Location, Location, Location

[bgadow]

It makes sense that the really old stuff would only be found where the earliest TV stations were on the air-the coast, basically, and then the other principal cities. Large swaths of America were out of TV range for a lot of years.

I live in a rural area, and it was much more rural back around 1947-yet a good rooftop antenna could pick up D.C.

Some areas had homes with more storage than others. With farmsteads and big houses, basements and attics, you can store all those old radios and tv sets. Big difference at the other extreme, an apartment in the city. But maybe easier to get rid of a set in the country, too, as you could just haul it to the dump pile in the woods.

[marty59]

My area is still very young and continuing to grow. I'll avoid your "Conservative-Liberal" rationale. But I can tell you that around here, basements are pretty much non-existant given the soil conditions and folks don't have stuff in newer developments. You get into some older neighborhoods where the population is "turning over" and some treasures can be found. And with the temperature extremes here if something was stored in an uncontrolled environment such as an attic or shed then it's chance of survival is bad. An attached garage may be better.. IMO there isn't much of an "Abundance" of stuff to be found, but things do show up and timing is everything!

[jeyurkon]

Originally Posted by bgadow

It makes sense that the really old stuff would only be found where the earliest TV stations were on the air-the coast, basically, and then the other principal cities. Large swaths of America were out of TV range for a lot of years.

I live in a rural area, and it was much more rural back around 1947-yet a good rooftop antenna could pick up D.C.

Some areas had homes with more storage than others. With farmsteads and big houses, basements and attics, you can store all those old radios and tv sets. Big difference at the other extreme, an apartment in the city. But maybe easier to get rid of a set in the country, too, as you could just haul it to the dump pile in the woods.

I grew up in the western border of PA in the sticks. In the early 50s we received stations from Youngstown Ohio, Pittsburgh PA and Cleveland Ohio with a rotatable antenna and booster. Lots of knobs for a kid to play with!

We had 5 acres with dump at the rear. Same with my neighbors and I would find electronics in theirs.

I too have been trying to figure out why some areas seem devoid of vintage sets. It doesn't seem very simple.

John