I cannot believe the stupidity of some people!

[Kingfisher]

Originally Posted by 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...

Been there, done that. Even better would be to get her to write lots of stuff down so that when she's gone, there is a written document for future generations of family members. My dad's dad came to the US as a 10-year-old refugee from E. Europe (in 1913!). When he was alive, my paternal grandma made him write down details of his trip to America in the bottom of a ship that arrived in Baltimore, MD. Gramps grew up to become the first radio engineer in this area. He was into radio and tubes when it was still called "wireless". His tube stock, technical manuals, Sams Photofacts, and even his radio operator's study guide from 1924, are still in the family.

[Dude111]

Originally Posted by Rental Limo

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

Yes well alot of people do not know the value of a GOOD RADIO nor do they care,all they know is it works and they can make $$$ off it...... (Sad reality)

We all on this site do know the value and can tell the difference (Looking inside @ the parts used would tip you off)

[Sandy G]

I'm thinkin' the only sets that might stump one of us would be those Xonex reproductions of the 1936 Sparton Bluebirds...And I doubt even we would be fooled for vey long. Were any of those actually ever even MADE ? Another one might be one of the 5 or 10 R-390As that were made in 1985...But I think those are all accounted for, too.

[peverett]

For people being fooled, watch the History Channel series "Pawn Stars". There is always someone trying to sell the shop a reproduction or fake.

In one episode a person was trying to sell the shop a 16th century battle ax.
It turns out that he had a reproduction that was made in the Victorian era-even the reproduction was old!.

With radios, the lack of vacuum tubes in a reproduction is an obvious clue!!!.

[Jeffhs]

I can remember when radio DJs were real people who actually spun records on turntables and used cartridges that looked like 8-tracks to play the station's jingles, not to mention giving time checks every few songs (today's voice-tracking systems used by many stations do not allow for that, especially when one or more of the voice-tracked stations are in different time zones), when small-town local radio stations signed off at sunset rather than cutting power to 2 watts or whatever, when television stations had booth announcers (channel 3 in Cleveland had a few really good ones, as did 5, eight and [by the late '60s-'70s] the UHF stations; sometimes I wonder how TV stations today get away with simply showing [at the top and bottom of each hour] a slide or whatever, with a promo for a show and the station's call sign and location [the latter often in tiny type that's nearly impossible to read] and a voice, almost certainly not one of the station's own announcers, intoning the name of the show being advertised, followed by "at 4 p. m. on channel 2" [for example]).

And the list goes on. I also remember very large automobiles with frames under them ("unibody" construction of smaller vehicles didn't begin in the US until perhaps some time in the early 1980s), slide-rule radio dials for home and car radios, actual slide rules, the first shirt-pocket size electronic calculators, Commodore's VIC-20 and Commodore 64 home computers that used the BASIC operating system (I had a C64 in the '80s), the Altair 6800 series computers, which were the first "home computers" in the US, although they were intended for computer hobbyists as they used an extremely clumsy and complicated method of programming (toggle switches which represented the 1's and zeros of the binary system used by all computers, then as now), the Atari 400 computer with its plug-in cartridges for the operating system and pinhead-size memory (by today's standards; I had such a computer in the '80s before I got my C64), knob tuned TVs, the first digitally-tuned TVs (Zenith had a 12-inch solid-state portable in the '80s which used a keypad and an LED digital display to show the selected channel number, not to mention the first sets with OSD [on-screen display] digital tuning; these sets show up on eBay every now and then), 8-track and cassette tape (I'm presently ripping my 60+ audio cassettes into my computer to bring them into the 21st century), and so on.

Ah, memories. It's interesting to take a look back to see just how much technology has evolved over the years. However, since time only goes forward (there is no such thing as "going back" in time, the 1960s TV cartoon character Mr. Peabody's "wayback machine" notwithstanding), all we have now are our memories of those earlier technologies, all of which of course become obsolete after X number of years. Even today's technology is becoming obsolete at an amazing pace: audio CDs are being replaced by downloadable mp3 files, portable and mobile audio and video are set to become the media of choice (if these formats haven't already started to force CDs into obsolescence) in automobiles and for people on the go . . .

Who can forget the joke that became popular in the early days of the Internet: technology changes so quickly that the computer you may buy today will be obsolete as soon as you're out the door with it?

Unfortunately, however, the foregoing is not a joke anymore, 20+ years after the Internet revolution began. Technology is changing so rapidly it is incredible. Most of the stuff I have in my apartment (10-year-old IBM computer running Windows 98SE, 10-year-old Aiwa stereo system, decade-old RCA XL-100 TV, eight-year-old Panasonic VCR, even my just-18-month-old Memorex DVD player, to say nothing of my ham radio gear) is already obsolete at least a couple of times over (!). The computer is already so terribly out of date that I'm having problems finding new application software for it. For example, I wanted to download a free beta version of Microsoft Office 2010 last night (as if I really needed it; I already have the office suite CD that came with my computer). I clicked the download link, waited a few seconds, then a screen appeared with a tab that would show the program's system requirements. I clicked on that tab and found, not surprisingly, that the program would run only on Windows XP, Vista and, presumably, Windows 7.

Again, it's the changes in technology that are eventually forcing once top-of-the-line computers and everything else into obsolescence. This is called "planned obsolescence" for a reason: so that the manufacturers of the new whiz-bang technology can get their wares into stores and make a killing selling it; this also means that the older technology, more often than not, is either shoved into a closet and forgotten when the new stuff arrives or else is recycled. Personally, I intend to run my Windows 98 computer and all the rest of my "cyber-stone age" equipment as long as it works. Since I live on a fixed income (disability), I cannot afford to replace anything I currently own, with the possible exception of my TVs when they both go belly-up.I can get a 15" Philips-Magnavox flat-panel set for under $200 at Best Buy and elsewhere; who knows about the future? The day will eventually come when we will be able to get really large-panel HDTVs for very reasonable prices; I'm looking forward to it, believe me.

"Stop the world -- I wanna get off!" No, not really. I like new technology and wish I could afford it, but sometimes these breakneck-speed technology changes make me wish I could go back to a simpler time, say the late '60s-'70s, when I was growing up. Personal computers (the first of which were the switch-programmable Altair 6800 series) didn't arrive until 1975, the year I graduated high school, and I didn't get my first one (keyboard and floppy-disk programmable with a disk drive) until 1982, seven years later.

However, who could have imagined in the late '60s, for example, that people would eventually (thirty-five years later) be watching televisions that could hang on a wall, like framed art? The early 1960s TV series The Jetsons showed that family living with just such a TV in their living room of one unit of the "SkyPad Apartments", their newspaper being "delivered" to them over the same screen, a robot maid, schoolchildren being given "report tapes" rather than hard-copy printed report cards, and even robot teachers, to say nothing of other space-age technology, a lot of which is in use today. One episode of that show that really cracked me up (there were others that were just as funny if not more so, but this one took the cake) was when one of the robot teachers in Elroy Jetson's classroom started repeating itself, banging itself on the side of its metal head (with two horizontal antennas protruding from either side) and saying, in a computer synthesized voice, "Sorry. I must have a short in one of my transistors!" This was followed by the class clown imitating the teacher, even to the point of smacking his own head and repeating what the robot had just said. The boy was sent to the principal's office for his uncalled-for antics, of course. (Some things never change.)

Hmmm. I wonder why TV Land or Nick at Nite, etc. do not eventually get the old Jetsons programs in syndication? I bet that show would be a huge hit with today's Internet- and technology-savvy kids, and would probably leave their parents (many of whom, like myself, are old enough to remember having watched the program on NBC Saturday mornings as kids) flabbergasted, the reason being that the stuff shown on the program was science fiction when it was new; no one had any idea that such technology actually would be in widespread use in American homes 35 years later.

[peverett]

As a sidenote-unibody construction of cars(at Ford anyway) was underway in 1960 with the the Ford Falcon. I have a 1963 model. I am not sure about the other makes. Front wheel drive did begin in earnest in the 1980s, although GM made a model that used front wheel drive in the 1960s.

[Sandy G]

"There is nothing new under the Sun..." You really have to go back to almost the beginning of the auto age to find the 1st Unibody... Budd Body Co. was experimenting w/them in the thirties, as was our old pal Bucky Fuller. The Lincoln Zephyr of 1935 was one of the 1st unibody cars in America, & there's evidence that Ferdinand Porsche took a long, hard look at some of the 1933 World's Fair prototypes of the Lincoln before he penned the 1st Volkswagen..The Zephyr was originally sposed to have a Ford V-8 mounted in the tail, & they DO bear a striking resemblence to prototype Beetles. Lincoln stayed w/ unibody construction for at least 2 remarkable periods in their history, the 1958-60 model, w/a 131" wheelbase & 430 CID engine was the largest unibody car up til that time, & the 1961-69 "Suicide door" version.

[matt_s78mn]

Another sidenote... Didn't Chrysler introduce a form of anti-lock brakes in the early '70's for the Imperial? I think the option was available for one model year because it was way too expensive... oh and also the 1974 model cars with the seatbelt interlock that also lasted one model year.

Originally Posted by peverett

As a sidenote-unibody construction of cars(at Ford anyway) was underway in 1960 with the the Ford Falcon. I have a 1963 model. I am not sure about the other makes. Front wheel drive did begin in earnest in the 1980s, although GM made a model that used front wheel drive in the 1960s.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by Kingfisher

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...."

I graduated high school in 1985 and we still had a lot of that stuff, old B&W TV's (I remember one was made in 1966, the year I was born, it was used as a monitor for an Apple ][+ computer for mass viewing), 16mm projectors, (many still used tubes), record players, filmstrip projectors, ditto machines (I love the smell of newly made dittoes). We had several Apple ][ computers, Apple //c's came along in 1984, the sole IBM-PC was used by the counseling department (and the vice principal threatened to break our arm if we touched it). The computer lab had networked TRS-80 Model III's hooked to a master Model III (later Model IV) and a printer. It was a good network, the downside is if you hit reset, to get yourself back in, the entire network had to be rebooted. We did have some color TV with VCR's along with Sony 1 inch reel-to-reel videotape recorders and 3/4 inch U-Matics.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by Kingfisher

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.

My grandmother will be 95 next month.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

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).

I know, I remember I got paddled in 1974 for getting into a fight with a bully picking on me in 2nd grade. We both got paddled by the principal. My parents never found out. Being a nerdy type, I had my fair share of bullies coming after me. I remember complaining to Mom about it and she said, "you have to stand up for yourself and be brave." So I did and got paddled for it. After that, we became good friends for life, up until he died in 1987 in a car accident, falling off a mountain in Italy while he was in the Army. Anyways, I kept my mouth shut. A day passed, nothing, whew, then a week, then a month and so on. I was in the clear. Looking back, I know my mother would not have punished me and would even congradulate me and tell me the world isn't fair sometimes. However, being 8 years old, the kid logic kicks in so being quiet is the best thing to do.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by 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.

I've always was the same way too, I always talked with the older people. I still have a 1977 Mercury Cougar, I'd like to get it running again whenever I get the funds for it.

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by Kingfisher

Been there, done that. Even better would be to get her to write lots of stuff down so that when she's gone, there is a written document for future generations of family members. My dad's dad came to the US as a 10-year-old refugee from E. Europe (in 1913!). When he was alive, my paternal grandma made him write down details of his trip to America in the bottom of a ship that arrived in Baltimore, MD. Gramps grew up to become the first radio engineer in this area. He was into radio and tubes when it was still called "wireless". His tube stock, technical manuals, Sams Photofacts, and even his radio operator's study guide from 1924, are still in the family.

Amen! Some of the stories show the true courage of the folks that actually "led the good life" - my Grandfather was a young German immigrant, a businessman, a farmer, and lived in 4 different states during his lifetime. I would absolutely give anything to have had time to get to know him. He was dead 10 years before I was born, and was he was born 100 years before my baby sister. Yes, he fathered his last child in his 70's!

We have a WWII vet at church that's a Silver Star hero, decorated by the US and the Belgians. His humble stories are probably the best I've ever listened to - and I don't mind to hear some of them twice. He tells of a yearlong saga in getting to carry a rifle - seems he didn't get to carry one after basic, then was made a bazooka man, and finally got his first rifle - off a dead German soldier!


Cheers,

[Kingfisher]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

"There is nothing new under the Sun..." You really have to go back to almost the beginning of the auto age to find the 1st Unibody... Budd Body Co. was experimenting w/them in the thirties, as was our old pal Bucky Fuller. The Lincoln Zephyr of 1935 was one of the 1st unibody cars in America, & there's evidence that Ferdinand Porsche took a long, hard look at some of the 1933 World's Fair prototypes of the Lincoln before he penned the 1st Volkswagen..The Zephyr was originally sposed to have a Ford V-8 mounted in the tail, & they DO bear a striking resemblence to prototype Beetles. Lincoln stayed w/ unibody construction for at least 2 remarkable periods in their history, the 1958-60 model, w/a 131" wheelbase & 430 CID engine was the largest unibody car up til that time, & the 1961-69 "Suicide door" version.

Sandy, I always thought the VW Beetle looked like a '34 Chrysler Airflow. I could be wrong. They had real rounded bodies like a Beetle had.

[Carmine]

Originally Posted by Kingfisher

Sandy, I always thought the VW Beetle looked like a '34 Chrysler Airflow. I could be wrong. They had real rounded bodies like a Beetle had.

First of all, wow, this thread has wandered! Secondly Kingfisher, you are correct.

Quotes rom Allpar.com:

Aerodynamics

W.P. Chrysler also enjoyed having a reputation as an innovator. He first made his name in the business by pioneering four-wheel brakes
in the United States in the 1920s, and, rather than being dictatorial, he encouraged his engineers to examine new and better ways of doing things.

One of his engineers who did just that was Carl Breer. One evening while at the wheel of his car, he noticed the similarity between the shape of then-current airplanes and that of birds, and began musing how archaic auto design was in comparison. In the late Twenties, most automotive design could be characterized as one box stacked on another. All the car's equipment -- lights, horn, bumpers, spare tire -- were hung somewhere on the two boxes and allowed to wave in the breeze.

Just from eyeballing some airplanes, Breer intuitively got the impression that taking a similar approach to automotive design could result in some real benefits. He contacted a Dayton, Ohio-based engineer named Bill Earnshaw, who in turn contacted the co-inventor of the airplane, Orville Wright, and before long they were testing shapes in a small wind tunnel. Seeing the progress was being made, Breer then authorized the construction of a larger wind tunnel at Chrysler's Highland Park, Michigan, research center with the full support of Walter P. Chrysler himself.

One of Breer's earliest and most startling findings was that the conventional sedan of that era (circa 1930) was actually more aerodynamically efficient traveling in reverse than moving forward. The reason for this was the abrupt, nearly vertical tail of then-current automobiles, which created turbulence and a partial vacuum that acted as an invisible anchor.

Uni-body

A final pioneering advance of the (1934) Airflow was its unique frame. Instead of a simple "ladder" of beams and girders that characterized most chassis construction of the time, the Airflow used a "space-frame" not unlike the best contemporary aeronautic practice. Where virtually all automotive bodies of the early Thirties were separate structures that were bolted to the frame, the Airflow's frame ran up the fender line, across the cowl and encircled the door openings. In many ways it was very similar to the construction method used on today's Saturn automobiles in that the body panels are hung from the chassis, and it anticipated so-called unit-construction that is ubiquitous today.

VW Beetle, late 30s prototype






1934 Chrysler Airflow coupe (production model) and 1931 prototype







One of these cars is virtually art on wheels, the other a funding source for WWII Germany... Ironically later a symbol of anti-war counterculture.