VOLUME 17               MARCH 2000                NUMBER  3

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

From Antique Radio Classified for March 2000
(Copyright 1996-2000 by John V. Terrey - For personal use only.)

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

Perhaps it's the urge to break out of winter hibernation that has sent us either across the "Pond" or the U.S. border for many of our March articles. Our topics move from England, to Canada, and back to England, with the U. S. mixed in here and there. Also, both English and Austrian sets are included in Photo Review, so we appear to be on a little international tour.

To begin with, our cover is cause to look to the article on Jonathan Hill's National Vintage Communications Fair (NVCF) in Birmingham, England, where the rare set pictured will be exhibited April 30. What is the "secret" of this particular set? To find out, you'll have to read the article about the fair, but hints are allowed.

The secret has to do with a major tragedy of continuing interest around the world. Reading about this largest British fair and this elaborate 1910 set may give you the perfect excuse for a spring trip to England.

Then you can turn your attention to Canada and our lead story of the Canadian Independent Telephone Co., Ltd., contributed by Robert Murray and Herb Frederickson. Here we jump to the 1920s and a short-lived company that, oddly enough, appears to have made only three radio models, now highly collectible. This interesting article describes these sets and relates the company history.

Swinging back across the Atlantic, we pick up on Bill Moore's report on another event in England -- the prestigious British Vintage Wireless Society Meet in Harpenden, just north of London. This short event, steeped in tradition and full of frantic activity, is one not to be missed when it comes 'round again.

Scanning the article pages, you might conclude that the topics in general are a little different. For example, Gerald Schneider is not really a middle-of-the-road collector. He has found a way to collect and not turn his house into a museum. Instead, his radios are built into usable furniture that is both practical and aesthetically pleasing to him and his wife. Seems like a plan that might keep non-collector members of any household happy.

The Stanton's Auctioneers' report on the September auction of James Nevin's phonograph collection continues the "little different" theme. Although radio folks may not collect phonographs, they are often asked about their value. The grand total of this auction -- over $300,000 -- is certainly impressive. On the other hand, it is still short of the $600,000 of the extraordinary Henry Ford Museum radio auction in October 1995 -- one set there went for $49,000.

Dick Parks takes us in another direction with his article on modern implementations of old radio circuits. Using multifunctional tubes and reflex circuits, he even built a superheterodyne receiver with a single tube. Read on for ideas and inspirations for your own tinkering in these waning days of winter.

A publishing project that Floyd Paul has been working on since 1988 is the subject of Alan Douglas' book review. Los Angeles Radio Manufacturing, The First Twenty Years, Supplement No. 2 is Paul's third book on LA radio manufacturers, each one adding more information to the basic research. Many of you may be surprised to know that you have LA sets in your collections. Do the names Gilfillan, Jackson-Bell, Echophone, Wireless Shop, and Breting, among others, ring any bells?

Photo Review features a variety of interesting items, from the English and Austrian sets mentioned earlier to pocket transistor radios. Radio Miscellanea announces a Steinite Exhibit in Atchison, Kansas, asks some probing questions, and includes comments on our Web site.

The Internet. The target date for releasing our new "Marketplace" on the Web is March 1. Among the many features this service will offer are secure credit card transactions and a shopping cart system by which you can order back issues and retrieve items by category; for example, if you click on "Price Guides," all of the price guides we sell will come up for you to make a choice. Most of you know that we stock everything we sell and ship by the next business day. These new features, of course, are in addition to the plethora of information already available to you.

Coming Radio Events. Spring is in the air with over 40 meets listed for the month of March. Check out the following: the Delaware Valley Historic Radio Club (DVHRC) Super Wintermeet 2000 in Havertown, Pennsylvania, on March 4; the Buckeye Antique Radio & Phonograph Club (BARPC) spring auction in Brunswick, Ohio, on March 5; and the Vintage Radio & Phonograph Society (VRPS) spring auction in Grapevine, Texas, on March 18. If you're looking for something that lasts a little longer, try the Carolinas Chapter of the AWA's (CC-AWA) 24th Annual Spring Meet, March 23-25, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Go out and celebrate spring with your local antique radio club; you'll be glad you did.

Happy Collecting.

John V. Terrey, Editor

ON THE COVER

Our cover photo was sent by Jonathan Hill with his press release about the National Vintage Communications Fair in Birmingham, England. This unique 1910 crystal receiver will be on display at the fair. Found by an antique dealer and now in a private collection, the set has an unusual history related in the article on the event.