10-06-2013, 03:58 PM
Hey everyone,
Cedarburg WI. has a large fleamarket at their fairgrounds 4 times a year called Maxwell St. Days. It's about 35 miles from home and I used to go to it religiously until a few years ago when it started going downhill. This was the first fleamarket I ever went to. My parents took me when I was 13 or 14 in 1979 and this is where I bought my first cathedral radio. It was a very beat up Philco 38 battery set, with delaminating cabinet and all but one tube missing. the seller told me he used to listen to the Green Hornet on this set and he sold it to me for $5 bucks!!I remember being the proudest kid there carrying my new prize back to the car even though my mom thought i was nuts!! At that time I didn't know anything about electronics so restoring it to working order was beyond me, but I used to dream about getting to play again. Fast forward to today. I've stopped going to that fleamarket just because it isn't what it used to be and I find that very depressing. Also the weather was supposed to be crappy so, why bother?! Well, i got up this morning and had my dog out for her run. It wasn't raining and there was clear sky in the distance, so that little voice in my head kept saying "just go there and look", so off I went! It's a beautiful Fall drive down there anyway. Well I get there and it's pretty much what i expected, lots of empty vendor spaces and junk sellers, so i'm shooting through it pretty quick when LO and behold! In a space not very far from my original find there is a vendor with another Philco 38 cathedral! Except that this one is in MUCH better shape and even has all of it's tubes! So I go over to see what kind of whacked out price they are asking and the sticker says $65. Not bad, but I was thinking more like $55 so after looking it over I ask the seller what his best price was and he said "$50", SOLD!!!! Now I know that a Philco 38 battery set isn't the most exciting radio in the world, but still, it's in pretty decent shape with all of it's tubes, it's worth what I paid in itself, But, for the chance to walk down memory lane and feel like a 13 year old kid again, even if only for a little while, it's worth even more. Here are some pics.
[Image: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...fd5a4b.jpg]
[Image: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...93f31c.jpg]
[Image: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...aa412a.jpg]
Cedarburg WI. has a large fleamarket at their fairgrounds 4 times a year called Maxwell St. Days. It's about 35 miles from home and I used to go to it religiously until a few years ago when it started going downhill. This was the first fleamarket I ever went to. My parents took me when I was 13 or 14 in 1979 and this is where I bought my first cathedral radio. It was a very beat up Philco 38 battery set, with delaminating cabinet and all but one tube missing. the seller told me he used to listen to the Green Hornet on this set and he sold it to me for $5 bucks!!I remember being the proudest kid there carrying my new prize back to the car even though my mom thought i was nuts!! At that time I didn't know anything about electronics so restoring it to working order was beyond me, but I used to dream about getting to play again. Fast forward to today. I've stopped going to that fleamarket just because it isn't what it used to be and I find that very depressing. Also the weather was supposed to be crappy so, why bother?! Well, i got up this morning and had my dog out for her run. It wasn't raining and there was clear sky in the distance, so that little voice in my head kept saying "just go there and look", so off I went! It's a beautiful Fall drive down there anyway. Well I get there and it's pretty much what i expected, lots of empty vendor spaces and junk sellers, so i'm shooting through it pretty quick when LO and behold! In a space not very far from my original find there is a vendor with another Philco 38 cathedral! Except that this one is in MUCH better shape and even has all of it's tubes! So I go over to see what kind of whacked out price they are asking and the sticker says $65. Not bad, but I was thinking more like $55 so after looking it over I ask the seller what his best price was and he said "$50", SOLD!!!! Now I know that a Philco 38 battery set isn't the most exciting radio in the world, but still, it's in pretty decent shape with all of it's tubes, it's worth what I paid in itself, But, for the chance to walk down memory lane and feel like a 13 year old kid again, even if only for a little while, it's worth even more. Here are some pics.
[Image: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...fd5a4b.jpg]
[Image: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...93f31c.jpg]
[Image: http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q500...aa412a.jpg]
