Beautiful Magnavox’s consoles saved.

[Glenn Waters]

A note to the throw way mentality of the “American Dream” gone wrong! So you buy a beautiful Magnavox in 1967 solid oak a family heirloom. It cost you a small fortune, but you must keep up with the “Jones” Something a wise “people” would keep forever.

But not so in American, we throw away everything, people, pets, lives, furniture, everything! And Hell you want to look cool and modern.

So I go to the dump and get your expensive Magnavox out of the dumpster, It still works perfectly, and you even through away your Christmas records and Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Well now I have two identical consoles! I guess the “Jones” threw away their Magnavox also. Now I have a matching pair. Let’s face it folks the reason the world hates America is we are so very, very wasteful. Oak trees take many lifetimes to grow big enough to make massive pieces of furniture. The world is not a giant ashtray! Thank about it.
Oh, if you have any more Magnavox televisions like this one just bring them to my house next time.

[holmesuser01]

Sweet set. I love those big Maggies. Just saved a B/W system, but thats another thread...

I'm glad to know that these old babies will not be tossed in the dump.

[MRX37]

You're too far away. Oh well, hopefully the maggie I rescued goes to a good home.

[truetone36]

I have a '67 Astrosonic console in that same cabinet, but in mahogony. I found it and over 1000 albums out on the curb.

[Glenn Waters]

Squish them in, squeezes them in tight, because they are not going to make anymore.

Because the Magnavox Plant in Greenville Tennessee is closed for good.

Even Honor Blackman knows this is true!

[zenith2134]

Great saves!!!

Do I also see some Marantz scope'd stereo gear in the background?

[wa2ise]

I see an RCA videodisc machine atop that console there. I used to work for RCA Labs back when RCA was trying to sell those things, back in the early 80's. It bombed in the marketplace, though 15 years later DVD (essentially the same concept but smaller and digital) was a success. Go figure...

[Jeffhs]

[QUOTE=Glenn Waters;2968115]A note to the throw way mentality of the “American Dream” gone wrong! So you buy a beautiful Magnavox in 1967 solid oak a family heirloom. It cost you a small fortune, but you must keep up with the “Jones” Something a wise “people” would keep forever.

But not so in American, we throw away everything, people, pets, lives, furniture, everything! And Hell you want to look cool and modern.

So I go to the dump and get your expensive Magnavox out of the dumpster, It still works perfectly, and you even through away your Christmas records and Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Well now I have two identical consoles! I guess the “Jones” threw away their Magnavox also. Now I have a matching pair. Let’s face it folks the reason the world hates America is we are so very, very wasteful. Oak trees take many lifetimes to grow big enough to make massive pieces of furniture. The world is not a giant ashtray! Thank about it.

That's about how I feel regarding vintage radios in fine wood cabinets. I have several Zenith radios here in real wood (not veneer or--gasp!--plastic) cabinets, and like the looks (not to mention performance) of them all. Zenith's cabinets may not have been the most ornate in the world, but the real wood ones were works of art in their own right. I have a Zenith C-845 in what is known as a "toasted mahogany" cabinet; I never saw this variation of mahogany in my life until I got the radio from a friend of mine in Arizona a couple of years ago. The cabinet finish is almost a perfect match to my bedroom dresser, which is why that radio has remained in there since I got it. My Zenith MJ-1035 is in a dark mahogany cabinet and sits atop a chest of drawers, same finish as the dresser. The last wood Zenith radio in my collection is a K731, which sits atop the refrigerator in my apartment. The radio is nearly a perfect match to the other dark wood furniture I have.

Yes, I agree -- Americans are terribly wasteful, but what can be done about it? Your comment that "the world is not a giant ashtray" hits the nail right on the head. Somewhere we have lost sight of this, which is why so many perfectly usable TVs, radios, appliances, etc. (some with only slight repairs required) wind up in dumpsters or on eBay/CL. I can understand why some of these classics are for sale on eBay, because the owners simply have no room for them any longer and cannot bear to unceremoniously put them out with the trash. But to actually trash a console TV like your Magnavox, especially since they are no longer made (I didn't realize, until I read your post, that the Maggie plant in Tennessee had been permanently closed)...well, I don't see the sense in it. There are other ways to handle situations in which a person may have too much stuff and too little space (this is a very common problem when people move from large homes to apartments and must downsize), such as selling the excess on eBay or Craigslist or giving it away. But putting out old, classic TVs, radios and stereos for the trash when the devices may still have lots of life left in them, or which need only minor repairs to get them working again as they once did...I'm sorry, but I just can't see it. It is for this reason that I am glad there are such websites as Videokarma.org and contributors to those sites who, like myself, enjoy the challenge of restoring old radios, stereos or TV sets to past glory. These old sets deserve better than to be trashed; they worked well in their day and will likely work even better today, given the vastly-improved video and audio transmission and storage systems currently available. (Hook up a vintage TV to a DTV converter box or cable, or a DVD player, to see what I mean; you will be in for a pleasant surprise--even my ten-year-old RCA CTC185's picture looks better, to me anyway, with today's all-digital cable service and DVDs, than it ever did [IMHO] when all we had was analog.) We VK members know and respect this, and I wish other people did as well.

I'd hang on to and enjoy that Magnavox console as long as possible; heaven knows I won't part with my Zenith radios if I can avoid it. These sets, like other once-proud US makes of TVs, radios and such, are examples of fine craftsmanship and sound/video/build quality we unfortunately will never see again.

[Glenn Waters]

Amen,
we do not have anymore electronics plants in the USA so everyone needs to save what we do have left.

[Electrohome]

It's hard to believe that all of our electronics plants in the USA are gone-that's a very sad and depressing fact as all of our electronics are now Made In China junk that only lasts a few years of 5 years if you're lucky. We need to have electronics plants in both the USA and Canada making real, good quality electronics-TVs, VCRs, Radios, Phones(Western Electric-RIP), Stereos and yep, on the same line, good solid wood furniture as well. This would be a great solution to the unemployment problem both in the USA and Canada. Wal-Mart is partly to blame for this Made In China revolution as well. We really need to rebuild Amercia's economy the right way with Made In The USA electronics and other everyday US-made household items as well. Let's rebuild America:-)

[AUdubon5425]

I walked in many a furniture store after the storm, and could not believe most everything was shipped in from Asia. If you wanted North American made furniture you had better been able to cough up tens of thousands of dollars. I said phooey and bought used solid-wood furniture that I'm very happy with.

My kitchen table set & china cabinet were made in Honduras (I think) almost 30 years ago. Very well made and solid. But I haven't even seen furniture from central/south America in the stores anymore.

[Phototone]

We DO have plants in the USA making electronics....but not consumer electronics, INDUSTRIAL electronics.

[Glenn Waters]

That is good to know, I was shocked when I found out that Sparton Electronics has moved all their plants to Vietnam. Sparton once made radios and televisions in the USA and now makes electronic equipment for hospitals; all of which are made in Asia now.

[peverett]

We also have many chip factories in the US that make ICs that go into counsumer items such as PCs, automobiles, stereos, TVs, etc. We also have factories making chips and boards for the server farms powering the internet. Electronics manufacturing is not as dead in the US as some seem to believe.