VOLUME 20               JUNE 2003                NUMBER  6

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

From Antique Radio Classified for June 2003
(Copyright 1996-2003 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

Nineteen is a ripe old age for a small specialty magazine, and so we take pleasure in inviting you to share in our anniversary celebration. Though these are troubled times, we like to think we are a source of stability to the radio collecting community who can count on us as a source of information and camaraderie. We hope you'll stay with us for the big bang 20th anniversary in June 2004 and beyond.

Anniversaries always prompt retrospection and an assessment of how many changes have taken place. Without question, the biggest change has been the success of the Internet. But, most recently we've been struck by one of the negatives of that success -- the proliferation of spam e-mail. Articles in publications like the New York Times and elsewhere have indicated that everyone remains at a loss as to what to do about this frustrating problem.

Our best answer at the moment is to urge you to observe the following suggestions in order to help us to differentiate your message from the more than 2,000 spam messages we receive daily:

First, make sure that your subject line is clear and descriptive, something that we can recognize as radio matter. A single word like "ad" or "help" could get by the weary reader. Be more detailed and explicit. Second, avoid attachments, unless there is no other way to communicate with us. If you must send attachments, let us know ahead of time. Third, watch for a confirmation of your ad and notify us if it doesn't arrive.

Finally, please send your e-mail only to ARC@antiqueradio.com. Any other address could be missed amidst the spam maze. Sometimes we long for the good old days of the straight U.S. Postal Service. Maybe that's why we appreciate the one-on-one contacts collectors still enjoy, such as radio meets.

In fact, radio meets are great treasure hunts. For example, recently at the New England Antique Radio Club meet in Nashua, N. H., the colorful cover on a 1927 magazine caught my eye, thanks to Frank Bequaert of Bequaert Old Books. It seemed the perfect cover for our anniversary issue, since the magazine had published from 1883 to 1936. A 50-plus record is one we'd like to match.

But, the cover was not the only lure. Even more exciting was the subtitle "Radio Number" and the back cover with a full page ad for an Atwater Kent Model E speaker. The cartoons and short, humorous articles related to radio made this a must purchase.

The subject matter of the cartoons is an interesting mix of past and present. Grebe is no longer around, but the Yankees and Detroit are, as is the "Battle of the Centuries" (read Sexes?). And how about headphones in use at the opera? It might be a challenge at one of today's meets to distinguish them from an Apple iPod MP3 player.

But, we're sure John Hagman, who reports on the latest NEARC meet in N. H., would be up to the challenge. John proves once again that one-day meets continue to be successful.

The cartoons in the 1927 issue of Life also depict a life-style that seems ripe for the advent of the 1930s portable radios in Phil MacArthur's interesting article. These are the predecessors of the pocket transistor radio and the boombox. Summertime makes it easy to relate to the pleasure these sets brought to leisure hours on the beach or the front porch.

Doug Fox also takes us back to earlier forms of pleasure for radio hobbiests -- homebrewing, which is a rarity today. In those good old days, Doug's 3-tube AC-powered regen was a good entry level set for a new enthusiast who could build a receiver from old parts.

Among the more striking items in Photo Review this month is an unusual pair of code keyers, manufactured in the mid-1960s by Robert Enemark, a well-known shortwave radio collector. It would be interesting to know if there are any more of his keyers still out there.

Our intrepid reporter Ray Chase, who never saw an auction he wouldn't attend, reports on another Estes auction. Estes auctions generate a lot of excitement, and there are more scheduled, so watch for announcements in A.R.C. In this one, a number of items sold for over $1,000, including Atwater Kent breadboards. The grand total was $62,000.

Brian Belanger reports on the second part of the Rodger Nye estate auction. The third part is scheduled for June. These auctions serve a noble cause -- support of the Radio-Television Museum in Bowie, Maryland. Nye was instrumental in launching an endowment fund for the museum. Such generous donors do much to preserve the history of radio.

Radio Miscellanea contains news, both good and sad. We're sorry to report the deaths of two avid radio/TV collectors -- Danny Gustafson and Andy DuBois. They would have appreciated the support shown our avocation and A.R.C. by other letters on the page. Keep those letters coming.

A.R.C. Benefits. Be sure to take advantage of A.R.C. benefits: a toll-free number, (866) 371-0512; the Web: www.antiqueradio.com; Discover, Visa, American Express, and MasterCard accepted; books shipped free in the U. S. by book rate; and to current subscribers, a ten percent discount on all book orders.

Coming Radio Events. With summer coming on in full swing, events are multiplying. Be sure to get to at least one of the 44 meets and two auctions in June.

Happy Collecting!

John V. Terrey, Editor

ON THE COVER

The colorful cover of the September 22, 1927 early Life magazine with the subtitle "Radio Number" was too good to ignore for our anniversary issue cover. The caption "The Man at the Switch" suggests the male chauvinist temper of the times -- times that some would say haven't fully changed. Cover: Copyright 1927 Life Pub. Co.

Here's a larger version of this month's cover!