Attention Members in the San Francisco Metropolitan Area

[bygted]

the natural progression of collecting and capitalism

I started way back as a collector of Mid Century Mod furnishings... I remember strolling into a Washington DC metro area estate sale and buying Saarinien and Mccobb and all kinds of high end great stuff for peanuts with no competition. Then they slowly started doing news bits and stories on collectors and now - even if I show up three days before the sale starts there are people running pre numbers for the real numbers to get in the sale. Their cars strewn with candy bar wrappers and coffee cups- Their hair pressed into greasy bedhead shapes due to sleeping in their vehicles for days.
The sales are over before they start and the sad part is that the vast majority of folks camping out are only hawking the stuff for resale... it's totally merchandise to them and not for their collection.
I digress... I can't resist a quick profit myself... I just miss the old days when there was pleathora of great stuff to score at cheap prices.

A similar thing has happened with vintage fridges - When I started collecting them- people gave them to me for free or 50 bucks. Then they started getting some media attention and restoration websites started popping up so now when someone offers me a fridge they want 1200$ for it becasue they saw a restored one on some website for 5k. (OK OK - I am being a little dramatic - I still score cool fridges for cheap sometimes).

All of this being said - I still think it's great for this hobby to follow the path and start getting more attention.
I don't exactly wish for it... but it doesn't bother me.
It definitely could result in more machines being saved, which is cool... the average machine might just start costing a little more.

 

[programcomputer]

A small observation If I may.

Please,

I'm not in any way trying to crash the party, but as a former "VacuumLand" member, I can say that after several members there were on television, it did bring the club into the open where it was by some ridiculed, mocked and even laughed at. Most of the people still over there are grown so it's not that big a deal, but It definitely put a microscope on the hobby for awhile, and I'm sure still does.. I do know one of the people personally and believe, he suffered far worse from it than most people realize. A few gems came his way, jealousy and national notoriety got in the way of having good solid friendships with peers he was just longing to have. If you know who I'm talking about fine, but lets just say I hear alot: "If I could go back I woulda never done it at all". Believe what you will...

The worst thing I noticed almost immediately: It gave every Tom Dick and Harry; Betty, Norma and Sue who had an old vacuum cleaner scramblin to ebay to sell their " now precious piece of junk" for far more than it was worth, because it was on T.V. It's now WORTH something, instead of the very little that was once paid..

True it may net a machine or two (from the rare human being who is actually just that a HUMAN BEING), and give you that five minutes or so of notoriety, but in the end, people you never met will know who you are, smirk and make their comments; not all wonderful. And then in at least the vacuumland case for awhile every yoyo in the lower 48 will be trying to seel their old clothes slosher for a mint.

My personal perspective is to let you conscious be you guide, on publicizing you and yours. People are already internet savvy enough and learn ENOUGH about us from what we say on here, and over on the vacuumland site. We do enough damage to ourselves I believe form people doing their "research" and finding out what were looking for an what we've paid for items, all that drives up the market, and lowers the chance for anyone to really find anything because it's all tied up in greed.

Then again greed is in the eye of the beholder. Wanting for nothing is a kind of greed too isn't it? I prefer myself the latter type of greed myself. Okay I just stated my opinion. If it's not liked wipe it from the boards. I refuse to answer anyone who's gonna act 5 about an opinion. IF it's a discussible response fine. I'm not on here enough to make this a fight, or who's right /wrong...no thanks.

A backwater old fish that sometimes comes up for food LOL...

Chad

Ann Arbor Michigan

 

[rp2813]

Another Perspective

I also belong to the Antique Radio Forum, which has a sub group for collectors of vintage television sets. Other than the kitschy and woefully problematic Philco Predicta sets and certain very early models, non-working old b&W sets just don't command a high price. $25 is usually as much as one will bring in. People can't repair these things themselves. Even a working vintage set appeals to a very limited market, for obvious reasons in this digital high definition age.

The same can be said for vintage appliances. Most people can't fix them, most people want a bigger more modern machine, and place little value on something like an 80's Maytag that might need something as simple as a new belt. Even if they have a vintage fridge, they don't like having to defrost it. If they are delusional about what their old machine might be worth, it's up to people like us to set them straight and refuse to pay a ridiculously inflated asking price. It has worked forever with vintage Tv's and there's no reason we can't do the same with vintage appliances.

I still maintain that even in this economy, people will be more inclined to dump a vintage machine than to try and get rich off of one, even after seeing a TV segment that indicates there's interest in such items among a small part of the community at large.

 

[whirlaway]

You Might be Surprised

The average person doesnt have room for several washers.You might find some rare ones.I found my Easy the green thirties model on a ladies back porch in S.F. 30 years ago.Sort of like old cars,it could drive the price up but since it is a select group when folks find out they cant sell at a high price it would come down.I loaned my 1956 RCA color set to a big department store here in town for the 50th anniversary of RCA color.They made a nice display for it and used it for about a month with it on 12hours aday.They told me they were amazed at the number of people that would stop and inquire about it.They had no idea color had been out for so long.I got a couple of calls from people giving me sets just to get rid of them,they wanted the space,Thanks Bobby

 

[gansky1]

I've had camera crews from the local news here a couple of times and a segment on HGTV. It was great fun and I'd do it again in a minute if asked. There was no downside to the exposure other than an overbearing woman who called, insisting that I drive three hours to buy her mother's Maytag E2L wringer washer. "You've never seen one THIS old before! You must come!" There was another guy who called offering his late 80's DD Whirlpool but I politely passed on that as well.

If anyone has the time and collection to share and wishes to come out of the "laundry closet" as it were, go for it - it's a lot of fun!

 

[gansky1]

The cameraman was very nice ;-)

 

[alr2903]

Hey Greg i remember when you were on TV, You made a good go of it too. alr2903

 

[mayfan69]

Agree with gansky

I have to agree with gansky.

We have a TV show here in Oz dedictated to Collectors and it rates very well on Friday night's. Through this TV show, many collectors have come forward to show their collections for all Australia to see. I personally have spoken to one of these people who collects everything associated with 'Twiggy' and she in no way has suffered an negativity. In fact, she received without payment a record she was looking for from a viewer. Maybe people where you are Chad are not as accepting, who knows.

In fact, i'm going to be given the opportunity to show my collection on this program sometime in 2010. I did not contact them, they contacted me through my radio interviews. I did hesitate for a moment, but when they mentioned they would give me the opporunity to state what machines i'm still looking for, i said yes! Just remember, a lot of people that i have bought machines off are in their 60's,70's and 80's and not many of them are internet savvy....they either read or watch TV and some people are more 'visual'. If that ONE person sees the program and the picture of the machine i want and contacts me, then it will be worth it!

Sure, i do admit the only negative aspect of appearing on a program like this is that people will try and offload models THEY think are worth a lot of money or try and charge a lot for a model i might want. However, i already deal people like this now, so it's nothing new.

As for any ridicule, i think i'm old enough at 40 to deal with it!

Cheers
Leon

 

[westingman123]

Hey Greg-

Wow! Love that laundry room! What kind of finish do you have on the floor? It looks like the epoxy we use at work. I'm contemplating redoing my basement floor; would you suggest that finish or good old VCT tile?

 

[roto204]

I only have the Filter-Flo. Maybe they'd marvel over the '89 Frigidaire? I haven't sold it yet...or they could poke at the dishwashers

 

[rapidry1000]

I was the original person contacted by KPIX-TV and forwarded his request to do a show to Robert. Unfortunately I do not want his film crew for the show, Evening Magazine taking over my house since my small collection is scattered in four different locations (my parent's basement, my kitchen, my patio, and at a rental property). I really don't know how the producer of the show got my email address and knowing of my interest in vintage automatic washers.

 

[rp2813]

Evening Magazine?

Does KPIX still produce that show? I thought they only did "Eye on the Bay" now, which would seem a more likely program to pursue this type of content, as they have visited places like the "Unknown" and "Pez" museums in the past and tend to sprinkle in a few quirky segments once in a while.

 

[gansky1]

basement floors

Keith - that is just simple oil-based floor paint. I still have it but would love to have something else. It's a pain to keep up and a smelly nightmare to re-do as often as it needs to be done. Every time you slide a machine in or out of it's spot, the floor gets marred or scratched. One of my "major" projects for the laundry rooms is to tile those floors someday.

 

[rapidry1000]

Sorry, it's Eye on the Bay. I was thinking of the former show at that time slot. Dave Stoelk does the odd/unusual segments of the program.

 

[nmassman44]

I love the idea of "pull up a washer and take a seat". I will take the Frigidaire 1-18 with the lid open please....and thats all I am going to say!

 

[70series]

Gansky:

Greg, was the show you were on called "Hey Remember", or some title like that? I am pretty sure I saw you when it aired back in 2003/2004. I remember it, and your basement does look familiar. As I recall you were restoring a 1959 washer labeled Fabric Master, which was probably a Frigidaire. I thought I recognized you from photos here, but was not sure.

Have a good one,
James

 

[sudsmaster]

Epoxy floor paint would probably be far more resistant to damage from appliance moving than regular oil based paint. However it's not indestructible and can be scratched or chipped fairly readily, depending on the object doing the damage.

One idea might be to lay down cardboard on the floor before moving a machine, or putting those teflon or plastic pads under the front feet before sliding the machine out (and putting two more under the rear feet for further movement...).

 

[circlew]

Polished Concrete

is another floor finish you may wish to consider. Last month I had the new basement floor in the house I'm renovating ground and polished. My contractor used successivly finer grits which brought it up to a soft gloss, but you can stop at low sheen, or go up to a very highly reflective gloss. A densifier was used after the first step, which makes the concrete very hard and abrasion resistant. The nice thing about this process is that it does not require any sealer or other topcoat, nor any waxing. It can be done on either new or old concrete. Many new buildings, including all the newer Kroger stores, Lowes, etc. are using this, as the upkeep is much less expensive than VCT. If your having new concrete poured you can have it colored, or use colorful aggregate. It can also be dye stained as part of the process, either on new or existing concrete. I had regular gray poured, but may stain it at some future date. The grinding and polishing process ran about $4 per sq. ft.

Polished Concrete: Pro Tips & Ideas for Durable, Stylish Floors - Concrete Network

Discover expert advice on polished concrete floors. Get design ideas from real concrete polishing projects, browse photos, and find maintenance insights.

www.concretenetwork.com

 

[toploader55]

For what this is worth...

I am a tenant.
My Landlords Love My Collection. And what we call My "Showroom", is carpeted. I use Super Sliders. I buy the ones that support 300-400 lbs. I slide my machines all over the place with out having to use an Appliance Handtruck.

Hope this may help. Eddie