[jt1stcav]

Besides you, Paula, my mom is the only other woman I know that even knows what a vacuum tube is, let alone appreciates them and the equipment that uses them. Though she's not technically inclined, she does know a 5U4G from a 6K6G!

When she was a little girl in the early '40s, her folks had an old Philco AM/Shortwave/Police band console radio that she loved dearly. In the early '50s they bought their first TV and the radio sat in the basement for years, neglected and alone. When my mom married my dad in '60, her parents later cleaned house and the radio was sold, unbeknownst to her.

For years my mom was always on the lookout for another Philco console that resembled the '37 model her parents had...since my dad has a little business on the side restoring antique tube radios, finding "diamonds in the rough" that have any potential for restoration don't always make their presence known, or you stumble across them when you least expect it. After all these years, my mom discovered the same model Philco her parents owned at an antique shop in NH...it was in ratty shape, but doable (the wood cabinet cleaned up perfectly, so no finishing was ever needed, and looks nearly new)! My dad completely repaired and restored the radio last year, and now my mom proudly uses it everyday listening to an oldies station there in Hartford! It brings back those fond childhood memories when her family gathered 'round the ol' Philco listening to Amos & Andy!