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The how and why I got started collecting old radios should be obvious to you if you have been following my blog for anytime. I spent thirty years behind microphones at various radio stations around the country, and despite working in television for fifteen of those years, the older medium has always been my favorite.
My oldest radio is a 1937 Philco cathedral-back model. Actually, Philco calls it a model 31-71. I bought it in Dallas back in 1971 and it was in a cardboard box in three pieces. While refinishing the cabinet I tried to replace some of the defective tubes. Two area service dealers sent me to the national warehouse for Philco as I tried to find the main power supply tube. When I relayed the number of the tube I waited 'on hold' for ten minutes while the technician traced it down. He told me this tube had been on the shelf for over twenty years and he was sending it to me free for putting one of their old units back in service. It still works and has a nice bass sound to it...
The old stand-up, or floor model, radios have always been enchanting for me. I was raised by my grandmother while my Dad was gone to World War II and my Mother worked two jobs to support our family. Each day and night my grandmother and I would sit before her Atwater-Kent radio and listen to soap operas by day and mysteries at night. The model above is a 1940 RCA Victor radio that I discovered in 1973. The previous owner told me it did not work and gave me a discounted price. This particular radio receives standard broadcast signals, but also shortwave transmissions. He had the knob turned to shortwave and when I got home I switched it to AM and the radio played like brand new. I have done some refinishing to the cabinet and speaker cloth.
Another of my floor models is this 1942 Truetone radio. It features an AM, FM, and shortwave band of reception. This particular model has a longwire antenna that needs to be stretched out to receive distant signals. I have never had occasion to listen to the shortwave band, but the AM and FM bands work like new.
This is a 1948 Westinghouse table model radio, and was one of the first to have push-button tuning. I had planned to restain the cabinet when I got it sanded down, but the natural wood is from three different varieties so I just clear coated it and painted the trim. This radio receives not only the standard broadcast band, but the 19, 25, and 31 meter bands of shortwave. Most of the broadcasts from overseas during World War II came to America via shortwave.
Finally we have my 1946 RCA Radiola... I wanted a radio that did not have a wooden cabinet so I could paint it this color. This was a bakelike finish and I sanded it down smooth and painted the background of the dial a lighter color so the tuning needle would stand out. When I purchased if off of Ebay it looked like this.
But with three coats of Chevrolet engine orange it now adorns our bookshelf looking like this:
The knobs got a touch-up of dark brown paint and my talented wife did the Radiola script for me. This one does not work, but I simply wanted it as a display model for the bookshelf. Needless to say, everyone notices it as soon as they come in the room.
My brother and I went to the Summer Nationals in Pomona, California in 1960 and one of the great cars I spotted at the drag strip was a 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery that was painted 'orange.' This was not a factory color at this time, but it was my favorite. I decided then and there I would have a car that I could paint this color.
This is the car I owned from 1961 thru 1962 and truly loved it. When I bought it there was a metal sun visor over the windshield and the car was two-tone green, a lighter pea green on bottom with a dark green top. I was still in high school and working nights at A&P Food Store to generate gas money. The car was purchased new by a cashier at a different A&P Store and when I bought it from her the speedometer showed only 34-thousand miles on it. The original 216 cubic inch straight six-cylinder engine got me through the first year, but then my brother helped me install a 283 cubic inch V8 engine. Custom made exhaust headers were the only modification to the engine besides a Holley carburetor. We also used the transmission out of the same car the engine came from, but I installed a floor shift unit instead of the column shifter. My father was never confused with anyone knowing anything about cars, but for Christmas in 1961 he took my 'Nifty Fifty' and had the entire interior redone in black Naugahyde.
The seats, door panels, headliner, and package tray were all re-done to make it one of a kind.... Or so I thought. One night while cruising North Dallas I spotted another orange '50 Chevy sitting at the Pizza King on Greenville Avenue. He waved me over and we sat and talked cars for a while. His '50 sedan was painted Gulf Orange as in the service stations, while mine was Omaha Orange, the same color the City of Dallas painted its utility vehicles. Most of my friends would refer to my car as the '50 Impala, even though Chevrolet didn't debut the Impala logo until 1958. While rummaging through wrecking yards on a regular basis, I discovered the written script 'Impala' on the dash of a burned out hulk. I pried it off and had it re-chromed before mounting it on the glove box door of my Fifty.
My '50 was a business coupe from the factory and came without a backseat. Before the upholstery job I found a backseat and installed it over a weekend. The coupe was not one of my fastest cars, but with the V8 and light-weight body it was pretty quick for a car driven on the streets regularly. The time period of mid 1950's through the mid 1960's was a time I consider special. For those that missed out on this era, you missed some great times. It was an every night occasion to pull into the local Dairy Queen and find it filled with 409 Chevys,.. 426 Hemi Cudas...and 427 Ford Fairlanes. Of course there were always guys like me with an older car that had been stroked back to life. It was a super time and I am glad I got to take part in it..
I drove for Wal-Mart for fourteen years before retiring in 2009. Before that I was in Radio/TV Broadcasting for 30 years and just wanted a change. Too many stories on killing, robbing, and raping finally got to me and I just wanted to get away to some solitude. Driving a truck gives you a lot of time alone to yourself so you can contemplate the problems of the day. Being a former sniper in Vietnam, I am used to being by myself and not needing a lot of support from others. In 1995 I did my final report on TV and walked out of the station for the last time, never to return.
I took about a year off and just tried to find a new direction to my life and future. An uncle in the car business tried to get me involved in his car dealership in Plano, but after a brief fling in that dealership I knew it was not for me. In my early years I had driven a truck and trailer while hauling my brother's race car around the country. I figured why not try that for a while?
My chauffeur's license had expired while I was in Vietnam and I never had it renewed. Now it was replaced by a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and I had to undergo a rigorous test to secure one. Without any experience driving commercial big rigs it was tough finding that first job, but I did work for CRST, Trans-States-Lines, and Heartland Express before landing with a top company. My Dad use to tell me, 'whatever you do, be the best you can be.' I figured everyone wanted to be employed by Wal-Mart, so they must be the best.
In April of 1997 I started working for Wal-Mart after almost two years of applying. They would reply about an opening in Ohio,..or California, but I was adamant about wanting to work in Texas. Finally I was accepted by the distribution center in Palestine, Texas (6036) and given the above cab-over truck to drive. This was a 1994 model truck and had been passed down through three other drivers. From Palestine, we supplied almost 200 Wal-Mart stores in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Palestine had around 300 drivers and I was at the bottom of the seniority board, but I loved it. After three years in the cab-over I moved up to another truck.
Truck 9830 was originally driven by another driver, but he had a physical problem that forced him to give up driving altogether and I assumed it. A ten-speed transmission and Detroit diesel engine performed flawlessly for over two years for me. When I did move up on the board and become eligible for a new truck another problem arose. Palestine is 183 miles from my home and Wal-Mart was building a new distribution center in Sanger, Texas,...46 miles from home. Management told me I did NOT have enough seniority to qualify for the move, so I accepted a new truck from the Palestine fleet.
Truck 1734 was a 2001 model and had 2 miles on the odometer when I climbed in it for the very first time. I had carpeting installed inside and night lights on the floor,..also a refrigerator and TV. It had all the comforts of home, BUT then management decided that I could transfer to Sanger after all.
The distribution center in Sanger (6068) opened for business on September 11, 2001, the same day the terrorist crashed planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. I was issued a new truck in Sanger.
Truck 1501 was also a 2001 model but actually older than the truck I just gave up in Palestine. It had 6 miles on it when I officially took over responsibility. I took the above photo as a joke since I had to pick up a J B Hunt trailer for them and return it to the J B Hunt terminal in South Dallas. Truck 1501 and I would enjoy each other's company for almost five years through thick and thin.
60955 would be my final new truck and was a 2006 model. It was a super truck and performed flawlessly. In 2009 I won a seniority bidding contest and was given a position where I would work two weeks and be off one week. The kicker to the deal is I had to give up my truck and take another one that I don't have a photo of. That truck had a history of trouble and the driver's seat did not even square up with the steering wheel. I developed a lower back problem and in October of 2009 I could not deal with the pain any longer,...and I retired from driving. I am not sour with Wal-Mart for the outcome, after all, it is my back that gave out. Wal-Mart pays its drivers well; thanks to them my home, two cars, and a motorcycle are paid off. My time with WM was some of the best years I can remember..
This was taken in 2001 at the Regional Driving Championships in Tyler, Texas. This was the group representing Palestine and I am the one in the necktie. I went on to the State Championships later and finished fifth in the state. Thanks for the memories!
It is a shame that one of America's oldest car-makers went broke in the 1990's despite making some grand automobiles. I have owned three of them and as I think back I can't remember a single bad instance from any of them. My first was a 1978 Toronado and I do not have a single photo of it. It was front-wheel drive and I had serious thoughts of it going bad and costing me a ton of money, but it worked like a charm for the three years I owned it.
My second Toro was this 1985 model.
The distinctive features of this car are twofold. The grille is from a Cadillac El Dorado and even led servicemen at the dealership to write it up as a Cadillac instead of an Oldsmobile. The cabrolet top looks so authentic that friends would ask me to put the top down, but alas, it did not come down.
This car had the most comfortable bucket seats I have ever felt and the air suspension was like riding on a cloud. Even the car dealer where I purchased the car wanted to buy it back from me. I had it for about three years but a sudden Spring thunderstorm produced hail stones the size of golf balls and beat my Toro to pieces. All of the flat surfaces had severe damage and the windshield was also broken.
I also would own a 1992 Olds Toronado and while it was another super car, it would never command the attention and comments the '85 attracted. The color was called 'Sable' and the interior was dark brown velor and leather. The fake spoke wheels used to bloody my fingers each time I washed them, but then I discovered a new use for the baby bottle brushes left over when my daughter (above) outgrew them. The only addition I ever made to this car was to display a SMU sticker in the back window. It was the perfect finishing touch.
I know I probably posted this story last year, but it is a milestone in American history that should be acknowledged annually. The mainstream media will probably neglect it in their daily diatribe, so I am here to make sure the public remembers.
It was April 18th of 1942 and American President Franklin D. Roosevelt was intent on finding a way to strike back at the Japanese after they bombed Pearl Harbor the previous December. The United States did not have a base from which they could reach the Japanese homeland. Someone came up with the idea of launching bomber aircraft from a carrier ship, something that had never been done in the past.
Lieutenant-Colonel James Doolittle was put in charge of finding and training a group to do just that. The B-25 Mitchell bomber was selected since the huge B-17 was simply too large for the mission. The group of men and planes trained in Florida and a Navy officer marked off the distance of a carrier deck and told them they had to get airborne within that distance.
Sixteen B-25's took off from the U.S.S. Hornet and bombed not only Tokyo but several other Japanese cities. The damage was minimal, but Japan's claim to be invincible was now a thing of the past. America's might was felt for the first time, but it would not be long before the tide of the war turned and skies over Japan would be filled with B-29 Stratofortresses. Of the original 80 men involved in the Doolittle raid, only 5 are still alive as of this writing. On August 6, 1945 the B-29 'Enola Gay' dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, but the government still refused to surrender. Three days later the city of Nagasaki, Japan was struck by a second massive blast and the Japanese surrendered, ending World War II.
Editor's Note: In 2008 a hurricane threatened the coast of Texas and some of the planes of the Confederate Air Force sought safety further inland. Five of the planes landed in my hometown of Sherman/Denison and one of them was a B-25 Mitchell (my favorite bomber of the war years). Upon arriving at the airfield you can imagine my surprise to find one of the surviving raiders from Doolittle's mission.
The men involved in the Doolittle raid never thought of it as a suicide mission, but simply as a high risk assignment. One flight crew was captured by the Japanese, one plane landed in Russia, and the rest made it to China or the waters off China. Doolittle thought he would be court-martialed for losing so many planes, but Roosevelt called it a complete success and promoted Doolittle to the rank of General.
You've heard the phrase, 'He comes from good stock?'...meaning the parents were also of high quality. If that also applies to pick-up trucks, then you would have to say that is where I got my start in selecting trucks. My dad drove a Chevrolet pick-up and my brother started out pulling his race cars with a big Chevy one-ton dually. Not counting a Toyota pick-up I had for a short time during a time of desperation, I have owned nothing other than Chevys.
In my younger years I had my share of Nova's and Impala's in addition to one Corvette, which is another story all by itself. In the 1970's I purchased a Chevrolet El Camino. Not having any confidence in whether I wanted a car or a truck, I chose a combination of the two.
The El Camino was a good start and served me well. Red leather interior was beautiful and it had a three-speed manual transmission on the floor. It lasted me quite a few years with dependable light duty work.
A few cars followed but when I needed another truck I turned to the 'Bow-Tie' brand and bought a 1998 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. This is a truck that I truly loved and even now wish I had it back. I needed a dependable new truck to transport me to a job 183 miles away.
Bear in mind these photos were taken when the white truck was 12 years old and I had purchased it brand new. The family started to voice concern when it had 135,000 miles on it, but I had it serviced regularly and it ran like a new top. I had everything a person could want on it and my only expense was three sets of tires over the dozen years....but one night I took Momma out to eat and we stopped by a dealer 'just to see what he had'... and I ended up coming home with a new truck.
I should have waited on making the deal on the new truck. I retired shortly after the purchase and the 'new' truck sat in the driveway for long periods of time. The son and daughters used it more than I did, moving furniture from one house to another, or making trips where I did not trust their cars. The problem with this truck was two-fold...it followed a great truck in the white 1998, and this 2009 was as big as a Chinese gun boat. My wife didn't like to drive it since it was wider, taller, and longer than the 1998. Getting in and out was sometimes NOT a lady-like maneuver. Sometimes it sat idle for almost a month. After two years it had only 14,000 miles on it and while having it serviced at the local Chevrolet dealer he made me an offer on it...and I accepted. Naturally as soon as I sold it I had a need for a truck (it never fails). A couple of months went by and I started looking for another pick-up to do errands around town and bring stuff home from Lowe's Home Improvement. I didn't want another big truck, so I shopped around for the same body style as my 1998. Chevrolet made the change in 2007, so I found a 2006 truck with as few miles as I could, and now I am back in the truck business again.
As you can see, Cosmo has given me his blessings on the truck. The previous owner took fairly good care of it, but I did have to replace an after-market ignition he had on it. It is the same size as the old faithful white truck and so far we like it. Best of all, it is a Chevrolet Silverado...a brand you can trust. As my Dad use to tell my brother and me,.."I would rather push a Chevy than drive a Ford.'
When I was a child my favorite aunt told me, "once you have been owned by a Terrier you will never have another breed of dog." That was better than sixty years ago and it is as true now as ever. I readily admit to owning a bunch of them, Fox Terriers, Scottish Terriers, Boston Terriers, and even a Poodle or two...but my favorite has always been Schnauzers.
The breed originated in 19th century Germany during a time when the plague wiped out most of the cat population.Without the cats the mice and varmit population rapidly escalated and this is the way the Bubonic Plague was spread throughout Europe. Enter the miniature Schnauzer. Translated from German, the word 'schnauzer' means muzzle. Schnauzer's will chase varmits and dig them out of their holes using their muzzles to extract their prey. The dog comes in three sizes,..the giant, which is about the same size as a Great Dane,...the standard, which is close to a German Shepard in size,..and then the miniature. These were bred by crossing a Affenpincher with a standard to reduce the size. The result is a female 12 to 14 inches in height and a male 15 to 18 inches tall. The Mini Schnauzers are robust and energetic, and their wiry coat is a mixture of soft fur close to the skin, with a more sturdy coat on the outside.
I have had my share of Schnauzers over the years. I even tried breeding them back in the 1970's with limited success. Even though I had customers coming from miles away for one of my puppies, I gave up the breeding when my 'momma' dog exceeded the puppy-bearing years. Her name was Trixie and I just couldn't introduce a new dominate female into the family and cast Trixie aside. She lived to be fifteen which is about the limit for a Schnauzer and was a robust member of the family until the end.
I went without a Schnauzer for a while but then 'Cookie' came into our lives. She was a rescue dog that someone gave up on because she bit a grandchild. I went to the shelter and sat down in front of her cage and started talking to her and within ten minutes she came out of the cage and sat down in my lap. She came home with us and spent the next twelve years as part of the family. That is my wife holding Cookie while our white wolf, 'Schnapps', pants for breath.
'Elmo' came next as he was abandoned in Oklahoma and the veterinarian called me knowing I was a Schnauzer guy. Elmo was a male dog and had basic instincts of a male.. guarding, doing security checks, and defending against outsiders. He was a great little companion and lived to be a lively thirteen before going to the great kennel in the sky.
When Elmo died I admit I tried a cat for a friend. 'Gus' was a super cat and loved being around me no matter what I was doing at the time. While I was tinkering with the motorcycle he would be right in my lap...if I went outside to feed my big dog he would be right there. Unfortunately I live on a busy street and that led to Gus' demise.
That brings us to Cosmo.. We brought 'the Cos' home when he was 8 weeks old and he has proven to be the smartest of all the Schnauzers I have owned before.
He was a treasure to train and I don't remember him making a single mistake while being house-trained. He wakes me up at the same time each morning and keeps an eye on me throughout the day. If I sit down or decide to take an afternoon nap, you can bet Cos will be joining me in a matter of moments.
Even on my birthday you can see who was watching over my shoulder,...and waiting for a piece of cake. I keep him on a strict diet. He eats about four ounces of a rice and lamb loaf in the morning and another four ounces in the afternoon. I try and not share my food with him...BUT it is hard not to take care of my good buddy..
When I send him away from the table while the family eats he will go under the coffee table and sulk just like a little kid. Cos is now four and a half years old and will most likely be my last Schnauzer. They are a breed that shows a lot of loyalty, dedication, and happiness. There is not much else you can ask of a canine companion. Cos was born across the Red River in Oklahoma,..but since he has lived his whole life in Texas I think he thinks of himself as a Texan... I know I do !
