Radio Gaga

A few weeks ago, Marty and I were on our way to the beach to enjoy an unexpected sweltering September day.  We had just turned onto one of those infamous country roads (the ones only wide enough 1.5 cars) when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was a sign and, wait, did it say ‘ANTIQUES’?? I hit the brakes hard enough to shock Martin out of his passenger seat trance and almost sent him through the windshield. I love pulling a good brake slam when he’s least expecting it, mwwaahaha. I digress. We pulled an about face, pulled into the driveway and lucky for us the owner was out in the yard, he explained to us that he wasn’t actually open but since he was there he’d let us look around – nice. He had a ton of awesome stuff; old candle moulds, gorgeous wooden tables, antique glass pieces etc. etc. I was starting to get really excited when a harsh reality came crashing to my senses: we had $0 on us.

 

 That’s what I get for giving my husband whiplash; well played, Karma. To my further disappointment I had just spotted a really cool looking, old radio. When the gentleman came back he asked if we saw anything we liked. I explained to him our situation but said that I really liked his old radio, ‘Oh, you can have that,’ he said. I can what? Quick, get it in the car before he changes his mind!  So, without further ado, here she is, a 1946 GE Model 100 Plaskon radio.

Pretty cool but pretty rough, right? Our first instinct was to take it apart and paint the case. I know, I know painting an antique ruins the antiqueness but whatever the world doesn’t need another brown radio. Our inspiration for the paint job was a 1957 Chevy Corvette;

Ta-daa! All she needs now is a few touch-ups a coat of high gloss sealant.

If only the inside fix was as easy as the outside. When we opened it up we saw this.

Initially we thought, no biggie. There were a few obvious problems; the tuner needed a new wire, there were some loose wires and a few connections needed to be re-soldered. Nothing to it – until we flipped it over *cue horror movie music*…

Apparently, in 1946, they built radios like a bomb. Even for a seasoned engineer like Marty there were a couple days of head scratching but with some persistence he finally found the schematics. SO, we’ve got some capacitors on the way and with any luck we will have a fully operational, decked out vintage radio to unveil in the very near future!

Next Post:  A rundown of this weekends’ yard sales (and we have some amazing places lined up)!

September 24th: Soggy Rhymes with Foggy

The day began neither bright nor early. It was as soggy as they come on the East Coast and sitting around in fuzzy socks, playing Mario Kart presented a charming temptation.  Alas, we had three yard sales we wanted to check out that day so, armed with delicious coffee (decaf for me, because allergies are cruel) we hit the road. First stop, Lunenburg.

We got lost looking for the first yard sale. Country roads were evidently designed as practical jokes.  After two U-turns and a freaky dirt road (dirt roads make me nervous but that’s another story) we finally found the place we were looking for. Ta-daaaa!

Luckily, we were two of the first people to arrive so there was all kinds of cool stuff to look at.

As with most yard sales, a lot of it was junk (shocking, right?) but this guy did have a pretty sweet collection of vintage Avon stuff.

I was really drawn to the artwork on the boxes which were actually in pretty decent shape. I also gave the coloured glass vessels a solid ogle (not so much the Godfather horse head one) but resisted the temptation to buy. It’s a slippery slope with me and old-school coloured glass. In the end we picked up a really cool skeleton key (not sure for what purpose yet) and one other super-fantastic-amazing item that I’m not going to reveal just yet. It was my favorite buy of the day. I wouldn’t shut up about how awesome it was to the point that Marty threatened to throw it out the window if I didn’t stop. Hater. But, seriously, it’s awesome.

The next stop was a church sale, also in Lunenburg. 

Unfortunately it was pretty much a dud for us. The best buy here was a shopping bag full of fabric for $2. We rescued a sweet print that is going to make an amazing throw blanket.

Pretty much just tables of crap.

Last stop was in Middle LaHave. Because it was teeming rain outside the owner had set up her sale in the living room of her house. I always love getting a look inside really old homes and I’m pretty sure she said hers dated back to the 1800’s. The ceiling in that place was outstanding, they definitely don’t make them like that anymore (picture fail, sorry). Here we bought some really awesome fabric from the late 60’s. It’s super rad and destined to become throw pillows, I do believe.

Apologies for the horrible quality. This shot was taken at 1am.

Marty also picked up some handyman textbooks, also from the ‘60’s, some the content was obsolete but surprisingly a lot of it was relevant and pretty awesome. We’re actullay going to use their beach rock patio stone project when we lay our patio next spring. (If anyone is interested I will post the specs).

And that was Saturday the 24^th. Next post: The Ongoing Saga of the 1946 GE Radio that We Can’t Get to Bleeping Work.