too late

[sampson159]

i just got back from a little jaunt to the west side.i ran into an old friend and he asked if i was still interested in old tvs.i said yes and he took me to the other side of town for look.an aquaintance had 2 roundies!one zenith and one admiral.they looked to be in the 1963-64 vintage.both were trashed.chassis'tuners,yoke,all gone.crts were busted and the cabinets were kicked in.culprit was a scrapper and said those sets brought him 35.00!can you believe it?35.00 to destroy these once great treasures?he even went so far to say one worked but couldnt get anything but snow on the screen and the other one had a arcing in it.i am sick as i type this.i guess ignorance is bliss.of course he was watching his 32 inch sanyo with cable,so these had to be obsolete.i am very depressed and although i pride myself on being a tough old guy,i almost came to tears.

[jeyurkon]

That is a sad story. I don't blame you for being depressed. I was pretty depressed to find out that I missed that 1949 Sylvania Console in Columbus for $55. I keep hoping to hear that you or someone else who appreciates old TV's got it so that I'd know it was in good hands instead of being turned into something else.

John

[sampson159]

missed that one.i am downsizing,but would have saved those and 2 for some members here.that zenith looked to be a nice one with a full floor cabinet.the admiral was early american on short legs.my buddy told him to call me first if he gets anything of interest.he does clean outs for real estate and gets things fairly regular.this is the story i got.he didnt seem too bright though.maybe thats why they use him.doesnt know whats going on.again,ignorance is bliss!

[Sandy G]

Damn...Just "Damn"...(Sigh....)

[andy]

---

[GeorgeJetson]

Im sorry to hear that.
It's really sad to think how many great treasures from the past were relegated to the scrap heap by the "unenlightened" masses who believe that "ending is better than mending" they just keep moving with the times,unable to discriminate between ideas,cultures and products that have merit and worth and those which don't.

That $35 he got scrapping those tvs was probably invested in beer or a shiny new walmart DVD player,and to him it was no great loss.

You're right,"ignorance is bliss",the more stup...er "simple" you are,the easier your standards are met and the less likely you are to see or care about the problems around you and the ones you cause for others.

I am thankfull there are people who do think this "old junk" is worth saving,at least some of these sets will survive.

[miniman82]

Truth is, no one ever attached any value to these things between the time they were new and the time we decided to attach value to them because they are 'vintage'. I suspect that 8-10 years after they were bought, most people considered them trash just as they do now. Remember, we are the minority of people who still care.

[Kevin Kuehn]

Yep, consumer electronics get consumed, that was always the game plan, at least from the retail perspective. We're the ones breaking the rules, so to speak. We need to be thankful a few nice old things are still surviving.

Kevin

[50scraze]

Ive seen a few older sets trashed for scrap metal. It really is sad, great American made products scrapped for metal that ends up getting shipped to China. I guess the cycle will continue until there's not much left to scrap.....

[bgadow]

Ever the oddball, I own a '74 International pickup truck. There are hardly any around, and none around here still on the road. I did find one parked in a backyard and while it was in pretty rough shape I knew it would make a great parts truck. But I could never get together with the owner. Everyone associated with it seemed to be a flake. This had been going on for a couple years. Well, Monday this scrap hauler shows up at my office-I didn't know him from Adam. He somehow ended up with the truck and wanted to know if I'd give him $300 for it. I told him I was interested; he said once they got air in the tires he would bring it by. If I didn't want it, off to the scrapyard. Well, he never showed up so I went to check on it. He decided to bypass me and just towed it to the scrappers. What bothers me most is that the yard will not sell anything, not ever a lugnut. Supposedly the seat in that truck was just like new, and the engine had been replaced with a new one not long before it was parked. But the yard doesn't care about any of that. By now all of those parts are crushed, on the way to being turned into fenders for new Kias. As heavy as that pickup was they can probably get a half years supply out of it!

Another story, I may have mentioned-a friend of mine has been looking for a GE Monitor-Top refrigerator from the 20s/30s. He was talking with one of the local junkyard owners and they mentioned that they recently hauled one out of a house. It was in mint condition, always inside the house, and was still working like new. They promptly crushed it! To them, it's all metal.

[ctc17]

I explored an abandon minimum security prison that must have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build that was completely destroyed by scrappers. It would be the equivalent to a large high school, 2 blocks of houses and a small automotive parts manufacturing facility. And I mean DESTROYED. I know I have mentioned it a few times but it stills blows my mind.
I still see raped sets on the curb every day. These people truly believe no one wants these sets and they are doing the 'green' thing by recycling the metals and not letting them go to the landfill. Its a shame.

I guess I have become somewhat hardened and it doesnt eat at me that much any more. I will admit I dont know what it feels like to have the rent-a-center collection agency calling wanting to know where this months payment on the 48" plasma is.