[Hallicrafters] Built following a holiday weekend?

[steven arterberry]

I recently opened my Hallicrafters Model  612 AM radio to investigate a 
slight audible hum.     To my knowledge, this radio has never been 
serviced, except possibly, for the replacement of a tube.  The "black 
beauty" bypass cap had split wide open, and was replaced, which solved 
the problem.  At the same time, I decided to remove the remaining 
"black beauty" caps, as well as some other waxed paper caps.

Although the chassis showed an inspector's stamp, I discovered joints 
that had never been soldered, and at least one resistor that had only 
the tip secured to a tie strip.  Consequently, when I touched the 
resistor, it immediately detached.  Apparently, the lead length was too 
short to permit a proper solder joint to be made, so the assembler 
simply did the next best thing: pull on it and tack the end portion on.

How could quality control be so poor, even for ordinary consumer 
products?

Steve N7JXM