The Story of My First Antique Radio
The
first old
radio I ever purchased was just down the street from my house at a
garage sale. It was a big 1942 console (cabinet) radio, a Zenith,
painted
the most awful colors of red and dirty as sin. I borrowed the
neighbor’s phone to call my friend Gary and ask him if
it was worth the $8 they were asking for it. After receiving
advice
to purchase it for $5, I hauled it home and managed to lift it out of
my
truck alone and hid it as best I could in the garage. Later that
evening I showed it to my mom. She was actually quite excited to
see
it. It was a week until my high school open house, so I got busy.
13 hours of stripping and picking paint out of the woodwork with
dental tools and refinishing brought back the cabinet to what you see
in
the photo (click here). Meanwhile
Gary repaired the radio and replaced a
5Y4 rectifier,
two filter capacitors, and one pre-amp tube for the phonograph.
We
installed the radio guts in my driveway at 10pm, the evening before my
high school open
house. Then we had it in the kitchen ready for the open house.
