Weird Phone Call

A young lady called me this morning asking me if I repurpose my old radios. I politely told her I restore and I don't turn them into something else. The idea of restoring must have seemed foreign to her by the time we got off the phone I would like to know gave her my phone number, she would not say.

Sometimes it's like striking up a conversation with someone that just landed their UFO. They just stand with a blank look and you can tell they are mentally trying to knock the corners off your peg to fit in their round holes. They make up these words as they go along, disregard history or the English language and try to force these misnomers into the exchange. I try to keep things as they should be in the hope they get their head pulled out one of these days and use the real language.

I see many antique radios, TV's, even wind up victrolas on ebay where they recommend repurpose. Yet, the prices are usually high.
Years ago, I found a yuck, repurposed Edison Standard cylinder phonograph. they mounted the lid on the hinges, painted the outside white, and, called it a jewelry box. I stripped it, took lid off hinges, and, sold it to a parts dealer I knew.....
I hate when people do that.....

If a person wants "something else" he should buy a "something else" and leave our old electronics alone.

In fairness, I own a John Deere green Philco 40-180 and a pink Sparton 880.  In both cases, the paint was applied right over the old finish.  Again in both cases, I scraped all the crap off and they both refinished nicely.  Sometimes "repurposing" does not kill, it just adds more challenge to the restoration.



WC