Vintage things that have REAPPEARED in your lifetime?

[tonyb]

Tuberculosis, practically unknown for about six decades over here it celebrates an exultant renaissance since end of last / beginning of this century.

And then there’s polio.
How soon we forget.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Very distressing story about that this morning out of Rockland County, New York, where there may be "hundreds of cases" circulating. I had an aunt who'd been crippled by polio as a kid, and I've always been grateful that I belonged to the first generation that didn't have to face that possibility.

 

[tonyb]

Very distressing story about that this morning out of Rockland County, New York, where there may be "hundreds of cases" circulating. I had an aunt who'd been crippled by polio as a kid, and I've always been grateful that I belonged to the first generation that didn't have to face that possibility.

Yeah, I recall the grownups talking about how fortunate we were to be free of that terrifying prospect.

 

[Turnip]

Back in my day there was no question at all wether kids should be vaccinated against all usual childhood diseases plus pox, tetanus, diphtheria…or not.
Public health officers came into schools and kindergartens, all kids waited in a row and got the shot that was on the line in their vaccination scheme.

But those were the days when we had a health system here in West Germany instead of a health market.

 

[tonyb]

How little understanding we have of the origins of common expressions and the degree to which they influence our world view. I was well into my adult years, for instance, before I realized how often I had been quoting Shakespeare. It’s unconscious, the natural order, as granted as the summer sun.

I wrote “bucket of wam spit” without knowing that it was a (mis)quotation attributed to John Nance Garner, who didn’t say “spit” in commenting on the value of the office of the vice presidency but rather another bodily fluid.

Sometimes I hear people using phrases I may or may not have coined myself. Some stuff is just in the air, so I hesitate taking credit. And sometimes I recall conversations from decades past that may or may not have been the first I heard such utterances.

Original thought is exceedingly rare. We are largely what the world has told us we are.

 

[tonyb]

Back in my day there was no question at all wether kids should be vaccinated against all usual childhood diseases plus pox, tetanus, diphtheria…or not.
Public health officers came into schools and kindergartens, all kids waited in a row and got the shot that was on the line in their vaccination scheme.

But those were the days when we had a health system here in West Germany instead of a health market.

Except to say I concur, I shall reserve comment lest I stir up a hornet’s nest.

 

[LostInTyme]

Has not re-appeared as yet, but soon will. This is something that I listened to when I was but a whipper-snapper.
I found it on eBay and the seller has refurbished it inside and out, so it should play all the great AM stations. Too bad, those old Rock'n Roll stations are gone. I'm sure the news and commercials wil still be there, in spades. Oh, and this was made the year I was born, 1946. I have also been mostly re-furbiished, so buying this was in my blood, so-to-speak.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
Our Ms. Maine is knowledgeable on such matters, as is a fellow who goes by decojoe67, whose extensive radio collection can be viewed in the vintage radio thread.

I have four old radios myself, only two of which actually work, not that they ever see much use. There’s very little on the AM band for me, for one thing, and for another thing my radios, even the working ones, haven’t been “gone through,” so using them at all risks damaging them. I have had this happen. I have had a working radio emit a burning smell and stop working.

Maybe some day, but probably not, I’ll have a person who knows what he or she is doing “go through” my collection and rig me up a low-power AM transmitter so that those refurbished radios might play something I wish to hear. But that would run into more money than it would be worth to me, I’d think. So my radios await some later owner, who will appreciate that the things survive.

 

[LostInTyme]

The fellow I purchased it from has replaced all the capacitors, suspect wiring and weak tubes. Also replaced some original components that are typically known for causing failures. The outside bakelite has been polished and all the mechanicals, tuner, dials and switches have been cleaned and adjusted. I am guaranteed a working radio.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The AM transmitter approach is the way to go. An SSTRAN AM-3000 sounds better than any modern commercial AM station, and you can feed your choice of material into it. Range is about a quarter to half a mile depending on your location, and as long as you don't try to juice it up with linear amplifiers or any such things as that, the FCC won't bother you.

And as far as going thru old radios is concerned, it's a necessity. I once had a line capacitor fail in an old Emerson table radio and it exploded like a pistol shot. Could've started a fire if I hadn't been right there to deal with it. The little AC-DC table radios are by far the most dangerous when it comes to such things.

 

[tonyb]

The fellow I purchased it from has replaced all the capacitors, suspect wiring and weak tubes. Also replaced some original components that are typically known for causing failures. The outside bakelite has been polished and all the mechanicals, tuner, dials and switches have been cleaned and adjusted. I am guaranteed a working radio.

Sounds like it has found a good home.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The New York polio outbreak has now reached State Of Emergency status.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/nyregion/new-york-polio-state-of-emergency.html

 

[Edward]

Has not re-appeared as yet, but soon will. This is something that I listened to when I was but a whipper-snapper.
I found it on eBay and the seller has refurbished it inside and out, so it should play all the great AM stations. Too bad, those old Rock'n Roll stations are gone. I'm sure the news and commercials wil still be there, in spades. Oh, and this was made the year I was born, 1946. I have also been mostly re-furbiished, so buying this was in my blood, so-to-speak.

View attachment 444082

A lot of older radios with an FM or VHF band on them have been given a new lease of life with the advent of plug-in FM transmitters for mp3 players. For older, but still collectable, radios which predate FM, my understanding is a lot of folks add an FM band by conversion, but there surely must be a market for a similar, small-reach transmitter device that AM hardware can pick up... cheap mp3 player (or tablet) with downloaded content of the right period, and away you go.... I wonder if anyone has made such a product yet, or is it the case that FM is just too dominant?

 

[HudsonHawk]

A lot of older radios with an FM or VHF band on them have been given a new lease of life with the advent of plug-in FM transmitters for mp3 players. For older, but still collectable, radios which predate FM, my understanding is a lot of folks add an FM band by conversion, but there surely must be a market for a similar, small-reach transmitter device that AM hardware can pick up... cheap mp3 player (or tablet) with downloaded content of the right period, and away you go.... I wonder if anyone has made such a product yet, or is it the case that FM is just too dominant?

This is the rage with older “hi fi” components, as well…receivers and amplifiers and such. Digital to analog converters, or Bluetooth receivers added for those who can’t be bothered to get up and flip the record over. “Vintage” (talking mostly late 1960s-1970s) hi fi gear has gotten offensively expensive.

 

[tonyb]

... “Vintage” (talking mostly late 1960s-1970s) hi fi gear has gotten offensively expensive.

No foolin’. No audiophile, I; rather, I just dig the look of the 1960s to early ‘70s stereo gear. Glad I snapped mine up a decade and more ago, when this stuff could be had for pennies on the dollar compared to today’s prices.

 

[LostInTyme]

Yeah, I donated all my old gear when I upgraded to Onkyo gear in the eighties. I still listen to music played through the Onkyo gear. Once, I purchased a console stereo from JC Penney's. I paid in excess of $500 for it in the mid 60's. It had a 90 day warranty. Now, believe it or not, on the 91st day, it QUIT working. JC Penney refused to do anything to help me out. It was the absolute LAST purchase I ever made at JC Penney.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^^
Console stereos, the ones in mid-century modern cabinets, are selling for crazy money these days. Buyers want the look, and are willing to pay for it.

I also have a pair of late-‘60s (I think) Wharfdale speakers, which audiophiles tell me are pretty darned good performers, and a pair of round Pioneer “end table” speakers of slightly newer vintage, which those same audiophiles tell me are not. They sure are cool lookin’, though.

 

[LostInTyme]

I suppose it depends on where you live. Here, where I am, in SW Pennsylvania, console stereos show up regularly on FB Marketplace for very little money. I sold all my vinyl records and eight track tapes for peanuts. All, that is, except for the Bob Dylan, Beatles, and Stones vinyl, all the early stuff. All that was sold off on eBay, and brought GOOD money.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Some of those 60s console stereos had excellent sound, but terrible flimsy record changers, and the cabinets, usually made of veneered pressboard, did not like to get wet. Store one for twenty years in a damp cellar, and you won't have much left -- hence the scarcity that faces the present demand. If your parents still have one in the living room, tell them to keep it there.

 

[HudsonHawk]

^^^^^^
Console stereos, the ones in mid-century modern cabinets, are selling for crazy money these days. Buyers want the look, and are willing to pay for it.

I also have a pair of late-‘60s (I think) Wharfdale speakers, which audiophiles tell me are pretty darned good performers, and a pair of round Pioneer “end table” speakers of slightly newer vintage, which those same audiophiles tell me are not. They sure are cool lookin’, though.

Those Wharfdale’s are probably pretty sought after. The Pioneers…probably not so much.

The late 60s/early 70s is considered to be the “golden era” of consumer audio, and quality pieces from that time go for a lot of scratch these days. Even the lower end pieces that were selling for $100 ten years ago might be $1,000-1,200 today. Those that have been “gone through” and recapped can go for as much as $3,500. Insane.

I love stuff from that time because they were solidly built, relatively repairable, and had a tactile feel that I like. I like knobs, and wheels turning, and big ol’ dancing VU meters…seeing moving parts soothes my troubled soul. But the prices are just nuts.