I cannot believe the stupidity of some people!

[Rental Limo]

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/atq/1579089992.html

This radio is a not an antique! Its a modern radio that looks to be antique.

[Sandy G]

....Yeah, an' if he had a CT-100, no doubt he'd gut it, & put a new marvellous LCD or plasma set in...Philistine. Grrrrrr...

[bandersen]

I fear it's only going to get worse. There are a bunch of modern radios with a vintage look.
Here are some examples of new Philcos. Yuck!

[radiotvnut]

Not long ago, I bought a couple '60's radios from a lady. While I was there, she showed me one of those '34 AK replica tombstones. She thought it was the real thing (yeah, they had cassettes in 1934); but, she listened to what I had to say.

Back in the early '90's when I started looking for antique radios, people were all the time calling me with some line like, "I have this very old radio and I'll let it go cheap". I'd go 20 miles out in the country only to find a cheap imported portable transistor radio from the '80's. What was so sad is that many of the sellers were old people. People who you'd think would know better. I finally got to the point where if I couldn't determine that it was at least a tube radio over the phone, I didn't go any further.

Just recently, I placed an ad in the paper in search of old TV's with knobs from the '40's-early '70's. Almost every call I got was from people wanting to sell me their black plastic crap wal-mart junk.

[Rental Limo]

I see Grundig replicas on Ebay, and unfortunately they are selling too. Nothing compares to a real Grundig!

[Jeffhs]

I do not believe for one second they are stupid; they simply don't know any better, by virtue of their age.

Most people outside of AK/VK do not know the difference between a replica and a true antique radio, even if it has a cassette player or whatever. To most folks outside our hobby, anything with a cabinet that even looks antique (as they may remember their grandparents' first radio, etc.) is an antique radio, to them anyway. Most people alive today are far too young to have lived through the '20s and '30s, so they have a hazy idea at best (if they have any idea at all) of what a real antique radio is.

The lady or young woman who said "(yes), they had cassettes in 1934" quite frankly did not know what she was talking about. (Philips, after all, did not invent the compact cassette until 1964.) She may have been a teenager or in her 20s-30s and may not (probably doesn't) remember when cassettes were the preferred medium for music listening; her remark about cassettes in 1934, therefore, would have been (in fact is) conjecture and completely misleading.

This sort of thing proves my point. Practically (or actually) no one more than a few years under about 80 years old (and there are very few of that generation still living) would have owned a true antique radio when it was new. Most of today's antique radio collectors are at least a couple of generations younger than folks who actually remember and lived through the days when radio was in its infancy. Today's teenagers and young adults, who grew up (or are growing up) with CDs, mp3s and DVDs, think vinyl phonograph records and the machines on which they were played are relics of the Stone Age--the word "phonograph" itself is foreign to that generation as well. Moreover, these kids cannot imagine a time when there were no such things as VCRs, let alone DVD players, streaming video, high-definition flat-panel TV, or any of the whiz-bang modern technology we take for granted today.

My generation, all of whom who were born in the '50s (the start of the "baby boom" generation; I was born in 1956 and am 53.5 years old now), grew up with 8-track tape and audio cassettes, two music formats that are obsolete today and are absolutely foreign to today's teens and young adults. Look at today's automotive stereo systems. Most of them (in fact, all such systems nowadays) do not even have audio cassette decks, having instead CD players and HD digital radio tuners, to say nothing of inputs for iPods and amplifiers which can blow your head off at full volume.

What goes around comes around. My '60s-'70s generation liked loud rock music as well, which is why many people of my generation are today severely hard of hearing or almost deaf--it came from years of listening to hard rock at full volume, through speakers or headphones.

Listening to hard rock at extremely high volume levels through the latter (or even through speakers if the listener is close enough to them) is a sure way to wreck one's hearing over time. I am reminded of the story of two older men at a motorcycle convention at which there much loud noise from poorly-muffled motorcycle engines. The first man said to his friend, "Listen to all that noise -- sheeesh! These kids will be deaf by the time they are forty years old." His friend replied, "I doubt that -- I've been riding these things for years and I'm still alive!" The second man, whose hearing had been severely damaged by years of listening to loud engines and probably loud hard rock music when he was a younger man, mistakenly thought his friend had said "those kids will be dead by the time they are 40 . . ."



When I was a teenager in the late '60s and '70s, 8-track tape was the rage, followed by audio cassettes the following decade (1980s and until CDs arrived). Try to tell a Generation Y (or whatever today's generation of teenagers is called) teenager that you used to listen to, say, the Grass Roots (a late-1960s rock group) on eight-track tape or audio cassette when you were growing up, and the kid may not (probably won't) believe you. Kids today, unfortunately (the 20- or 30-somethings here on VK, if any, excepted) only know the technology with which they grew up; to them, anything older than, say, 15 or 20 years is "antique" or even ancient. This is why so many 1950s-'60s TVs listed on eBay and CL are referred to by the sellers as antiques, even though the true definition of "antique" (one of the definitions, anyway; there may be others) as applied to electronics is something made 50+ years ago--equipment which was made 25-30 years ago is considered vintage. I recently saw a 1960s Zenith three-way color console on eBay that was listed as an antique; if this set had been in fact manufactured in the year 1960, it would be a true antique today, going by that definition.

However, the TV in question was probably made in the mid-'60s, so it does not qualify as an antique just yet, but it is a vintage piece, and a beautiful piece of furniture in its own right. Kinda' makes me wish I had room for one, as I like older gear in fine dark wood cabinets, but my apartment is far too small; the best I could hope for would be a Magnavox vertical entertainment center from the '60s (it could very well fit in the space where my TV/video cabinet is now), but those are scarce, even on eBay or CL. I'm lucky if I see one on the former site every couple of months or so; I honestly do not remember the last time I saw a vertical Maggie entertainment unit on CL. Did most of them get snapped up by collectors (or trashed) in the '80s-'90s?

[Sandy G]

Jeff, I'm a year behind you-a June '57 model-and I'm ASTOUNDED that 1960 is 50 FREAKIN' YEARS AGO....I remember 1960...Outside all the time unless it was cold and/or rainy...Daddy cookin' steaks, hamburgers, hotdogs on the outside grill...Me puttin' sticks in the grill, pullin' 'em out & watchin' 'em burn...Playing w/Ikey, the neighbor's dog, & Pudgie, our Pug...Goin' for rides in Mama's '58 Bel Air...My mom, & 3 out of 4 granparents still alive...The Zenith 24" B/W that when you turned it off still had that little white dot that took about 30 seconds to go away...The warm, homey smell TVs & record players gave off then...The TV & radio talkin' about some mean, hateful dude named Caster or Castro, & some place called The Congo..or was that a dance ? To the Young Adults of today, that's all ancient History...Mama wearin' Pedal Pushers 'n' sleeveless tops, tryin' to stay cool in the summer...She was killing herself, smokin' 2-3 packs a day...

[wa2ise]

I'm from the '53 production run, and remember 1960 being in 1st grade being yelled at by pissed-off nuns in Catholic grammar school. And soon after, TV sets were placed in the classrooms (to watch educational shows on channel 13), and teachers rarely used them
Also remember vaguely about the Cuban missile crisis and duck and cover. And I saw nearly live on TV the JFK assassination. And I remember Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble hawking Winston cigarettes on TV.

[Kingfisher]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

I'm from the '53 production run, and remember 1960 being in 1st grade being yelled at by pissed-off nuns in Catholic grammar school. And soon after, TV sets were placed in the classrooms (to watch educational shows on channel 13), and teachers rarely used them
Also remember vaguely about the Cuban missile crisis and duck and cover. And I saw nearly live on TV the JFK assassination. And I remember Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble hawking Winston cigarettes on TV.

Unlike you, I was born in '72 and had a 'public' education(despite being raised Catholic). Even in the late '70's-early '80's my elementary school was still using older b&w and color TV sets, ditto machines and suitcase record players. We had 2 Apple computers for the entire school, and each grade had to take turns using them. The record players were all Webcor's and they had tubes! (I saw the janitor fix one once) How times change. I think I even remember one of the records my teacher used to play:
"There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...I don't know why she swallowed a fly...I guess she'll die...."

[AUdubon5425]

I was born in '75 and clearly remember buying 8-tracks new in the early 80's. I also remember:

When cable television was run to our subdivision (c.1981)
A Cobra cordless phone my dad won in a sales contest, 3+ foot antenna, pulse dial and a range of about 15 feet (c.1982/83)
Beepers that produced two different tone signals and were the size of a garage door opener.
My uncle's car phone that looked like a rotary princess with a bunch of buttons below the dial and iirc a push-to-talk button on the handset.
The talking Coke machine ('85?)
The Commodore 64, TRS-80, and a Commodore twenty-something that ran on a cassette tape drive
Mono FM radio in Dad's '85 Impala, the touch screen display in the '86 Riviera
Top & bottom of the hour signals on radio & TV, live booth announcers on TV stations
Heck, we didn't have a VCR until Christmas 1991.

As a young child, I asked my parents and grandmother about conditions when they grew up - I was interested in that. My grandmother remembered the first electric light and telephone they got, using outhouses and bathing in a metal washtub in the kitchen. This was in the city of New Orleans mind you, not in the woods somewhere. Riding on horse & buggy, her sister giving her a small crystal radio set in the early twenties.

Most kids after my generation though couldn't care less though - they're too busy texting, envying someone else's car/clothes/etc., getting drunk/high...with all the technological advancements in the last twenty years the kids today are leading very shallow lives. They have the world at their fingertips and they piss it away on Twitter. (Twit being the key)

[Sandy G]

My mother's mother was born in 1889 & died 1992-She said the thing that "Wowed" her the most was when she saw her 1st airplane. She had memories of brass-radiator T models-Ford quit making brass-era cars in 1915, IIRC. Her husband-my granfather-had a BEAUTIFUL "Morning Glory" Victrola that got lost in a family squabble after he died in '29. I'd give my eyeteeth for it...Assuming its still around...

[Kingfisher]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

My mother's mother was born in 1889 & died 1992-She said the thing that "Wowed" her the most was when she saw her 1st airplane. She had memories of brass-radiator T models-Ford quit making brass-era cars in 1915, IIRC. Her husband-my granfather-had a BEAUTIFUL "Morning Glory" Victrola that got lost in a family squabble after he died in '29. I'd give my eyeteeth for it...Assuming its still around...

My grandma is still alive and she is 90. She has a '46 Zenith Hopplewhite radio/record player console in her basement right now. It's got mildew growin' on it, and it hasn't been used in at least 30 years. I told her never to use it again...it needs a complete electronic restoration. She only listens to music on her digital clock radio now anyways.

[Sandy G]

If you can, & she's able, get her to tell you what things were like back then...Mine really died in '86 when she fell & broke her hip, & never really came out of the anastetic...She was in the nursing home from then on, & her mind was active for awhile...Lotsa times, they can remember 75, 80 yrs ago clear as a bell, but 5 minutes ago never happened...

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

I was born in '75 and clearly remember buying 8-tracks new in the early 80's. I also remember:

When cable television was run to our subdivision (c.1981)
A Cobra cordless phone my dad won in a sales contest, 3+ foot antenna, pulse dial and a range of about 15 feet (c.1982/83)
Beepers that produced two different tone signals and were the size of a garage door opener.
My uncle's car phone that looked like a rotary princess with a bunch of buttons below the dial and iirc a push-to-talk button on the handset.
The talking Coke machine ('85?)
The Commodore 64, TRS-80, and a Commodore twenty-something that ran on a cassette tape drive
Mono FM radio in Dad's '85 Impala, the touch screen display in the '86 Riviera
Top & bottom of the hour signals on radio & TV, live booth announcers on TV stations
Heck, we didn't have a VCR until Christmas 1991.

As a young child, I asked my parents and grandmother about conditions when they grew up - I was interested in that. My grandmother remembered the first electric light and telephone they got, using outhouses and bathing in a metal washtub in the kitchen. This was in the city of New Orleans mind you, not in the woods somewhere. Riding on horse & buggy, her sister giving her a small crystal radio set in the early twenties.

Most kids after my generation though couldn't care less though - they're too busy texting, envying someone else's car/clothes/etc., getting drunk/high...with all the technological advancements in the last twenty years the kids today are leading very shallow lives. They have the world at their fingertips and they piss it away on Twitter. (Twit being the key)

That last paragraph says a lot about kids today.

I was born in '76 and lets see what I remember:

A. I too remember 8-track tapes being sold new in stores. Somewhere around '84, I remember buying (or, my Dad buying for me) a waylon jennings 8-track at a gas station in GA.
B. Rotary dial phones. We still had one in use as late as '99.
C. TV's where you had to actually get up to change the channel. Many of which were tube sets.
D. I can remember when "mobile phones" were huge in size by today's standards and were only carried by Doctors and other business people.
E. The "talking cash registers" at the new grocery store that came along around '83.
F. I remember the first computer I ever saw was my older Sister's Apple 2C.
G. I remember when VCR's were getting hot. We got our first one, a panasonic built Magnavox, in late '86.
H. I remember when schools still used film projectors of all types, record players, cassette players, reel-to-reel tape players, and those big metal RCA color TV's and Sony U-Matic tape machines on roll about carts.
I. I also remember when they'd still tear your butt up in school if you acted up (although I came in on the tail end of that era).
J. I remember actually going to people's houses out in the country who were on "well water".
K. I remember going to my Aunt's house, who didn't get indoor plumbing until sometime in the '90's. They were poor as church mice; but, were the finest people you'd ever want to meet. I enjoyed going to her house much better than going to the other Aunt's house, who was very snooty and was always trying to put on a show.

OK, that's enough memories for now.

[radiotvnut]

Oh yeah, my first computer was a TRS-80, given to me by someone around '88. It had a green monochrome monitor and the software was contained on three different types of media: A cartridge that plugged into the side of the computer, cassette tape, or 5 1/4" floppy disk. The disk drives were huge and connected to the computer via an interface that plugged into the cartridge slot. I later picked up one of those early '80's 10" solid state GE color TV's and used that for a monitor.

Somewhere around '83, my Dad bought a basic stripped Ford Fairmont and, IIRC, it only had a cheap AM only radio. My Mother's '77 Mercury Cougar had an AM/FM/stereo 8-track radio.

The first TV in my room was an early '70's 9" GE solid state B&W in a leather case. I don't think I had my own color TV for my room until I was a teenager and that TV was something I found and fixed. And, there was never cable going to my room. I remember my Dad throwing a fit because he didn't want to drill a hole in the floor.

A lot of people in my generation and younger tend to not have time for old people. I, OTOH, always got along with the old folks better than people from my own generation. It would do the young crowd some good if they actually took the time to get to know some older people.