If You Want Me, Just Whistle

I have a weak spot (read "sucker") for old appliances and electronics.  I love the gadgetry (even the failed ones) the 1950's and '60's brought.  This predecessor to "The Clapper" falls in that category.

Lloyd's Portable Phonograph

I found this Lloyd's portable phonograph at a garage sale back in June.  It's a model PH-41 from 1965. I meant to blog about it much sooner since to me it brings to mind thoughts of Summer and taking your favorite stacks of vinyl to the beach or camping.  With October and the great Countdown to Halloween beginning tomorrow , this is a last ditch effort to throw it out there for your review and approval.

Longines Symphonette Turntable

My neighbor, knowing I'm a garage sale fanatic, approached me about a month ago looking for a turntable for his teenage daughter.  I didn't have anything, but told him I'd keep an eye out.  It was only a few weeks before I came across this Longines Symphonette turntable at an estate sale.  They wanted $15 for it, but the volume was spotty.  I knew it was most likely just a dirty potentiometer and easily fixed, but I played it up for a $5 discount.  A little squirt of DeoxIt and it worked great.

It's a neat little system, but certainly not state of the art, even for the late 1960's when it came out. This would have been your basic teenage starter system which fit in perfectly for the scenario I was filling.  It's strictly a turntable, no built-in tuner. It was cool looking enough to make me second guess giving it away, but in the end I did and my neighbor's daughter was ecstatic.

Tiger Rocket Pinball

Game play on this Tiger Rocket Pinball LED handheld game from 1979 is pretty basic, but I'm sure I would have enjoyed it at the time.  The trick is to press the flipper when the LED above the flipper is lit.  You can sustain a fairly long game using this method unless the "ball" comes straight down the center.

Curbside TVs

A few weeks back on my morning drive to work on Laclede Station Road in Webster Groves, I spotted these sitting at the curb ready for the trash man.  Of course I had to stop and save them.

Brother, What a Repair

One of the aspects of garage saling I enjoy is the opportunity to bring new use or life back to castoff objects.  That may mean refinishing abused furniture or a little tinkering on mechanical or electrical items to get them back to 100% (or close) operation.

The Brother stereo I bought last year fell into that category.  

Leveriffic

A couple of weeks back we had a power surge at our house.  Nothing seemed to be affected with the exception of both of our alarm clocks in our bedroom.  The odd thing was, on one the radio worked, but would not display time, the other would display time, but the radio didn't work.

Coincidentally, while out garage saling with my wife the following Saturday, she spied this 1959 RCA Victor Levermatic AM Radio/Alarm Clock.  It's a model C1E.

Transformers! More than Meets the Eye!

Well, maybe not in this case.  It is exactly what it looks like, a toy train transformer. 

I picked this up at an estate sale for a $1 last week. The seller cautioned me, "Don't plug it in!" Of course I did, but I used a really long extension cord. As it turns out, it works fine.  The label on the transformer describes the various voltages you can achieve (all ac/dc, by the way) by connecting to different combinations of the 4 contacts.  Funny thing is, it's wrong.  It states that 1 and R achieve 17 1/2 to 22 1/2 volts while 3 and R result in 5 1/2 to 10 1/2 volts.  It actually opposite of this.  Not sure if the label was wrong or it's just my particular tranformer that was wired incorrectly.  Here's a 1928 ad for the transformer:



When Christmas comes, I'll be trying out this transformer on my Lionel train.

Great Moments in Garage Sale History

Welcome to the first installment of "Great Moments in Garage Sale History History History!" wherein I take time to profile a favorite or odd piece from a past garage sale adventure.

First up is the Philco Nine Transistor Radio.



When I think of Philco's, I tend to think of large 30's and 40's console tube radios. That's why I was surprised when I saw this transistor version for $1 at a garage sale. The owner, who was close to 60 said it was his when he was a kid. It's not the transistor radio I've come to expect, ie: small. This thing is relatively huge. 7 inches tall, 3 1/2 inches wide, 2 inches deep. I've been unable to identify this radio on the internet, but I would put it at late 40's/early 50's based on it's size.





It's made in Japan and takes 4 AA batteries that fit into a battery pack connected to a 9V battery connector. Works great.

Handheld Electronic Games

I was at an estate sale today in South St. Louis county off of Mueller Road (Foulk Road to be exact). This estate sale was restricted to the basement. It apparently had opened on Friday (lots of estate sales do, although I believe it's a recent development) and that's another reason I dislike them -- I'm usually unable to attend on their opening day and miss the best stuff. But I did manage to pick up a few items including a Halloween Pumpkin candy carrier to add to my collection and a set of 3 NOS (new old stock for you not in the know) Super 8mm film reels with cases, still sealed with Target price tag (25 cents on clearance). I also found a couple of vintage Dr. Pepper soda crates. I'll keep one to hang on the wall as a shelf and probably eBay the other.

The best find was a group of vintage handheld eletronic games: The unfortunately-named Atari Touch Me, a Parker Brothers Split Second game (the design twin of the popular Merlin) and a Coleco Zap!

Touch Me and Zap! both work great. I haven't been able to test Split Second yet as it takes 6(!) AA batteries.

Atari Touch Me