila'...it soon appeared as a kit for
sale in Popular Mechanics a year later, which is why I am still scratching
my head a little. In the early 1950s "Radio-TV Experimenter" ran a
construction article for a home "radio broadcaster/phono amplifier." Their
schematic was identical and photo of their prototype was nearly identical to
the Knight Kit "radio broadcaster/amplifier" that I built from a kit in 1963
as a very young kid. Old Allied catalogues show the device appearing a
couple years after the article appeared. (By the way, that humble little
functional toy is still in regular service to this day as I transmit old
time radio shows to antique radios I have throughout the house.)

Who needs HDTV, tetrabytes and Blue ray when you've got an autodyne in the
house?

WA9VLK