The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

As some of you already know, my father passed away this year. He was a radioman during WWII, worked as a radio repairman prior to marrying my mother in 1949, and collected antique radios.

My mother contacted an antique radio club to which he belonged to see if they were interested in buying his radios. (I live halfway across the country from my mother, so I found this information out after-the-fact.)

They asked her a number of questions about the radios, which of course, she knew nothing about (as it was my father's passion and not her own).

I can just visualize somebody salivating at the thought of potentially picking up some sweet antique radios at a clueless widow's price...

I will be out there in California over the Christmas holidays, and thought perhaps I could handle some of the details for her. That said, I know nothing about antique radio societies, nor reputable sources for determining reasonable selling prices.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Surely a number of you do not limit your collecting to phonographs/gramophones (or old fans ) exclusively...

I'd appreciate any input or advice.

Tink,

I can't help with the radios, but I want to send you my sincere condolences for your loss.

George P.

http://philcoradio.com/phorum/

Tink you may try this site - its mainly antique Philco but the site is robust and discuss all tube type radios.

Hi Tinker, there are probably 10 times as many antique radio collectors in this country as there are for phonographs. The leading national group of radio collectors is the Antique Wireless Association. Here's their website:

http://www.antiquewireless.org/

The AWA has chapters located near most major cities in the US, and they have meets, conventions, and flea markets sponsored by many of the local chapters. I suggest getting in touch with the chapter nearest your father's collection and asking how you should best market his collection. Also, googling "antique radio" will turn up LOTS of links to other organizations. You should have no trouble finding help in selling your father's treasures.

Tinker,

The collection is in California so try contacting one of the board members at one of these radio clubs:

Southern California Antique Radio Society
http://www.antiqueradios.org/

California Historical Radio Club
http://www.californiahistoricalradio.com/

Most radio clubs will be more than happy to help you dispose of the collection, most have a yearly auction that they are always looking for good items to sell. The local club I belong to will buy radios outright or will work with the estate to consign to our radio auction at the Kutztown radio meet.

And you are right, there will always be the unscrupulous buyer out there looking to "steal" a treasure. You need to do your homework, so you are prepared when the fox is in the henhouse.

Chuck

I visit this website daily, mostly for research and have made a few friends trading and asking for help. I would highly recommend checking it out.

http://antiqueradios.com/

The ARF is certainly the best radio forum I'm aware of, & the sheer number of daily posts is mind boggling.
There are quite a few fellows there who are extremely knowledgable & helpful, but you'll find very few are willing to offer advise on values, and I suppose our recent Ball Game record thread is a perfect example why.
It's also difficult to value anything sight unseen, as you have to take into account the condition- how restored or unrestored the cabinet & chassis are, and even location, so you would probably need to state where the radios are, and provide pictures of the cabinet, and both the top & underside of the chassis' to get accurate valuations.
That can be a lot of work, particularly if you fathers collection is quite large.

I think what you need to start by doing, is listing the brand and model numbers of everything, and then do a lot of web surfing so you can identify what's desirable (like a Scott or "Waltons" radio) and what's not, and see if you can find the sale prices of the same models in the same general condition, & if possible a similar location.
Of course ebay is always a good place to start for this, as are various personal & business website, and even forum classified sections. The ARF is particularly good as a forum rule is that the asking price must be listed, but they do occasionally clear out the sold items, so there's not a huge data base for values there.

Personally, I like Greg and Chucks suggestions above because I think you would obtain a fair price across the board, and have less chance of being taken advantage of. And of course, with a little bit of research & knowledge that's less likely to happen too.
It's unfortunate, but in this situation, and in every field of collecting, there are always a few vultures circling and ready to swoop.

I'd also like to offer my condolences to you and your family for your loss. It's never easy to deal with.
I lost my father back in 88, I still have my occasional bad days. This year I've come very close to loosing my mum twice too, which hasn't helped, so I truly feel for you.
Good luck with it all Tinkers, and all the best!

Thank you, EVERYONE, for your kind words and your invaluable insights and advice... you've given me a lot to chew on.

I do realize that much like phonographs, much is dictated not only by make/model, but item condition. As I have come to know and trust a number of you here on this forum, I thought there would be many of you who would be able to provide me with terrific and reliable guidance... all of you certainly came through.

I have my homework cut out for me, I believe, when I get back to CA. That said, it's quite possible "something" from the collection may wind up getting boxed up and shipped back to my own home. Somehow, I think my father would have liked knowing one of the radios he held so dear stayed in the family.

Again, thank you.

After you do your research and see what your Dad really had, you might need to rent a truck for the trip home! Radios can be addicting too.
Antique Radio Forum is a great website which is packed with information, references and a great bunch of helpful people. I'm there all of the time (as phonojim)and have picked up a great deal of knowledge even after a career as an electronics tech. In fact, that forum is partially to blame for my renewed interest in radio collecting.

Jim

phonojim wrote:After you do your research and see what your Dad really had, you might need to rent a truck for the trip home! Radios can be addicting too.
Antique Radio Forum is a great website which is packed with information, references and a great bunch of helpful people. I'm there all of the time (as phonojim)and have picked up a great deal of knowledge even after a career as an electronics tech. In fact, that forum is partially to blame for my renewed interest in radio collecting.

Jim

Thank you, Jim... I will definitely be checking all of the resources out.

While it's entirely possibly I may bring something home, I don't think it would be prudent to acquire a new addiction, unless I want to risk losing a husband in the process!