I was mentally transported back to my childhood when I came across this picture on Gab the other day. (Clickit to biggit.)
My late father had the identical radio in his study in Cape Town, South Africa, during my formative years. Many's the evening I'd go in there to find him smoking his pipe, the aromatic blend of American and Turkish tobacco slowly turning the white paintwork of the door frame and the white plastic of the radio buttons to brown as he puffed contentedly. He'd turn on the radio, and we'd wait patiently for the valves inside to warm up and reach operating temperature; then he'd tune the radio to the short-wave BBC signal, and we'd listen through the crackling of the static and the howl of competing signals to a calm, patrician voice from London reading the news.
Closing my eyes, I'm transported back to those moments as if it were yesterday. I can smell Dad's tobacco in my nostrils and feel it catch at the back of my throat, that's how real it is.
Dang, some memories sneak up out of nowhere and ambush you, don't they?
Peter
5 comments:
Still have my Dads. It still worked last time I turned it on but it's been a while. I used to scan through the shortwave as a kid and picked up all kinds of stuff.
I can't make out the make and model, but it looks similar to one my folks had. What is it?
Looks like a little over $100 will get you a GRUNDIG Classic 960 AM FM HI-FI SHORTWAVE Radio if you want one on EBay.
My dad too had one similar. I miss it and listening to shortwave was fun, Dad had a turn-able outside antenna so you could pick up stations clearer then just a dipole antenna. Enjoyable evenings listening with my dad to distant broadcasts.
I have my Dad's old set that looks very much like that. Be careful if you have one that hasn't been rebuilt. The old paper capacitors can catch fire. There are guys on-line that will rebuild them for you, to make them safe to use.
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