If Only We Could Take A Time Machine Back and Attend This...
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Vintage trade show
Those are very cool old photos Robert. I am always amazed at the great one of a kind pieces of history you always find!
I worked at an appliance store from 1971-1978. We sold very little in the line of "white goods" however sold lots of 1970's RCA & Zenith tv and stereos,Eureka and Hoover vacs,and small appliances,Sunbeam,Proctor-Silex,and others,plus parts and service for everything we sold. We also took trade-in's on the vacs,and tv's. I used to rebuild the good brand vacs for resale,and our tv service guy reconditioned some of the newer tv's for resale. But boy or boy,did we ever scrap a lot of vintage tv's and hi-fi!! While some people might have still had a B&W portable for the bedroom or basement,NOBODY wanted the consoles! There were so many,with mahogany cabinets with doors,and the blond stuff too. All that stuff just went out to the alley,and was scrapped! ): By 1975 or so,NOBODY wanted a color set with a round picture tube. So we stopped repairing those,and put all those out in the alley for the scrapper too. I guess you can't save EVERYTHING,however we threw out a LOT of really nice stuff. ):
Adams Appliance Store was my first real job,and I loved it. Those pictures you posted brought back a lot of really nice memories!
Thank you,
Rick
Those are very cool old photos Robert. I am always amazed at the great one of a kind pieces of history you always find!
I worked at an appliance store from 1971-1978. We sold very little in the line of "white goods" however sold lots of 1970's RCA & Zenith tv and stereos,Eureka and Hoover vacs,and small appliances,Sunbeam,Proctor-Silex,and others,plus parts and service for everything we sold. We also took trade-in's on the vacs,and tv's. I used to rebuild the good brand vacs for resale,and our tv service guy reconditioned some of the newer tv's for resale. But boy or boy,did we ever scrap a lot of vintage tv's and hi-fi!! While some people might have still had a B&W portable for the bedroom or basement,NOBODY wanted the consoles! There were so many,with mahogany cabinets with doors,and the blond stuff too. All that stuff just went out to the alley,and was scrapped! ): By 1975 or so,NOBODY wanted a color set with a round picture tube. So we stopped repairing those,and put all those out in the alley for the scrapper too. I guess you can't save EVERYTHING,however we threw out a LOT of really nice stuff. ):
Adams Appliance Store was my first real job,and I loved it. Those pictures you posted brought back a lot of really nice memories!
Thank you,
Rick
Robert Thankyou
What a great treat. Will look fwd to viewing these a little more carefully over the weekend. Thanks again for sharing these great pics. Was this in the Convention center that was lost to fire, that we discussed a while back? so cool... alr2903.
What a great treat. Will look fwd to viewing these a little more carefully over the weekend. Thanks again for sharing these great pics. Was this in the Convention center that was lost to fire, that we discussed a while back? so cool... alr2903.
Picture 3 reminds me of what my father used to wear to work before I was born. And picture 6 reminds me of a similar print used on some rattan den furniture we had in the 1950s.
westytoploader
Well-known member
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WOW!
If only! I'd love to attend one of these and see a Bendix splashing away on the trade floor!!!!! And the Lewyt vacuums, Mathes Cooler fans, and "porthole" TV's...how neat that would have been.
Was this the original McCormick Place where these were held?
If only! I'd love to attend one of these and see a Bendix splashing away on the trade floor!!!!! And the Lewyt vacuums, Mathes Cooler fans, and "porthole" TV's...how neat that would have been.
Was this the original McCormick Place where these were held?
Awesome!
Where did you find these? I have some very similar to these from a show in Kansas City that I bought on ebay, scanned a couple for the POD which we've discussed before. GE clear-tub wringer, Hotpoint display, Thor Automagic, etc. These would make a great "Trade Show" album. I also have some of the introduction of the 1953 line of Bendix appliances and Duomatic in Texas and one of a Norge demonstration/class that would be fun additions as well.
Where did you find these? I have some very similar to these from a show in Kansas City that I bought on ebay, scanned a couple for the POD which we've discussed before. GE clear-tub wringer, Hotpoint display, Thor Automagic, etc. These would make a great "Trade Show" album. I also have some of the introduction of the 1953 line of Bendix appliances and Duomatic in Texas and one of a Norge demonstration/class that would be fun additions as well.
Holy Cow! Great pics! I want a Mathes Cooler!
Hi Greg, I found the links to these pictures in a vintage TV discussion forum.
veg-o-matic
Well-known member
Mathes coolers
Any relation to Curtis-Mathes? It's not a very common name.
Any relation to Curtis-Mathes? It's not a very common name.
partscounterman
Member
Wow-that was fun
The Admiral TV-Radio-Phono combo directly under the "Lee Wholesale" sign is the exact same one my folks had. They bought it in the late 1940's and by the time I came around in '64, the TV part didn't work so hot. We used the radio quite a bit and Dad even replaced the turntable with a newer "Sound of Music" turntable assembly.
This must have been somewhere out west as the Mathes Coolers (evaporative coolers) are pretty much useless anywhere east of the Mississippi. The air has to be real dry for that to work.
The Admiral TV-Radio-Phono combo directly under the "Lee Wholesale" sign is the exact same one my folks had. They bought it in the late 1940's and by the time I came around in '64, the TV part didn't work so hot. We used the radio quite a bit and Dad even replaced the turntable with a newer "Sound of Music" turntable assembly.
This must have been somewhere out west as the Mathes Coolers (evaporative coolers) are pretty much useless anywhere east of the Mississippi. The air has to be real dry for that to work.
Evaporative Cooler....
Wow, I have a Mathes Cooler like the ones in the pic but mine must be missing some key parts. Far as I could tell it was just a metal fan in a wooden box : )
Cory
Wow, I have a Mathes Cooler like the ones in the pic but mine must be missing some key parts. Far as I could tell it was just a metal fan in a wooden box : )
Cory
What great pictures! Something I was reminded of when I looked at them was when my parents got our first color TV in 1968. It was a Sylvania console in cherry wood French Provincial with remote control.
Anyway, it was the smell of the TV store. It was still a time of tube sets and real wood cabinets. It's not an unpleasant smell, rather it's warm and inviting from all those tubes, heating up those polished cabinets. It was also a time that the salespeople would keep the sets clean, so there was that bit of Pledge or Endust mixed in as well.
Anyway, it was the smell of the TV store. It was still a time of tube sets and real wood cabinets. It's not an unpleasant smell, rather it's warm and inviting from all those tubes, heating up those polished cabinets. It was also a time that the salespeople would keep the sets clean, so there was that bit of Pledge or Endust mixed in as well.
Wow! Loved the photos! The first television I remember was my parents Zenith like one of the round ones I saw in the photo. We had one of those "Mathes Coolers" down at the funeral home for years. Supposedly a "portable" fan, it was heavy and bulky (watch your fingers on those metal slats in the front---they are sharp!) to move around but it could really move the air! We used to put it in the foyer, outside of the Chapel when we had "standing room only" services going on to aid in ventilation. That thing lasted for years! It got so old and ugly we finally painted it a cream color, and used it another decade! It got knocked off its perch in the garage and broke into pieces a few years back and we threw it out. It had a good run. I have not heard the name "Voss" before. Did they fall off the radar screen when the automatics came out or did they also build automatics for a while? Were they a "regional thing, sold by specific department stores or something similar? Thanks for sharing these memories! -Steve
jasonl
New member
AWESOME!
I want the Bendix washer, the Scott Projection TV, the Admiral combo (the beginning of home theater?), and one of those big fans.
I want the Bendix washer, the Scott Projection TV, the Admiral combo (the beginning of home theater?), and one of those big fans.
jasonl
New member
The turntable you are thinking of is probably a VOICE OF MUSIC or VM for short. Those are my favorite style of turntable other than the Magnavox Micromatic. They used Sonotone cartridges and sounded great.
partscounterman
Member
Thanks jasonl
Now that you said it, your right! The turntable my father installed was "Voice of Music", not sound of music. i now remember the VM logo. I'm old and forgetful....
Now that you said it, your right! The turntable my father installed was "Voice of Music", not sound of music. i now remember the VM logo. I'm old and forgetful....
I'm guessing these fantastic pictures are from 1950?
Check of the Voice Of Music site:
Ken D.
Check of the Voice Of Music site:
Ken D.
Veg,
According to a post I just read, Curtis Mathes started out in coolers, made tons of money on them, and then moved on to electronics. Yes they are related!
Cadman,
What parts are missing?
According to a post I just read, Curtis Mathes started out in coolers, made tons of money on them, and then moved on to electronics. Yes they are related!
Cadman,
What parts are missing?
partscounterman
Member
Whats missing
Well, if these Mathes coolers are real evaporative coolers, you would have some sort of matting for the water to run through. The idea behind an evaporative cooler is much like the large console humidifiers. As I said, this type of cooling only works where air is dry. So you have the fan that blows through this matting that is saturated with water. The process of evaporation cools the air blowing through. I think these will work as long as humidity is below 30 percent. In a high humidity situation, ADDING humidity does NOT increase comfort(as I'm sure you all know)
Well, if these Mathes coolers are real evaporative coolers, you would have some sort of matting for the water to run through. The idea behind an evaporative cooler is much like the large console humidifiers. As I said, this type of cooling only works where air is dry. So you have the fan that blows through this matting that is saturated with water. The process of evaporation cools the air blowing through. I think these will work as long as humidity is below 30 percent. In a high humidity situation, ADDING humidity does NOT increase comfort(as I'm sure you all know)
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