View Full Version : I've found the Mother Lode!!!
truetone36 04-25-2008, 08:50 PM I recently moved back to Arkansas and I work for my landlord. Turns out the guy's a major packrat who has saved EVERYTHING imagineable for almost 50 years. Well, his wife has told him that a lot of it has to go or she will. When he found out about my hobby, he gave me all the t6.v.s and audio gear he has stowed away in several old houses and a few large barns (he has SIX very large barns on his property as well as four houses used for storage). I
have brought home some of the t.v.s and its gonna take awhile to get them home. He has given me over 100 t.v. sets!! Here's what I've brought home so far...
21" Zenith B/W Space Command, late 50's
Philco Briefcase 19" portable
C. 1959 Truetone 17" B/W portable
21" RCA New Vista Tabletop set
21" RCA New Vista B/W console (KCS-132)
Zenith color roundie
Zenith Chromacolor II 19" tabletop set
Zenith CC2 chassis
plus several recent sets ( 80's/90's)
He told me he has about a dozen sets with round screens somewhere, so I may finally get a Zenith porthole or two, of course I won't complain if they turn out to be color roundies. My landlord is 88 yrs. old and has ammassed a collection of stuff that simply boggles the mind.
Tony V 04-25-2008, 09:38 PM Sounds awesome! You going to take pics to share with us?
-Tony
bgadow 04-25-2008, 09:40 PM Oh, boy! You did good! An instant collection. Gotta love guys like that-that'll probably be a lot of us someday.
Sandy G 04-25-2008, 10:05 PM Ooooooh, I HATE you !! You lucky Dawg !! (grin)
truetone36 04-25-2008, 10:17 PM It's always been drought or deluge for me as far as finding anything. I can go for months on end without so much as getting a lead on anything, and all at once I make a haul like this. Aside from the t.v.s there are quite a few console hi-fi sets and a lot of old radios as well. I'm gonna be busy for a long time on this stuff, I think.
truetone36 04-26-2008, 01:08 PM Well, I'm going this afternoon to pick up some of the t.v.s. I've got to pick up some lumber and cinder blocks (I'm enlarging my storage building) and there are 3 RCAs that I'm bringing home today. Two 50's 21" tabletop sets and a late 60's color console. My wife is out of town today so she won't see me bringing the console in. I like them, but "console" is a dirty word to my wife.
I'm gonna try to get a camera soon so I can post pics of all this, as well as a list of what's here when I get it all home and know what I have. I haven't even seen 90% of it yet as these sets are stacked and buried everywhere on the property. There's a lot of parts, too.
ybaolywa 04-26-2008, 01:37 PM :lurk:
Dan Starnes 04-26-2008, 05:15 PM Wow,, good for you!!
Dan
Eric H 04-26-2008, 05:54 PM Very cool, please keep us posted!
MRX37 04-26-2008, 06:19 PM Well, there is only one phraise I can think of to describe this:
HOLY SHIT!!!
Phil Nelson 04-27-2008, 01:47 AM Sounds like the score of a lifetime! When you get around to the radios, you can send me a PM with makers & model numbers -- I have been collecting them a lot longer than TVs and could help you sort the sheep from the goats.
Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html
truetone36 04-27-2008, 04:10 PM Well, the RCA's are home, as well as 2 Zenith consoles and a Silvertone hi-fi combo. The only thing keeping my wife from strangling me is the fact that I have a good-sized building behind the house, which I am in the process of redoind and enlarging. I have access to all the building materials I need to make the building as large as I need to. I don't think I'll hunt for any more stuff for awhile after getting this all home though. I'm going to have a busy summer bringing this in and testing everything, and making any needed repairs. I also have some basket cases in this batch to salvage usable parts from. When I'm through I think the building's gonna be stacked to the rafters.
I'm still in awe of the size of this haul, I've never run across anything like this before in my life. This guy has 20 acres around his house with sheds, 3 old mobile homes, and 1 old farmhouse and they're all full of stuff. He also has 2 store buildings (he used to sell used furniture and appliances) packed so full you can barely walk through them. There's a console stereo in the old store with a R2R in it that I can't wait to get home, as well as some late 50's Zenith tabletop sets. The Space Command and the Philco I have at home came out of there. He also has a large barn across from my house that he still hasn't opened for me yet, and no telling what's in there. This is truly turning out to be a great treasure hunt!
truetone36 05-05-2008, 09:15 PM I brought a RCA 21" set home today. It's chassis number is KCS-136Y, so early 60's or so? Also brought in 2 radios and a suitcase portable phonograph.
There's a really old house on his property that's built on a hillside and is built on blocks. It's tall enough to stand up under the rear of it, and it's crammed full of stuff. I'm going under there with a flashlight this weekend as that's where I found the stuff I brought home today and he says there's a lot more there. BTW, the radios are a RCA battery set from the 40's and a Atwater Kent 55C.
Hemingray 05-06-2008, 12:22 AM Goodness! Good luck with those! :o
Had a guy next town over disposing of a lot of old electronics, I was able to rescue a modern-day (1991) Magnavox 13" and a Pioneer SX-1250 (see my topic in the Pioneer audio forum)
truetone36 06-07-2008, 03:33 PM More goodies...3 Zenith consoles, an Admiral console, 4 more 50's tube radios, 3 boxes of LPs, and a large box of NOS yokes. I've found a Philco console in one of the barns, and I'll get it home as soon as I clear a path to the doorway to get it out. These buildings have paths a foot wide through them, every barn and storage building is full to the rafters with everything imaginable, as my landlord has been hoarding stuff since the 40's! I'll be moving things out a little faster now 'cause I bought 2 vehicles from him (the landlord) and can now haul more home at a time.
truetone36 02-25-2009, 04:51 PM I'm still diggihg stuff out from the buildings. They are piled up to the point it's hard to walk through them. Here's a list of my recent finds from here.
2 scopes (1 Tek and 1 Telequipment)
Magnavox rectangular color console
Motorola 23" B/W console on swivel stand
Capehart phono/radio combo
G.E. portable reel-to-reel recorder
another Zenith color roundie:banana:
Silvertone phonograph
RCA 15" portable
boxes and boxes of parts
And I haven't hardly scratched the surface yet!!
zenithfan1 02-25-2009, 05:11 PM :worthless
:thmbsp:
Hemingray 02-25-2009, 06:02 PM I knew this state had to have some goodies, and you've found em! Usually all I come across is common AA5 radios. (Just wish I had the $175 for that Hallicrafters 7" down in NLR)
Sam Cogley 02-25-2009, 09:47 PM I'm still diggihg stuff out from the buildings. They are piled up to the point it's hard to walk through them. Here's a list of my recent finds from here.
2 scopes (1 Tek and 1 Telequipment)
Magnavox rectangular color console
Motorola 23" B/W console on swivel stand
Capehart phono/radio combo
G.E. portable reel-to-reel recorder
another Zenith color roundie:banana:
Silvertone phonograph
RCA 15" portable
boxes and boxes of parts
And I haven't hardly scratched the surface yet!!
I could use a scope...haven't found any up here yet, though.
truetone36 03-02-2009, 09:25 PM I just dug out a pile of chassis from a small shed today. I'll go through them to identify them and then post what they are. I found another box of NOS yokes as well.
truetone36 04-08-2009, 07:06 PM more to come soon.......
truetone36 04-08-2009, 07:37 PM newest batch:
Electrola phono/radio cabinet, C. 1929
box of Victrola parts
Phonola portable phonograph
Zenith console t.v.
Motorola 21" console, C. 1958
6 prewar bakelite radios
Wurlitzer Model 3300 jukebox:banana::banana::banana:
Hemingray 04-08-2009, 08:13 PM Well done! Can't wait to see how many more goodies you fish out of that! :D
truetone36 04-10-2009, 07:55 PM today's haul:
RCA CTC-24 console
Sylvania GTMatic console.
nasadowsk 04-11-2009, 08:24 AM Wurlitzer 3300? Last of the good ones.
And:
:worthless
Hemingray 04-11-2009, 10:10 AM Yeah man, bust out the camera, We gotta have a look at the goods! :D
truetone36 09-11-2009, 05:05 PM Just dug out a Philco Miss America from '58 or '59, and a bunch more old radios and phonographs. Someday soon I'll get a decent camera and get pics of the stuff, as well as the buildings it's been comiing out of. Words cannot describe how much stuff is piled up in these barns!
truetone36 09-20-2009, 04:57 PM Finally got a camera. Pics to come soon......
AUdubon5425 09-21-2009, 02:01 AM I'm looking forward to the pics - I love stories like this.
Ghoulardi 03-06-2010, 12:10 AM What ever happened to the pictures?:scratch2:
bandersen 03-06-2010, 12:38 AM LOL - Believe it or not I was think about this thread today too. Almost two years since this thread started!
truetone36 03-06-2010, 10:12 PM I'm still pulling stuff out and hauling it home. I do want to take some pics, but I've been so busy I don't know if I'm coming or going right now. I'm currently building a new shop building here just to hold this stuff. I'll probably wait to take pics till it's all here. Then everyone can see just what a huge stash of stuff this is.
Reece 03-07-2010, 07:04 AM Hope no critters came along with it!
truetone36 03-10-2010, 09:30 AM Came across more sets in one of the larger buildings. I'm going to dig some of them out this afternoon. Some large stereo consoles and more radios, too. Two sets are Zeniths, and one is a Sylvania, and I won't know what the others are till I move the stuff from around them. I do know that they've been in this building for 35 years or so.
Mick AV-8 03-10-2010, 11:36 AM Let us know when you find a camera in on of the piles you take home
truetone36 03-24-2010, 10:36 PM Another Zenith 20CC50, and a Truetone console from one shed. and a 21" Philco console and 23" RCA in another. Also a Grundig radio.
bandersen 09-01-2010, 09:48 PM Any updates ?
edison64 09-02-2010, 10:21 AM Yes he still has no camera.... :D
RobtWB 09-02-2010, 12:24 PM 2 years and 5 months at least on this thread and still not a single photograph - you gotta wonder if someone is justa blowin smoke.
Steve D. 09-02-2010, 05:35 PM Maybe his wife finally did him in.....
-Steve D.
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