Antiques

I was thinking today about my all time favorite childhood Christmas gift, a turquoise and white portable radio that I received from my parents, aka Santa.   I couldn’t remember how old I was when I received it, so I went online and found one just like it (except for color) at Old Radio Classified on sale for $45.  It turns out it was a 1957 General Electric 672 Portable Radio.   By modern standards, this beauty was anything but portable, measuring 14″x10″x3″ and weighing in at about six pounds.    I remember walking through the neighborhood on Christmas day in the freezing weather with my new toy on my shoulder, probably playing Jingle Bell Rock, which came out in the same year.   I’d been warned by my mother not to play it loud enough to bother anyone but as soon as I was out of earshot of my house, I turned it up to full volume.    That is the only time I remember taking the radio out of my bedroom because in addition to its weight, it had another flaw.   The 672 was a tube radio, and therefore required about two and a half pounds of batteries like the ones shown on the right to operate as a portable.   A set of batteries would only last for several hours of playing time and cost too much to be replaced regularly on my $1.00 a week allowance.  But for one cold December afternoon, I was the coolest guy on the street.

So, my favorite childhood gift is an antique and I’m thirteen years older.    Looking in the mirror, I’m quite a bit heavier than the newer models and I’m getting more expensive to maintain.   I’m glad my wife has decided to keep me around instead of putting me on Old Guy Classified for $45.

Explore posts in the same categories: feeling older

Tags: holidays, marriage, Monday smiles, music

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