VOLUME 15 NOVEMBER 1998 NUMBER 11
VOLUME 15 NOVEMBER 1998 NUMBER 11
Antique Radio Club of Illinois
REPORTED BY JOHN V. TERREY, HARRY BLESY, AND THE ARCI--Web edition
Radiofest XVII
Elgin, Illinois -- August 5-8, 1998The Antique Radio Club of Illinois (ARCI) held its Radiofest XVII from August 5 to 8, 1998, at the Elgin Plaza Hotel, formerly the Holiday Inn Holidome and Convention Center, in Elgin, Illinois. Again this year, the hotel staff decked out in blue Radiofest T-shirts and the generally wonderful weather made the event more festive. Scattered showers occurred conveniently at night.
Nearly every open space on three sides of the hotel was taken by flea market vendors. The adjacent field available for the overflow in past years is now filled with municipal construction, although the front edge of the area was still usable for vendors. On Wednesday and Thursday, your editor made his routine count of vendors, which proved to be close to last year's count -- 163 and 170.
Figure 1. This beautiful Emerson Model 256 "Strad" was for sale for $850 in the flea market.
Figure 2. Among other things for sale by Waves of New York City was a Kennedy Model 110 priced at $1,800,
an Amplion AR-119 horn speaker at $450, and a Utah "30" wood-covered cone speaker at $225.As expected, there were outstanding presentations throughout the weekend: Phil Van Pragg on the history of audio recording, Barbara Richards on the characteristics and care of plastic radios, and Kent King on Scott radio equipment. Ed Huether hosted a radio repair clinic, and again this year, the Dr. Ralph Muchow Museum was open to the public with free bus service available.
Many interesting items showed up in the ten categories of the old equipment contest. Your editor's choices were a very early, well displayed DeForest time receiver with an early catalog and headphones, and a Western Electric SCR68 U.S. Army airplane transmitter and receiver set displayed on a turntable with packing box, microphone, and headphones.
Figure 3. A prize winner in the contest was this Jodra "Enchanter" Model G ship speaker.A very unusual novelty transistor radio designed with two porcelain, 17th century figurines at a working piano was elegantly displayed with lamps and a rose. Another highlight was an operating, early Emerson TV set showing vintage black and white programs.
The display room offered another educational aspect of Radiofest. This year the featured manufacturer was Stewart-Warner, and many interesting items were on view throughout the event.
On the social side, 122 attendees enjoyed the awards banquet, organized by Carolyn Knipfel for Thursday night. The entertainment featured the Big Band sounds of Dick Kress and vocalist Gloria Van.
Figure 4. Displayed in the Stewart-Warner exhibit were, left to right:
a 1933 Model R-126 "Stuart," a Model R-109 cathedral,
and a 1933 Model 1271 "Bond."As always, the auction was an exciting event with sales totaling $14,560. Auctioneer Harry Blesy, aided by his wife Toni and other ARCI members and spouses, moved 161 items, consigned by 53 sellers, at the rate of 54 an hour. There were 138 registered bidders.
Among the highlights were a blue Emerson Catalin with a red and white grille in very good condition selling at $1,000; a WE 14A amp and horn with three good 216A tubes at $525; a black Air King Skyscraper radio with some repairs at $2,500; an RCA Super VIII working console at $325; and an Arvin Hopalong Cassidy radio at $425.
e=excellent, vg=very good, g=good, f=fair, p=poor, unk=unknown, WT=with tubes, NT=no tubes, wk=working, nwk=not working, BB=brass-based, T=tipped, N.I.B.=new in box
A warning: Auction prices are not current values. Our selection of auction items is not necessarily complete. A listing such as this cannot adequately include the condition of cabinets, chassis, transformers, tubes, the operating status of the set, and the inclusion of incorrect, restored or replica components, etc. Auction prices are the result of the excitement of the auction process, the skill of the auctioneer and the specific interests of the participants. Nevertheless, auction prices serve as useful references and as another element in the value determining process. The possibility of error always exists, and if we are notified, corrections will be reported.
AC Dayton XL25, WT (5), unk $95 Addison 2A table, Bakelite, brown, e 275 Addison Radio display stand, ca. 1940, 5' tall, yellow & red painted wood, g 50 Admiral table, Bakelite, ivory, g 90 Admiral, Sylvania, Zenith clock radios, (3), g 30 Air King, Skyscraper, black, vg 2,500 Airline Teledial, f 30 Alfred Robbins Martin Co. Whimshurst machine, 1915 350 American Bosch 28, f 30 Arcturus 50, N.I.B. 220 Arvin Hopalong Cassidy radio, original, vg 425 Atwater Kent 20C, w/orig. shipping box, NT, vg 190 Atwater Kent 55 table & Northhouse 8568 table, f 30 Atwater Kent 60, g 40 Atwater Kent speaker, metal, 18", g 40 Bendix radio sign, green neon, 10" x 24", wk, vg 250 Blonder-Tongue R-20 FM receiver, e 30 Claricon superhet kit, 5-tube, unbuilt, vg 50 Coca Cola Cooler radio, repro, g 40 Color wheel, frame & wheel, g 30 Coronado tombstone, 4-band, wood, g 50 Crosley "Enchantment" book radio,WT, vg 130 Crosley 4-29, w/o top, g 110 Crosley 5-38, w/top, g 60 Crosley 716 table, wood, w/speaker in top, g 80 Crosley 10135, "dashboard," restored, vg 70 Crosley F17TOLH TV, 1953, wk, g 60 Delco Radio and TV sign, 20" x 30", g 30 Dictaphone cylinder style 110 Drake Products Co. SDI-106 transistor radio, ivory, w/box & paper, vg 275 Electro-Voice 100D spring mike, on stand, g 350 Emerson Catlin, blue, w/red & white grille 1,000 Emerson EP 405 "Patriot," e 110 Emerson radio dealer sign, 20" x 30", f 35 Eveready 1 radio & headphones, WT, wk, f 35 Freed-Eisemann 48, WT, w/drop lid, f 70 Freshman Masterpiece, w/built-in speaker, drop front, f 30 GE tube caddy, w/200 tubes and parts 30 GE-F63, WT, wk, g 45 Grunow 1C console, WT, f 30 Hammarlund Four-20, Four 11 transmitter & modulator, w/coils, e 325 Home brew 2-stage amp, WT, w/Murdock headphone, wk 140 Home brew, 1-tube 45 Hotel radio, restored, wood, w/keys, g 30 Jewett horn speaker, Silvertone drum, p 40 Kolster K20, w/speaker & tags, WT, f 50 Magnavox M-1A horn, wk, vg 150 Majestic 5ALH table, white, plastic, g 30 Microphone, spring-mounted, w/stand, f 80 Midwest 916, w/original speaker & antenna, no cabinet, recapped, g 60 Missouri Radio Corp. radio, 1-tube, g 100 Motorola 5T tombstone, WT, g 70 Musette 52, nwk, g 70 Music Master 100D, white, plastic, wk 40 Novatech 5B70, AM/VHF, w/Signal Corp 5430-A tester 35 Ozark Sr., WT, f 90 Philco 37-610 tombstone, WT, f 50 Philco 38 cathedral, WT, f 60 Philco 39-116 console, WT, wk, w/remote control box 110 Philco 42KR3, wood, wk, white, g 35 Philco 70 chairside, WT, wk, g 50 Philco 90 cathedral, restored, wk, vg 275 Philco 41225, push-button, WT, g 30 Philco 41226, wk, g 50 Philco Predicta TV, 21-inch, g 300 Porto Baradio cabinet, no radio or glassware 30 Radio Lamp Corp. lamp radio, wk, g 700 RCA 4T8, g 40 RCA 96T1, WT, wk, g 40 RCA 811K console, wk, g 30 RCA 813K console, WT, g 100 RCA Electronic Test Kit No. 1, repair teaching kit, w/all original parts, booklet 45 RCA radio/phono, 45 rpm, nwk, g 35 RCA Radiola AR-812, g 30 RCA Radiola UZ-1325 horn speaker, unk 40 RCA Radiola Super VIII, wk, WT, g 325 RCA Victor 9X571, w/bullhorn speaker, WT, g 30 RCA Victor 16X11, plastic, WT, wk, e 30 RCA Victor 75X11 30 RCA Victor chair, white seat and back 200 Revere 400 portable, WT, nwk, w/case, g 40 Sam's Auto Radio books, (150+/-) 30 Sencore oscilloscope, 5", w/manual & leads 30 Silvertone 7031-A, AM/SW, wk, WT, e 30 Silvertone grandfather clock radio, wk, g 300 Sony 5-3074W TV, (2), black, white, g; LTV-77A TV, (1); g 60 Splitdorf crystal set, 1921, g 375 Stewart-Warner C51T1 table, white, plastic, wk 35 Stewart-Warner R110A tombstone, w/tags & paper, vg 110 Thoraphone horn speaker, wood base, g 170 Tower Castle cone speaker, repainted, wk, e 325 Trim Concert Grand horn speaker, g 130 Tube tester I-177B kit, w/adapter, manual & charts, e 190 Tube(s): (2,000-3,000), g 30 Tube(s): B4, 29A, 8, AQ, etc., (11), g 50 Tube(s): box, loctal, octal, 4-pin, 90% N.O.S. 30 Tube(s): Globe, ST 45, (78), wk, e 850 Tube(s): N.I.B., N.O.S., (2,200) 30 Tube(s): transmitting, ballast, (100+) 50 Tube(s): UV-201-A, BB, T; UV-201-A, BB, T, rainbow; WD-11, BB, T; UV-200-A, BB, T; display only 80 U.S. Apex radio, WT, p 70 Un. of Ill. wall plaque, pocket watch, wk, e 30 Universal Type K-3 potentiometer, e 30 Watch radios, 1980s, wk, N.I.B., (25) 150 Western Electric 14A amplifier, w/built-in horn, w/216A tubes (3), g 525 Western Electric 203A control box 60 Western Electric 360 microphone, wk, g 60 Western Electric paging speaker, g 30 World, Motorola transistor radios, (2) 30 Zenith 7S633, WT, wk, g 70 Zenith 5678 console, WT, g 55 Zenith chairside, missing parts 30 Zenith Trans-Oceanic G-500, NT, no antenna, f 50.
The Antique Radio Club of Illinois (ARCI) holds bimonthly swap meets, as well as its annual August Radiofest. The club publishes "ARCI News" quarterly, and "ARCI Update" periodically. Dues are $12. For more information: P.O. Box 1139, La Grange Park, IL 60526; or Carolyn Knipfel, RR 3, 200 Langham, Morton, IL 61550.Photo credits: Harry Blesy, Daniel Schoo, John V. Terrey.
(Daniel Schoo, 526 Colonial Dr., DeKalb, IL 60115; John V. Terrey, c/o A.R.C., P.O. Box 2, Carlisle, MA 01741)
