Major find in Chicago

[JohnVF]

Originally Posted by Snade

Be careful, John. This is a very slippery slope.

Snade

I can imagine...I've seen some cool TVs on CL here. Hopefully this will fall under my interior design hobby and not vintage electronics..because I've been able to resist that more than gear. Since moving to a projector for TV, I've wanted exactly "ONE" vintage Tv for just watching the news or to just have on. Fat chance of that being just 'one', right?

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by bandersen

Odd. I always thought Ohio was a good place to find stuff because of the massive Dayton hamfest.

I haven't seen an old set on the curb in many years. Most of my sets were scored from individuals posting on craigslist. When I've asked where they got the set, the usual response is that it was their parents and they've just hung on to it for years.

Also, virtually every vintage TV related item I have - sets, antennas, service guides, etc was manufactured in Chicago. A lot of the companies (Admiral, Motorola, Sentinel, etc) were also based here. Chicago was really booming in the 40s and 50s.

Something else to consider. Most dwellings in Chicago are old - like 1920s and earlier. More than one vintage radio and TV I found had been in the same place since it was first purchased. Maybe the communities around you just aren't that old ? I bet a lot of sets got tossed when folks moved.

Anyway, I hope your luck starts to change.

At least one eastern suburb of Cleveland (Cleveland Heights) has homes that were built in the 1920s. The apartment building in which I live (I am in a village 35 miles east of Cleveland, in Lake County, Ohio) was built in the 1930s. However, the homes in the Cleveland suburb in which I grew up (Wickliffe, Ohio, 16 miles east of the city) were built in the '50s. From this I would conclude that people living in those older homes in Cleveland Heights (if any of the original residents are still there) would probably have more antique and vintage TVs, radios and so forth; the same goes for my old neighborhood in Wickliffe, although since the homes in the latter suburb were built 50-59 years ago (and the original residents of those houses are either long since dead or have moved), I wouldn't expect to find very many old TVs or radios there anymore.

Many if not most people outside our hobby do not appreciate the value of antique and/or vintage electronics and just want it out of their homes as soon as possible, which is why so much vintage equipment shows up at auction on eBay, Craigslist, et al. or else the stuff gets trashed; however, I don't see very many TVs, radios, etc. on treelawns here anymore. When I was growing up in the late '60s through the seventies, I could find any number of 1950s vintage TVs and the occasional vintage radio in my neighbors' trash, but not today. These days, with the push for recycling old electronics, I think more people, worried about possible contamination of the environment by mercury, lead, etc. found in older electronics (and most newer equipment such as DVD players), are having their old televisions, VCRs, DVD players, et al. recycled rather than putting them out by the side of the road or the curb.

I have lived in this small Lake County village nine years; in that time I have only seen two vintage televisions on the curbs. One was a 12" RCA portable, probably late-'70s vintage or thereabouts; the other was a 1978 RCA 25" color console, with the RCA Nipper logo on the front panel near the tuners. I also saw a couple of older stereo consoles almost directly across the street from me about three years ago or so. However, these were the only vintage electronics items I've seen on the curbs here so far. As I said above, I think the residents of my town are really getting the message as to the environmental impact of just indiscriminately throwing newer electronics in the trash; in fact, I'm fairly sure there is a law against simply tossing a cast-off, defective DVD player (for example) into a trash barrel, although I did just that, and somehow got away with it (!) almost a year ago when my first DVD player quit. I do know for certain there are laws against putting burned-out CFLs (compact fluorescent lamp bulbs) in municipal waste streams, but I don't think it's enforced (strictly or otherwise) everywhere, especially in small towns such as this one. Whether this law would or does apply to cast-off TVs and other equipment, however, I don't know. All I am certain of at this point is that there are very few older TVs and other vintage electronic items to be found around here on trash day.

With new environmental protection laws being enacted all the time, however, especially in this age of so much being done in the name of saving the Earth, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there aren't nearly as many old TVs and radios to be found in this area anymore. As I said, people are taking the "reduce, reuse, recycle" message (what I call the "three Rs" of the environmental protection age) quite seriously these days, which will likely mean that antique and vintage TV and radio collectors may find it somewhat more difficult from now on to find such items in trash heaps.

I honestly believe that the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is unwittingly killing, by degrees, the art of antique electronics collecting, in a very, very major way. I can't help wondering if antique radio/TV collecting as a hobby might eventually be brought to a halt by the EPA's rules. As bullish as the agency seems to be on recycling and so on, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if such a thing eventually happens. When and if it does happen, the only places antique electronics collectors will be able to find what they are after will be at estate, garage, yard sales or hamfests (as I mention below). I think we're close to that point now, and getting closer every day.

BTW, the Dayton Hamfest is probably still a good place to find older electronic gear, but it is well out of the range of folks such as myself who live at the other corner of the state of Ohio, going catty-corner (diagonally) across the state from Dayton. There are local hamfests in other parts of the state, however, where older gear may yet be found, but even these hamfests may have less and less in the way of vintage and/or antique electronics as time goes on.

I hate to say it, but I can see a day coming when it will be downright impossible to find any kind of electronic equipment older than five or ten years old at any hamfest. We are living in a throwaway society where discarding electronics, appliances, etc. when they fail (after the warranty expires, of course) is the norm. To be sure, there will always be collectors looking for older items such as furniture, artwork, etc. but as far as old ('40s-'60s vintage) TVs, radios and electronics are concerned, I honestly believe we are reaching the end of the line.

[Arkay]

Great find! That must have been pretty exciting, to go down those stairs and discover all those sets there. A bit like finding Aladdin's cave! Too bad the prices aren't better, but it is nice that you picked some very good ones to bring home. Congratulations on those! :thbmsp:

There was a time period here in Hong Kong --it peaked in the late 1980s, I think-- when old stuff like that could be found readily, as older buildings were being torn down willy-nilly, to make room for more skyscrapers. A lot of old TVs were scrapped, as people didn't have room for "those old things" in the newer housing, and many radios were rescued and ended up in the hands of collectors, via scavengers who sold them in the flea markets and to antique shops. Those days are gone now, and have been for few years, as there are virtually no more of the old buildings left. You might still find something here or there if you were very lucky, but there cannot be many left, even across the whole city. The pace and scale of redevelopment would have been unthinkable in most places, and even incomprehensible to most people in Europe or the States, as new techniques were pioneered here to erect skyscrapers faster than they ever had been before, but it was a fun time to be a collector in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, I wasn't into old TVs and audio back then... sure wish I had been, with hindsight! Oh, well...

Looking forward to seeing what else gets pulled from that basement cache by AKers!

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Arkay

Great find! That must have been pretty exciting, to go down those stairs and discover all those sets there. A bit like finding Aladdin's cave! Too bad the prices aren't better, but it is nice that you picked some very good ones to bring home. Congratulations on those! :thbmsp:

There was a time period here in Hong Kong --it peaked in the late 1980s, I think-- when old stuff like that could be found readily, as older buildings were being torn down willy-nilly, to make room for more skyscrapers. A lot of old TVs were scrapped, as people didn't have room for "those old things" in the newer housing, and many radios were rescued and ended up in the hands of collectors, via scavengers who sold them in the flea markets and to antique shops. Those days are gone now, and have been for few years, as there are virtually no more of the old buildings left. You might still find something here or there if you were very lucky, but there cannot be many left, even across the whole city. The pace and scale of redevelopment would have been unthinkable in most places, and even incomprehensible to most people in Europe or the States, as new techniques were pioneered here to erect skyscrapers faster than they ever had been before, but it was a fun time to be a collector in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, I wasn't into old TVs and audio back then... sure wish I had been, with hindsight! Oh, well...

Looking forward to seeing what else gets pulled from that basement cache by AKers!

Thanks. Yes, it was so much fun I went back today for a couple hours

Alas, that is not a 1956 RCA CTC 5 Wingate color set - it's B&W. I did find a nice Motorola though. I dig the giant orange knobs




Here are more pictures - especially of the radios. Nothing spectacular. It's an odd collection. A bunch from the 20s & 40s but very few from the 30s and virtually no Philcos. Also very few Bakelite or Catalin.

This was my favorite of the radios. "The Imperial - Simplex Tire & Rubber Co"



I expect those prices will start to drop as they don't sell.

I only came back with a dozen cans of Mohawk toner lacquer this trip. Time to get restoring !

[Jeffhs]

That TV may not be an RCA Wingate color set, but I still like the looks of the cabinet; it is one of the few TVs I've seen with doors over the front. The last set I saw in a cabinet with doors was a 1950s-vintage RCA KCS-47, IIRC, which our church had in a back storage room. My dad was in our church choir, and I used to go to rehearsals with him; I'd sit in the back and watch that TV while rehearsals were going on. That set worked amazingly well for being (at the time) some twenty years old. Thinking about it now, I wonder whatever became of it. It's probably long gone by now, as the church has gone through some major renovations over the years, and I really haven't been back there since I moved nine years ago.

Too bad if the set has been trashed, as it was a b&w roundie with a 16GP4 (IIRC) CRT. The only other such TV I've ever seen in my life was a 1951 Majestic, also in a very nice wood cabinet with doors, with three pulls on each door. I inherited the chassis of that set when my aunt moved in the late 1960s, but she got rid of the cabinet in the trash before she left town.

The TV chassis, however, worked very well for its age (twenty years or so), bringing in all three (at the time) Cleveland network television stations beautifully in my area (then a Cleveland suburb some 33 miles from the area's TV transmitters) using only the attic antenna in my house. I kept it in the basement, atop an old (1955, IIRC) Crosley "Super V" 21" console which had been my folks' second TV. The Majestic also had a phono input with the usual switch on the front of the set; I remember having to be very careful when moving that switch so as not to contact the sides of the exposed CRT (I think I did get shocked, once, by that tube, when I forgot myself and my hand innocently [!] strayed to the edge of the CRT. Believe me, I learned a lesson that day I have never forgotten!)

Those b&w roundies, including my Majestic chassis and the KCS-47 I mentioned, had a picture that looked, with the chassis outside of the cabinet, for all the world like today's 16:9 HDTV pictures on a 4:3 analog set. I believe those b&w sets were designed on purpose to produce a picture that only filled the screen partially; the cabinet had a mask that made the resulting picture look normal.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

That TV may not be an RCA Wingate color set, but I still like the looks of the cabinet; it is one of the few TVs I've seen with doors over the front...

Yes indeed, it's a nice cabinet I think that CRT made be good too. At least it didn't look gassy - just needs a new base.

They have 3 or 4 other sets with doors - another RCA, Stromberg-Carlson, Capehart and that Motorola above. It's a very nice and distinctive feature to have for sure.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

This is like the Motorola VT-71 and others of the time. The FCC allowed only a certain number of stations per city (eight?) and I think there was some rule about adjacency, too. The dealer would set up the TV to receive the local stations. If you moved to a different city, you took the TV to a shop and they reset the channels as needed for those stations.

I think my Motorola tuned 2-3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13.

Phil

Thanks for the info. I have a couple of those Motorolas and wondered about that tuner. I guess they did it to cut down the cost.

This Philco though is really solidly built though - the chassis is massive. I think it's odd that they would bother.

Maybe the fine-tuning on this set has a wide enough range to cover both adjacent stations ?

Bob

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by Adam

That's some find. Where's the ctc-5, I didn't see any round color sets in those pics? The big DuMont looks like it has a busted crt. That picture of the tv from behind looks to me like an RCA b/w late 50s or very early 60s.

This guy. The cabinet and controls look identical, but it's B&W.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by JohnVF

I'll have to check this out, thanks for posting! I've been keeping an eye out for a '50s or '60s TV for my mid century pad. This is very close to where my girlfriend lives...I won't take anything somebody has dibs on! I know jack squat about vintage TVs...

No more dibs for me - I got what I wanted.

You could grab this Admiral set in Wicker Park for $98

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/atq/1304677454.html



If you'd like a 2nd opionion on a local set, let me know. I've got a 50s-60s kind of pad too

[Charlie]

That isn't a Wingate, but damn, it should be! That set rocks!

As far as the Mototola goes, it kicks a$$ as well! That's something you d0on't see every day!

I hope all those sets find a way to your living roon!!! Good luck!

[maxm]

I went by there today to take a look. There was some small German radios I would like to have if the prices were lower.
The Hammarlund seemed reasonable at $85, but I didn't look at it too closely.

The most interesting TV there to me (since I don't have any early remote sets) is the metal cabinet Motorola remote B&W set you can see in this picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7003980...7621840861871/

They want $100 for it, otherwise I would be bringing it home trying to stuff into my basement.

There is also a good amount of vintage bakelite panel type test equipment, resistor boxes, meters, etc. I noticed some of it was marked "IIT Physics Lab", its nice to know that some of the old equipment from my school didn't get thrown out (I've seen it happen to some things).

[maxm]

Somebody may be interested in the Motorola rectangular color set, but I would assume the price is pretty high.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7003980...7621840861871/

It is interesting to see the odd assortment of radios there, maybe there were more at one point.

[Tom_Ryan]

Thanks for the awesome pictures posted on flickr. Hope more collectors can get out and save a few sets.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by bandersen

Remember what ? Not to sell it prematurely or the Tradin' Times?

I meant Tradin' Times. I bought and sold a lot of stuff from that paper in the late 70's and early 80's (until I moved to California). It was the Craig's List of its day, except not free.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

I meant Tradin' Times. I bought and sold a lot of stuff from that paper in the late 70's and early 80's (until I moved to California). It was the Craig's List of its day, except not free.

Sure, I remember it. My friends and I would flip through them looking at cool stuff we couldn't afford