One limitation on the use of multiple sets in a household was the radio receiver licensing regulations. Initially, they required a licence for each individual "wireless" and in fact, back in the sealed receiver era in the 1920s, a separate licence or fee was payable for each station that a person wished to listen to. Fortunately, this idiotic idea was overturned within a rather short time.

The Healing 403E - it looked rather like a set of kitchen scales and was often affectionately called the Healing "Scales".

However, with one set per licence, there was no incentive to buy more than one set and receivers were expensive anyway. Retailers had to submit a return to the PMG on what sets they sold and to whom, so it was not too hard for the authorities to find out who had unlicensed sets. The mandatory outside aerial was also a dead give-away. Of course, many home-built sets were never licensed.

Eventually, the licensing regulations were eased and the household licence came into being, allowing several sets to be used. Ultimately, domestic radio and television licensing was abolished on 1st September, 1974. To read more about this subject, go to: