I've found the Mother Lode!!!

[truetone36]

I recently moved back to Arkansas and I work for my landlord. Turns out the guy's a major packrat who has saved EVERYTHING imagineable for almost 50 years. Well, his wife has told him that a lot of it has to go or she will. When he found out about my hobby, he gave me all the t6.v.s and audio gear he has stowed away in several old houses and a few large barns (he has SIX very large barns on his property as well as four houses used for storage). I
have brought home some of the t.v.s and its gonna take awhile to get them home. He has given me over 100 t.v. sets!! Here's what I've brought home so far...
21" Zenith B/W Space Command, late 50's
Philco Briefcase 19" portable
C. 1959 Truetone 17" B/W portable
21" RCA New Vista Tabletop set
21" RCA New Vista B/W console (KCS-132)
Zenith color roundie
Zenith Chromacolor II 19" tabletop set
Zenith CC2 chassis
plus several recent sets ( 80's/90's)

He told me he has about a dozen sets with round screens somewhere, so I may finally get a Zenith porthole or two, of course I won't complain if they turn out to be color roundies. My landlord is 88 yrs. old and has ammassed a collection of stuff that simply boggles the mind.

[Tony V]

Sounds awesome! You going to take pics to share with us?
-Tony

[bgadow]

Oh, boy! You did good! An instant collection. Gotta love guys like that-that'll probably be a lot of us someday.

[Sandy G]

Ooooooh, I HATE you !! You lucky Dawg !! (grin)

[truetone36]

It's always been drought or deluge for me as far as finding anything. I can go for months on end without so much as getting a lead on anything, and all at once I make a haul like this. Aside from the t.v.s there are quite a few console hi-fi sets and a lot of old radios as well. I'm gonna be busy for a long time on this stuff, I think.

[truetone36]

Well, I'm going this afternoon to pick up some of the t.v.s. I've got to pick up some lumber and cinder blocks (I'm enlarging my storage building) and there are 3 RCAs that I'm bringing home today. Two 50's 21" tabletop sets and a late 60's color console. My wife is out of town today so she won't see me bringing the console in. I like them, but "console" is a dirty word to my wife.
I'm gonna try to get a camera soon so I can post pics of all this, as well as a list of what's here when I get it all home and know what I have. I haven't even seen 90% of it yet as these sets are stacked and buried everywhere on the property. There's a lot of parts, too.

[ybaolywa]

[Dan Starnes]

Wow,, good for you!!
Dan

[Eric H]

Very cool, please keep us posted!

[MRX37]

Well, there is only one phraise I can think of to describe this:

HOLY SHIT!!!

[Phil Nelson]

Sounds like the score of a lifetime! When you get around to the radios, you can send me a PM with makers & model numbers -- I have been collecting them a lot longer than TVs and could help you sort the sheep from the goats.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

[truetone36]

Well, the RCA's are home, as well as 2 Zenith consoles and a Silvertone hi-fi combo. The only thing keeping my wife from strangling me is the fact that I have a good-sized building behind the house, which I am in the process of redoind and enlarging. I have access to all the building materials I need to make the building as large as I need to. I don't think I'll hunt for any more stuff for awhile after getting this all home though. I'm going to have a busy summer bringing this in and testing everything, and making any needed repairs. I also have some basket cases in this batch to salvage usable parts from. When I'm through I think the building's gonna be stacked to the rafters.
I'm still in awe of the size of this haul, I've never run across anything like this before in my life. This guy has 20 acres around his house with sheds, 3 old mobile homes, and 1 old farmhouse and they're all full of stuff. He also has 2 store buildings (he used to sell used furniture and appliances) packed so full you can barely walk through them. There's a console stereo in the old store with a R2R in it that I can't wait to get home, as well as some late 50's Zenith tabletop sets. The Space Command and the Philco I have at home came out of there. He also has a large barn across from my house that he still hasn't opened for me yet, and no telling what's in there. This is truly turning out to be a great treasure hunt!

[truetone36]

I brought a RCA 21" set home today. It's chassis number is KCS-136Y, so early 60's or so? Also brought in 2 radios and a suitcase portable phonograph.
There's a really old house on his property that's built on a hillside and is built on blocks. It's tall enough to stand up under the rear of it, and it's crammed full of stuff. I'm going under there with a flashlight this weekend as that's where I found the stuff I brought home today and he says there's a lot more there. BTW, the radios are a RCA battery set from the 40's and a Atwater Kent 55C.

[Hemingray]

Goodness! Good luck with those!

Had a guy next town over disposing of a lot of old electronics, I was able to rescue a modern-day (1991) Magnavox 13" and a Pioneer SX-1250 (see my topic in the Pioneer audio forum)

[truetone36]

More goodies...3 Zenith consoles, an Admiral console, 4 more 50's tube radios, 3 boxes of LPs, and a large box of NOS yokes. I've found a Philco console in one of the barns, and I'll get it home as soon as I clear a path to the doorway to get it out. These buildings have paths a foot wide through them, every barn and storage building is full to the rafters with everything imaginable, as my landlord has been hoarding stuff since the 40's! I'll be moving things out a little faster now 'cause I bought 2 vehicles from him (the landlord) and can now haul more home at a time.