Now that it's raining and gray here, I'm in the mood to post something sad...

Back in 2003, I became aware of a house in my city that was packed with old TV sets, and was scheduled for demolition. Naturally, I paid a visit.

The rumor was true... In the basement I spotted a blonde CTC-5, and a Curtis Mathis Roundie, just like Charlie's. There were MANY others, but those two stood out. Probably nothing past about 1975. It seems the homeowner used to fix TVs on the side, but people would just leave them behind when they learned the cost to repair.

Unfortunately, it was hard to argue with the demo order. The house was an absolute disaster, with pools of water in the basement, live electrical wires sticking out of walls, and no heat. The smell.... You don't wanna know. The homeowner slipped in/out of reality as we spoke, but during those moments when he could put a thought together, I managed to get his daughter's phone #.

Multiple calls offering cash for his "electronic equipment" went unanswered. It appeared as though she wanted nothing to do with the old man. I passed by the house whenever I was on that end of town, looking for his wrecked, trash-filled Plymouth Neon. Only twice between 2003 and 2006 did I ever see him at home. (Despite the lies he tells to the reporter, this home was abandoned). The last time I was there, I actually had a 21FB in my arms, ready to asend the stairs, promising to return in minutes with cash and my trusty Dodge truck. I was already planning my audiokarma post title... FIND OF THE OLD-TV CENTURY!! :banana:

Alas, he started flipping out and I decided to leave the tube, for fear I would scare him and lose the greater treasures.

Well, we all lost out just a few weeks ago when the bulldozer crushed it all into the basement, then scooped the remains of the house (and TVs I'd guess) into a waiting dump truck.

http://photos.micentral.com/photos/259993_pollock1.jpg

In the right background of this picture I snagged from the web, you can see a set of rabbit ears.

http://photos.micentral.com/photos/261221_demolish.jpg

Roundies once lived here.

A sad day. :tears:

I appreciate your attempts. I would have tried harder but it sounds like you were up against true insanity and I understand how impossible that can be.
It is good to know others are trying to do the right thing with the evidence that is left of our very rich American heritage.
I believe there is much more value to these old TV's as well for other things from our past, than I have the words to express right now.
If I can get an investor interested I would love to get a warehouse for all the stuff we could find. I would love to get a business going that collects, restores and sells vintage stuff. I would offer warrantees on everything and have an authentic TV service truck,etc.

Stop laughing! Stranger things have happened!

I hate to see and hear of this too, but I also try to look to the positive (tough to do in this case)... But the positive here is that now all the sets which are in collections that are the same as those lost in that house, are just a tad more rare.

Been there, done that. Several times. Around Los Angeles, they tear down houses all the time for no reason other than the style is old, house is small and the lot is worth $750,000. About 10 years ago, a real estate agent told me a tale of a house in a poor area which he had sold to a developer. He said it had been owned by a TV man, and he was a packrat. He said he couldn't even get in the house to see it. It was sold to a developer who bulldozed it contents and all. As he was telling me the story, he pointed to my CTC-5, my various 7 and 10 inch postwar B&W sets, and identified them as what he had seen peeking in the windows.

As a lover of old TVs, I lost a lot of sleep over that story. But then as I mentioned earlier in this post in the positive side, if ALL the vintage TVs had been saved from all perils, NONE would be rare, NONE would be of any interest to any of us, most likely, and this whole website would not be here.

Charles