Is this a joke...

[OrthoFan]

or what?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0116949220

[gramophoneshane]

LOL. I think you're paying $100 for the set, and $99,900 for the sales pitch
It's remarkably similar to a 1955 HMV radiogram I have, right down to the metal latice over the grille cloth. The main difference is the HMV has a stationary lid, and you pull the handles for access to the radio & gram.

[1926CredenzaOwner]

!

[Viva-Tonal]

In the words of Mr T--'I pity the fool' who would actually pay anywhere near that kind of money for that thing. I don't think even an E H Scott Quaranta would go for that much!

[MordEth]

Wow. The sales pitch is so fantastical in its ‘might have been’s that it should be saved for posterity. You know you’re a sucker if you pay $100,000 for something that ‘might have belonged’ to someone famous without any sort of provenance other than penciled marks on it that don’t actually say anything definitive.

I cleaned up his atrocious spelling, and linked a number of items that he mentions, for anyone trying to follow along with this rambling attempt at selling history.

— MordEth

[hr][/hr]

eBay Item #220116949220

Majestic radio/phono antique. Entertainment history!!

1930's Majestic radio show Master of mystery!!! rare!

Buy It Now: US $100,000.00
Item location: Killeen, TX, United States
Seller: everettwatson (348)
Feedback: 99.3% positive

TO HEAR IT PLAY HIT THE LINK BELOW!!!!!!!!!

http://www.watson-build.com/MAJESTIC.htm

This is a radio that will transport you back in time. Majestic used to be Grisby-Grunow (1928). It was reformed into Majestic in 1933. They also owned Columbia Records. Columbia was sold for $75,000 (by Gribsy). Columbia is now owned by Sony. The Grisby fortune still exists today. Majestic records was de-established in 1948. Beitman’s Radio Diagrams (Volume 1) lists the Superhetrodyne¹ receiver as being made in 1916. This system destroyed the competition. There really was no T.V. if it was it was silent. Jane Froman was a silent film star/singer that was sponsored by Majestic. The radio sounds like the surround sound of today. The phono was very new. Very few stations were around. The dial² on the radio lists countries like England and Morocco³, France and Australia⁴. Besides of having all of the top rated stars of the airwaves on their record label; Majestic had the best radio/phonograph in the business. Not only that the company was run by the infamous Mayor of New York James Walker who was better known as Beau James. The company was rich, as was the Mayor of New York. The Mayor life was featured and Bob Hope played the infamous Mayor. This was the actual record player sold by the company run by Mayor James Walker (Beau James). This was hand constructed with the finest materials available. This finest sound with the best stars, bands and orchestras coming through the speakers run by a Mayor who was just as rich and famous as the stars. The best of the best in the times of ’29. This was also a short wave radio. You could listen to the war or listen to music. The world was being fought for at that time and the people would tune in to see who was winning. This radio was the top of the line. Majestic monarch of the airwaves. You had to have money to have a combo radio phono in the ’20s and ’30s. The radio station itself was a phenomena. The turn table is like a crushed velvet. Very plush. It has a huge speaker. It has an automatic record changer! The sound is excellent. It is a beautiful cabinet⁵. The dial is glass with large white letters and numbers. The glass is surrounded by a large brass trim with small circles that resemble records on the brass. Each record symbol is in exceptional condition. The name of the company is clearly readable. The names for each button operation is clear and in exceptional condition. The plastic knobs are in great shape. The radio and record player work. The handles on the cabinet are brass or gold colored with copper back plates. The matching grill on the front of the cabinet and grill cloth is in great condition. The wood is a red cherry colored mahogany. All of the wood is original except the top layer on one side of the cabinet. The back of the cabinet is finished. 97% of the parts are original. I have not replaced any parts at all. The names of the countries on the dial are clear and very easy to read. The braces on the cabinet tops are copper, with 2 brass rivets and 1 copper rivet. They appear to have been assembled by hand. They have the name jamestown wk (logo) stamped on each brace. The label on the cabinet is clearly readable. It has a manufacturing location of Elgin, Illinois. The Majestic company that built this radio expanded to Elgin, Illinois. They were in business for less than one year and went bankrupt. That information came from the Elgin Historical Society or Elgin Museum. They had no more information on the Majestic company. These were built by hand. It does not appear that many were made. The felt on the phono table is in great condition. The arms that hold the next record to be played are in great shape. These were a style that does not exist on phonos found in the past or present. The surface on the turntable is spotless. It is brown in color like the numbers and record symbols on the brass name plate and trim. Part of the upper trim that goes around the cabinet had to be replaced. The trim that surrounds the grill is all original. It has been 97% restored to its original condition. It has been kept original as possible. It looks great. Majestic sponsored a radio series called “Majestic Master of Mystery”. It featured stories like “The Witches Tale” and the witch was played by stage actress Adelaide Fitz-Allen. Other stories were The Whistler, The Strange Dr. Weird, The Hermit’s Cave and The Mysterious Traveler. A full play came from the series called “Phantom Spoilers” which was about characters of death. One of the hosts that worked for the series sponsored by Majestic met Hollywood producer Arch Oboler whom said that Wyllis Cooper was an innovative genius. That was N.B.C. Staffer Wyllis Cooper the first master of radio horror!!! He wrote the famous radio series “Lights Out”. Hollywood producer Arch Oboler took over Wyllis Coopers’ radio job when Wyllis Cooper went to Hollywood. Arch Oboler eventually went to Hollywood and there he became a producer. Both were on the Majestic airwaves. They both probably had one of these given to them by Majestic’s owner. The intro to the radio programs would start with this “In the majesty of motion, from the boundless everywhere, comes the magic name—Majestic...Mighty monarch of the air!” This radio could have been owned by Wyllis Cooper, Charlie Chan⁶, or some other rich and famous actor or Texas oil baron. There was no T.V. when this was made. Only the wealthy could afford an item like this or you were given one because you were in the entertainment business. There are no signatures on this piece of furniture. There are some notations on the chassis. They are written in pencil. The shop or owners name would be hard to determine from the notations alone. The pencil notations are very, very readable. They have been left undisturbed. This is a piece of furniture. Not just a plain old radio. The was a 1946 multi-purpose entertainment system. Shortwave radio (S.W.). The countries not on the dial are Great Britain⁷ and Germany! Most of the countries on the dial were invaded by Germany. I believe that Germany was not allowed to broadcast. Shortwave was important. Broadcast channels (B.C.)! There were not many entertainment stations around in the thirties. Majestic produced the radio and the radio show. The record player! The artists! Jane Froman, Gershwin⁸, Welk, Eckstine⁹, Goodman, Dorsey¹⁰, and others were found on Majestic records. If you could afford a record? If you were not listening to the entertainment center it was a very very lovely showpiece. Brass and copper handles! Matching brass colored grill! Gold grill cloth! Polished, fine grain, Red Mahogany stained wood! Copper hood supports! Brass rivets! Brass trim around the dial! Felt turn table! These were hand made! Majestic records was run by the Ex-Mayor of New York Jimmy Walker. His nickname was Beau James, Teddy Roosevelt¹¹ was Governor of New York at the time. Mayor Jimmy Walker had to leave New York because of pressure from Teddy Roosevelt. He fled to Europe. Mayor Jimmy walker came back to New York and married chorus girl Betty Compton. This is a priceless item. This Majestic company does not exist any longer. The world was being fought for when this radio was built. You could tune it in if you had the money. Teddy Roosevelt, Truman, and other types of individuals would come across the airwaves. Majestic was the dominant company back then before the war ban on manufacturing. The demand was there but people did not have the money to by the high priced Majestic. The old saying that life was harder than the times of 1929 was true. The stock market fell. Majestic was building. The radio was still developing during the Great Depression¹². At that time Majestic was the top of the line. A new car cost $500.00 to $625.00 in the ’20s and ’30s. A radio in the car cost $50.00 dollars more. 12 radios cost the same as a new car. That is how valuable the radio was. Majestic Radio and phono cost about ¼th the value of a new car. There was not too many items as valuable during this era. The demand was there but the money was not. This was the best of the best. Model number 8s473. Chassis number 8410. It shows in Beitman and Sam’s as being made in 1946. The company expanded in Elgin and went under in 1946. Less than a year. They were also to make 1.5 million records a month the same year they opened in Elgin and did not; Daily Courier News May 5, 1985. The Superheterodyne receiver was used by Majestic and no other company had that technology. It was marketed in 1926 by Grisby-Grinow. They called Mayor James (beau James) Walker the night Mayor. He is the only Mayor in history to run a record company (Majestic), be mayor of a city (New York), and write songs for the same company (Majestic) and sing for the company (Majestic). Mayor James Walker won the Mayor race over Fiorello La Guardia¹³ (La Guardia Airport). After he left office under pressure from Governor Roosevelt, Fiorello La Guardia eventually won the Mayor’s office. After Fiorello La Guardia was elected as Mayor of New York he hired Ex-Mayor James (Beau James) Walker as an arbiter for the City of New York. This phonograph was the last ever produced by Majestic. No other Majestic product ever hit the consumer market after the company closed. The last minted. You would have to contact the Majestic stockholders to see what other models were produced¹⁴. 6 months of production. This model has a unique Record changer, Wood cabinet, 2 tone knobs and a coated brass or copper grill. All original. Unlike the Mona Lisa (a painting owned by the French government) whose history goes back 4 centuries. A painting of a reported madam by some and a happy lady by others? The wife of a wealthy individual! Some say Mona is short for Madonna or madam? Madam Lisa! That painting was actually rescued during World War One or Two! The painting was escorted to safety and returned when the coast was clear. It hangs in the Louvre. They say there is another Mona Lisa but people say it is not authentic. A full length nude of the same lady. A colorful history! There is a lot more history than that. This Majestic is not the Mona Lisa. The history of Majestic is very, very colorful as the man that ran the company. Intrigue, wealth, mystery, sex, scandal and Hollywood. An 18 million dollar record deal gone awry. An ambitious songwriter and a Broadway starlet. It was this year, this model, the last of its line, a infamous Mayor with a famous wife at the peak of the broadcast era with major breakthroughs coming in the television industry. Majestic has past ties to the wealthy Sony corporation. It will increase in value over the years to come. I was in New York at the World Trade Center volunteering at ground zero. New York is alive today as it was in 2001. Singing in the subway! Time square is lit up 24 hours a day! The new H.B.O. headquarters! The delis and bistros! There is Broadway. I would bet there are over 100 theaters in New York. The is a big theater called Majestic! It’s the dough! Good food, wine and song around the clock! It never sleeps! When Mayor James (beau James) Walker ran New York under Teddy Roosevelt, New York was something else!

To hear it play or for more info on this Majestic radio, go to my website at:

http://www.watson-build.com/MAJESTIC.htm

There is also a link on the services pages that reads MAJESTIC. Press either link and you will get to hear the radio and phonograph play!

[hr][/hr]
¹ Misspelled as ‘superhetrodyne’ and later as ‘superhetradyne’.
² Repeatedly written as ‘dail’, which sounds horribly hillbilly when pronounced mentally.
³ This was after ‘Morroco’ traded an ‘r’ for a ‘c’ to become the place it is today.
⁴ According to the seller, Marcel, Mario, Shane and others actually live in ‘Austraila’.
⁵ Consistently spelled ‘cabinent’ so many times it’s painful to read. Part of the $100,000 asking price has been allotted to teach the seller how to spell or use spell-check.
⁶ Which would have been very impressive considering that he was a fictional character.
⁷ Perhaps Steve or Richard could explain what relation the seller’s ‘Brittain’ has to the nation in which they reside.
⁸ This actually was ‘Gershwinn’ according to the seller; I have no clue if this is intended to refer to George, Ira or both of the Gershwin brothers.
⁹ I believe that the ‘Ekstine’ to which the seller is referring actually has a ‘c’ in his name. Wikipedia seems to agree.
¹⁰ Is this Jimmy, Tommy or both?
¹¹ Persistently misspelled as ‘Rosevelt’.
¹² Actually described as being the ‘geat depression’, which was not covered in any of my history classes.
¹³ Repeatedly misspelled as ‘Fiorello Lagardia’.
¹⁴ Which I’m sure would be a Herculean feat considering the company no longer exists and I doubt records still survive regarding who their shareholders were.

[hr][/hr]

[Viva-Tonal]

Grigsby-Grunow was the company, not Grisby or Gribsy, or Grisby-Grinow.

Superheterodyne is the name of the circuit.

I wonder if the idiot who wrote the original has never heard of paragraphs?

[JohnM]

I wonder if the idiot who wrote the original has never heard of paragraphs?

The little Dickens!

[B.B.B]

Can you imagine the insertion fee the seller has to pay for this madness

[larryh]

I can't recall what it was, but some other rather common item was recently listed in the thousands and worth about 5.00. I emailed the fellow that ran a Edison Disc by Prihoda at 1,200.00 or so. I see it is finally down to near 65.00 after running for months. I told him I had just purchased the same record for about 4.00 but he couldn't care less. Yes he is still paying the listing fees which eventually are going to cost more than the record is worth.


Larry

[Viva-Tonal]

Can you imagine the insertion fee the buyer has to pay for this madness

Fixed.