SCORE!!! Sweetie and I made the 2nd-best retro-furniture buy of our lives today!

[Richard Steele]

Since I'm such a bastard that I have no friends in real life,
I figured I'd share my joy with the Lounge!

We were at the Farmer's Market this morning, and I suggested
we walk across the street to "The Scrap Exchange".
(It's like an industrial Salvation Army Store for artists & craftsfolk;
they have everything from 1970s carpet samples to Pyrex laboratory
glassware, and all dirt cheap.)

I checked the tiny display case that holds my jewellery to see if
anything had been sold (:()...
then I wandered into the back room
and found a matched set of THESE:

OH, MY DEAR SWEET BORG:


That's a 5 1/2 foot tall steel case- an original MOTOROLA power-supply-cabinet
from the North Carolina State Police Dispatch HQ, from back in the era when
the radios in the Police Cruisers still had TUBES!

We got TWO of them for 50 bucks apiece. WHOHOO~!!!!!!!

The main-board innards are long gone, but the vintage gauges are intact
and I'm hoping to actually make them function again as a useful part
of our ever-more-eclectic home entertainment system!

I'm gonna put shelves in them to hold our music CDs/Vinyl/8-tracks...
and possibly some of our actual electronics. That'll be way cooler
than the little oak stand our DishNetwork receiver is currently on.






I mentioned the other day in GD that I was "having a magikal week";
and this seems to prove it.

It's GOOD to be the Dick- fine ham abounds!

[lizziegrace]

1. I like them.

I hope you post photos when you've got them home and set up.

What cool finds!

[Richard Steele]

18. It will probably be awhile until they're actually "set up".

I think, with these, we finally have enough cool stuff
to completely redo the living room. And that's gonna be
a major project.

Just this morning, sweetie had the idea of painting a line
of circles around the room, the same size and height as the
speaker grills on the cabinets. It's gonna be awesome.

[texanwitch]

2. I have two old radios with tubes.

They don't work but I think they are cool to look at.

[Richard Steele]

4. Odds are, they would work just fine with some new tubes.

That's the thing about those old radios- unless
you actually drop one and crack the innards, they'll
last for a thousand years. The TUBES burn out after
a few hundred thousand hours, but the circuit boards
jast forever!

We have a Crosly "Dashboard" radio that Sweetie's Grandma
bought in 1956. It works just fine, because they stopped
turning it on around 1959 when her Grandpa got a raise
and they bought their first TV.

Original 1956 tubes with only 3 years of actual use lasted
35 years in storage, and that antique bakelite radio fired right up
the first time we plugged it in last year!

[texanwitch]

6. I bought them a yard sale, very cheap.

I would like to get them working again.

[Richard Steele]

9. Odds are, if you Google their model number...

...You'll find hits for GROUPS of people who get together
just to enjoy keeping, repairing and maintaining them.

And those groups of people would be VERY happy to hear from you!

[texanwitch]

10. I will do that,

I got both radios for $15, I like how well radios were made back then.

The radios are really beautiful to look at, they were taken care off.

[Richard Steele]

22. I bet you'll find dozens of folks who will help you get those radios working.

There's just something MAGICAL about doing that- listening
to real live radio on an antique set, hearing modern broadcasts
just like people heard them decades ago.

[hippywife]

11. See what the number are on the tubes

and check out the next hamfest in your area. You're almost sure to find replacements.

[Left Is Write]

7. I have a whole collection of old radios, ranging from 1930s to 1970s.

I love them!

[EFerrari]

3. LOL! Awesome!

Although probably much harder to store than my antique typewriters. lol

:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:

[Richard Steele]

5. The unique technological distinctiveness of your culture's antique typewriters will be assimilated.

Resistance is futile.
Fine ham abounds.

[EFerrari]

8. Then I better get out that Grey Poupon.

And if they're going to co-opt the internet tubes, I may just have to follow your example.

[Richard Steele]

19. OK, I was hoping to find a YouTube vid for this...

...but there doesn't seem to be one. :evilfrown:

"Fine ham abounds" was a line from a "Kids in the Hall" sketch.

A kid at a dinner table exclaims "Great fucking ham, mom!", and
of course his parents are shocked at his use of language.

But rather than apologize, he goes on the offensive in a lengthy
spiel explaining that things in modern life are just so amazingly
great that "fucking" is the only adjective strong enough to express
how grateful he feels to be living in that day and age.

I don't even remember it so well anymore, but it culminated with him
listing the things that he felt were the greatest wonders of the age;
something along the lines of,
"Think of how lucky we are to be here now: We live in an age where
televisions are common and smallpox is history; we've put men on the
moon, and FINE HAM ABOUNDS!"


The "fine ham abounds" phrase stuck with me. I just like the feel of it.

[zanne]

12. Need any retro kitchen supplies?

I'm still using my Fiesta Ware mixing bowls!

[DarkTirade]

13. That is a wee bit awesome.

I love making cool things out of old things. :)

[Ptah]

14. Does it have the original pan to catch the grid leak?

:shrug:

[Richard Steele]

15. :)

:rofl: :spank: :rofl:

[Ptah]

17. Tip your wait staff. I'll be here all week.

My older brother got his novice ticket when he was thirteen (1961).

[GOPisEvil]

16. OK, those are damned cool!

Those will make awesome cabinets. :thumbsup:

[RetroLounge]

20. Cool!

At first glance I thought it was one of these Stoner Candy Machines



RL

[Richard Steele]

21. Oh, that thing SOOO NEEDS a better paint scheme! (pretty cool otherwise, tho!)

That mirror on top would be a really nice piece all by itself.