[Charlie]

A lot of people collect things whether it's something new or old... baseball cards, Star Trek, famous art work, music, automobiles... the list is endless. Our fascination is with vintage television and related items.

As far as why we collect them, we probably all have different reasons... and probably also have some of the same reasons. Style by itself is enough to make one take a closer look. Sets from 40 or 50 years ago are a hell of a lot more interesting looking than today's black box. The archaic looking electronics inside make one wonder how in the world a set can make a picture. There is also a feeling of self-satisfaction knowing that we might have saved and restored a piece of our American history... kinda like someone restoring an original 1969 Dodge Charger 426 Hemi or a 1957 Chevrolet. Then there is an educational sense... some younger generations see these sets and didn't even realize there was television in the 40's or 50's. Did you realize there was television back in the 20's? It was definitely crude by today's standards, but it was there.

Do we watch these? Sure! No use in having it if you can't watch it! Most of them didn't have remote control, and the ones that did probably got lost over the years, but does it mean the set can't still be watched? Hopefully we haven't grown so lazy that we can't get our asses up off the couch to change the channel! The picture and sound doesn't come on as soon as we pull the switch... we have to wait at least a minute before everything comes online and stabilizes, but I know I for one sure ain't in that much of a hurry to see on TV that someone got shot or robbed a bank. Besides, it will just be repeated on the news for the next few days and I'm sure to see it sooner or later.

One last thing... If for no other reason, many of these old sets actually have a market value. A few months ago, many of us watched a set on eBay from the 40's reach a high bid of over $11,000. Not too shabby for some old TV set that didn't even work! Not to say we're in it for the money, but it is nice to know that we collect something that has some kind of value.