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American Pickers - Season 27 - Episode 04: No Instructions Needed
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00:04Dude, guess what Robby's working on today.
00:06What?
00:07The Mothman car.
00:08Oh, the homemade Batmobile?
00:10Yeah, that car that you and him found.
00:12Somebody handmade that car.
00:13I know.
00:14It's pretty cool.
00:15You know what it looks like?
00:16It looks like a DeLorean and a shipping container had a baby.
00:20No, a dumpster.
00:22I mean, the great thing about it is that it's all custom, but the bad thing about it is that
00:26it's all custom.
00:27I saw some parts of a garage door opener in there.
00:28I mean, I was like, that's what's opening the doors.
00:30I'm like, what a creative way to use a garage door opener.
00:32Dude, one of his favorite TV shows was Knight Rider.
00:34Knight Rider.
00:35I bet it was.
00:35With Michael Knight.
00:36Here's the deal.
00:37He's going to get it running, and he's going to make you and I look like idiots.
00:41I know, probably.
00:41He's going to be like, look at this thing.
00:43Yeah, that's all for like a million dollars.
00:58Danny D, what's up?
00:59What's up?
01:00Hey, how are you guys doing this morning?
01:02We're doing good.
01:03We're driving around downtown Greenville, man.
01:05Yeah, it's super cool.
01:06All right, so listen, I'm going to send you guys out to see Jason and his mom, Teresa.
01:10Now, Jason is working through his grandfather's collection with his mom.
01:14Okay.
01:14So the grandfather, Ray, was a really interesting guy.
01:17Pretty eclectic.
01:18He was a radio personality.
01:20Really?
01:20He was a radio personality?
01:22On top of that, this guy was a chief engineer, and that led him to have a deep passion for
01:28electronics, radios, TVs, that kind of stuff.
01:31Okay, so what's going on now?
01:32So when Ray passed away, Jason and Teresa were kind of shocked by the amount of stuff
01:37he left behind.
01:38Like, his collection is massive.
01:40Oh.
01:41This place is deep and dense.
01:43You're going to be there all day.
01:45All right, sounds cool.
01:46Send us the address.
01:47Yeah.
01:48Jersey, listen, try not to pass out, man.
01:50Understand that when you go there, even you're going to be overwhelmed.
01:53Sounds awesome.
01:54Thank you, Danny.
01:55All right.
01:55Love you, boys.
01:55I'll talk to you later.
02:04My Jersey.
02:04Look at these old buildings, man.
02:06Frickin' awesome.
02:06Look at that one.
02:07It's got limestone on the side with Rick on the front.
02:09Look at that theater, man.
02:10Look at that.
02:10Oh, yeah.
02:11Look at the War Capitol Theater.
02:12Look at this.
02:13Town Square.
02:13Wow, there's the Town Square right there.
02:151962.
02:16Central Drugstore.
02:17This is, oh my gosh, look at this.
02:19Oh, that's cool.
02:19TV hospital.
02:21Yeah, that is neat.
02:22Boom.
02:23Hey.
02:24Hey.
02:24Hey, how are you?
02:25This is Jersey.
02:26You talked to Danny on the phone?
02:27Yes.
02:28Nice.
02:29How are you?
02:29Been working trying to make a space for you to walk.
02:32Oh, really?
02:33This stuff was all in there?
02:34Yeah.
02:35Yeah.
02:35This is stuff we're looking for.
02:36Oh, really?
02:37Yeah.
02:37Yeah.
02:37You can see right at the top of the list, old radios.
02:39Yeah, old radios and toys.
02:40Yeah.
02:41We certainly have old radios.
02:42Hey, I'm Mike.
02:42Nice to meet you.
02:43Hey, how are you?
02:44I'm John.
02:44I'm Jason.
02:45My grandfather, Ray worked for over 60 years at 1340 WGRV.
02:50My dad was helping them out as far as the engineering end of it, and then he started being on
02:55the radio later on and had a talk show and would interview people.
02:59Was it like local news?
03:01They did Swap and Shop.
03:03Oh, I love those.
03:04Swap and Shop.
03:04When people call in?
03:05Yes.
03:05Oh, my gosh.
03:07So, was he getting all the radios?
03:10I've got an old radio.
03:11Yeah, he did do that.
03:13He's like, smart.
03:13At Swap and Shop, people are calling in.
03:16They're like, hey, I have this.
03:17And somebody else is like, I need that.
03:19So, they're basically putting people together.
03:21Back in the day, I used to dream of listening to a Swap and Shop radio station in the middle
03:26of nowhere, coming out of a dashboard speaker.
03:29And they're like, hey, I got Pat Paul's gas bike in the shed back here.
03:33It's got a motor attached to the frame.
03:35And I would be the one calling in going, where are you at?
03:38I'm interested in Pat Paul's gas bike.
03:40If her father was in radio all of these years, he obviously loved people.
03:44He was from an era where everybody heard what was happening in the world and in America and in their
03:49backyard at the same time, because they were tuning in.
03:53We were all living in a shared experience.
03:55It wasn't just about the top 40 hits.
03:57It was about community.
03:59The reason we called you guys is because we're drowning in stuff.
04:02His hope was to have a communications museum where schoolchildren could go and have things that were interactive.
04:09He was going to have a museum in this community?
04:11Yes, yes.
04:12Okay.
04:12They had a warehouse that they were going to use, but unfortunately it burned.
04:16But it was before he moved anything in.
04:18No kidding.
04:19So he actually had the space picked out and everything.
04:22Her father was around for the full evolution of the whole industry.
04:26And he understood how important that story was to tell.
04:30He was there long enough to see technology take over at a rapid rate.
04:35And he saw that history fading.
04:38He wanted to save that by sharing it with future generations.
04:41Now that he's gone, I would just like to find happy homes.
04:45Yes.
04:45We've been doing so much cleanup work here.
04:47We've been able to clear some paths.
04:49We'll just kind of show you what we got.
04:50Oh, absolutely, man.
04:51Absolutely.
04:52I'm looking forward to it.
04:52Yeah, let's check it out.
04:53Oh, yeah.
04:54This place is packed.
04:55As soon as I walk in the door of this place, it's like being hit from a tidal wave of
04:59early technology.
05:00I don't even know where to start.
05:02I can see an early cassette player that's really elaborate.
05:06And then you've got all the tombstone radios.
05:09Vinyl, I see you've got eight tracks there.
05:11It's stuff from all different types of time.
05:12Right.
05:13Right.
05:13Being collectors and walking into another collector's space, we're looking at it with completely different eyes.
05:20I'm not talking about looking around at the most valuable thing.
05:22I'm talking about what he collected, how he stored it, what was important to him, what were the things that
05:29he surrounded himself with to bring him joy.
05:33Because as collectors, we all have these spaces.
05:37When I walk into a room with all my motorcycles, everything else disappears.
05:42And I start thinking about my projects.
05:44I start thinking about the history of things.
05:46I remember where I got them and who I got them from.
05:50So to walk into a place like this, it's just buzzing to me.
05:53Because even though he's not here to tell his story, Jersey John and I can hear it.
05:59Jersey, look at what you just walked past, man.
06:01Oh, whoa, whoa, that's cool.
06:03These are 70s JVC globe speaker baffle.
06:07These JVC globe speakers are 1970s Japanese technology at its finest.
06:14Manufacturers back then weren't just playing with the quality of the sound.
06:18They were also toying with the acoustics of the sound.
06:22I've had one of these apart before, and there are speakers on top and on the bottom all pushing in
06:28different directions.
06:29To create a 360 degree experience.
06:33Like you're on the front row of a Led Zeppelin concert.
06:37I'm talking whole lot of love live.
06:40Is it dented, Mike?
06:41Yeah.
06:42You know, is this something you'd sell?
06:43So we've been through most everything.
06:45Obviously, there's some stuff that we've not been able to get to yet.
06:48So there may be a couple of items here or there, but.
06:50All of my children have been here and picked out things.
06:53Cool.
06:54Great.
06:54Yeah.
06:55Hopefully we're good.
06:56Do you have a pair of these?
06:57Yeah, is there two?
06:58Yeah, I believe the other one's around the corner there.
07:00Okay.
07:01Oh yeah, I see it.
07:01These are bad to the bone.
07:03This one's got a few dents in it too.
07:05Nine times out of ten, speakers from this time period have been put through the paces.
07:09So by the time they get to us 50 years later, they need a whole lot of work.
07:13And I've been down this path before many times.
07:16But I'm a sucker for this stuff because I can remember there was a day when your speakers defined you,
07:21man.
07:21I mean, they were some of the biggest things in your life.
07:24They were when I was 16 years old.
07:26My stereo and my bicycle was everything.
07:28And it's also from a time period where speakers were furniture.
07:31They were part of the room.
07:33That's what's so cool about these.
07:35These spheres on a pedestal.
07:37To me, no matter how old they get, they're timeless.
07:40So if these were really nice in great condition and working, they'd be like 500 bucks.
07:45I'm not saying they don't work.
07:47But they're dented up.
07:48The condition on the exterior is not that great.
07:53$100 in the condition they're in.
07:55That's without somebody going through them and stuff.
07:59We have so many things here that I didn't feel like it would be that much of a loss.
08:05And me personally, I've got a collection of audio equipment and hi-fi gear.
08:11So it's not something that I needed.
08:14And I don't have any memories of those items with Ray.
08:20I could do 125.
08:23Shake his hand, Jerry.
08:23Yeah.
08:24All right.
08:24Done.
08:24All right.
08:25Very cool.
08:25Okay, so I can see what's going on here now.
08:27This is the counter behind all of this stuff.
08:30Yes.
08:31And that was like kind of the checkout area over here.
08:33But that was his desk.
08:35Uh-huh.
08:35So somebody that would have came in, they would have dropped off the piece here.
08:38I'm just trying to figure out flow.
08:40Yeah.
08:40Coming from a retail background and opening a lot of different stores, I'm always interested
08:44in the flow of a space.
08:47You know, and as I uncover things and get down aisles, I can start to see this is the glass
08:51display case.
08:52This is where the cash register is.
08:54Now I can see his desk piled underneath a bunch of stuff.
08:57But when I turn around, I'm looking at all these antique radios.
09:01I think it's fascinating.
09:02And so when somebody would walk in here in the 70s and 80s, he would have these radios
09:09sitting here.
09:10I mean, was he trying to sell things like this locally?
09:12No, I don't think that he had these items in here at that point in time.
09:16It's just he became so much more of a collector as he aged.
09:20Oh, okay.
09:21And he had to find more and more spaces to put things.
09:24Okay.
09:24So when he first started this, it wasn't from collecting, it was to make money repairing
09:30things.
09:30Exactly.
09:31And then the collection evolved after that.
09:33Yeah.
09:33That's the biggest thing with any collector.
09:35It's like if you've got 20,000 square feet, 5,000 square feet, whatever it is, you're always
09:40going to fill it up.
09:41Holy mackerel, man.
09:42You weren't kidding.
09:43This place is like a mad scientist laboratory.
09:51When he first opened it, did he call it the TV hospital right away?
09:55Yes.
09:56So that says a lot to me about his sense of humor.
09:59Right.
10:00When I was seven years old, for Christmas, my grandfather built me an entire radio station
10:08built into a cabinet.
10:10You had the cassette deck, you had the turntable, the mixer, and the microphone, and he had
10:15built a small low wattage FM transmitter, all baked into this cabinet, and it was like,
10:21here's your neighborhood FM station, and I could play cassettes and records and talk,
10:27and it was really neat.
10:29I took it up to the elementary school for a show and tell one time, and that was really
10:35something.
10:36This is cool.
10:37Yeah, that's a really cool one right there.
10:38This is really interesting crystal radio.
10:40This is like the very beginnings.
10:41This is the very first form of radio, the way you listened to it.
10:46It's so primitive looking.
10:47You can see the dial rheostat in here, it just changes the current to going through here.
10:51These crystal radios could only receive transmissions, so you needed something in the air to grab.
10:56The whole earth is covered with electromagnetic waves.
10:59It's a naturally occurring thing.
11:00They were making programming you'd listen to around the world with no electricity.
11:06I mean, how was that even possible?
11:07Actually, they used a little crystal, and it had a little whisker that scratches the crystal.
11:12And magically, it would grab the electromagnetic waves from the air, and you could listen to
11:18it on a headset.
11:19It's a faint sound, but it's a sound.
11:21You can hear radio transmissions with no external power source.
11:25It was like a technological miracle.
11:27This is cool.
11:28I never get tired of listening to Professor Jersey pontificate about how the earth is covered
11:34in electromagnetic waves, and how the crystal needed to be tickled with a whisker to make
11:40it all spark and happen.
11:42I love it.
11:43I mean, for 25 years, I've been listening to this, and it's awesome.
11:47I just love early stuff like this.
11:48It's really my passion as well.
11:50Jersey, you sound just like my father.
11:52He so much appreciated all this.
11:54During World War II, he messed with a crystal set and tuning because he was trying to get
11:59all the news because his dad was in Europe fighting, and he was trying to get all the
12:03information he could.
12:04It would get so hot, he would have it in bed with him, in the sheets, and he would burn
12:09a hole in the sheets from the heat.
12:10Well, he sounded like a really interesting guy.
12:12I'd love to have met him.
12:13I wish you could have.
12:14Because mom was an only child, we got a lot of time with our grandparents, Pearl and
12:20the Rain.
12:20We were on first name basis.
12:21He was never grandpa or anything like that.
12:23He was just Ray.
12:24He going Ray.
12:25Wow.
12:25That's so special.
12:27So you got this.
12:28You understand what this is.
12:29Oh, yeah.
12:29I just don't want to step on your toes.
12:30I mean, if it's something that you don't want to sell, that's fine.
12:33We just really want it to go someplace where someone's going to appreciate it.
12:36Mike Shops, I mean, we got the store in Nashville, got the store in Iowa.
12:39I mean, and just guys from all over the world coming in.
12:41Um, I believe I could probably get retail on this.
12:44I might squeak $125 out of this on a good day.
12:47At least I'll offer you $75 for it.
12:50Um, could you go $90?
12:53$90?
12:55Yeah, I could do $90.
12:57Thank you for letting us into this place.
12:58Let's see what else we can find.
13:07Damn it.
13:08F*** thing.
13:15This car came from Peoria, Illinois, and the guy had a vision of making a Lamborghini out
13:20of steel.
13:21My wife calls it the ugly car.
13:23This car looks like something Frankenstein built out of a DeLorean.
13:26The guy on the machine shop, he built it.
13:29Might have went bankrupt because of it.
13:31Whoa.
13:32And, uh...
13:32You ever drive it?
13:33I drove it in here.
13:34How many years ago?
13:35That's for 13 years.
13:36Driving the ugly car felt like a trackless tank.
13:39It had more power than you could ever use.
13:42This thing is built crudely.
13:44I'm thinking about what I gotta do to it to get it going, not even knowing how the heck
13:49it was built.
13:49I have no clue.
13:52This car is kind of a pain in the rear end because it's somebody else's vision.
13:56I don't know how the whole thing went together.
13:58He put a rear engine that was actually for a Tornado that was front-wheel drive in the
14:03rear of the car, and he made every piece to the car.
14:07It makes it very difficult to work on, and not knowing all the things about the wiring,
14:11the dash.
14:11You turn the key on, and everything starts beeping and blowing up at you.
14:19There is no owner's manual to this thing.
14:21There's no directions on how he put it together.
14:24I have to basically just wing this.
14:34One thing's for sure on this car.
14:36I want to get it running, and I have to drive it.
14:45I don't know.
14:52When I was younger, I would come up here and spend time over the summer.
14:56No matter where we went in town, he was a celebrity here, being an on-air personality.
15:00Oh, yeah.
15:01Everybody knew him, and everywhere we went, it was, oh, hey, Ray, oh, hey, you know.
15:04Very cool.
15:05This is interesting.
15:06This breadboard is cool.
15:09Look at this thing.
15:10Breadboard radio is the first example of when we started using tubes.
15:14So these are basically kit radios.
15:16They're called breadboard radios.
15:17I think they actually made them on breadboards.
15:18Absolutely.
15:19That's absolutely true.
15:20That's the idea, right?
15:21Well, I can remember going on some radio hunts with him when I was younger.
15:26He really had an affinity for these breadboard radios.
15:29I don't think we'd be willing to sell that one in particular.
15:33So you like it.
15:33Oh, yeah.
15:34Yeah, that's so cool that you like it, man.
15:37I love that you want to keep it.
15:38Well, I think that Jason is more attached to all this stuff because he is older, and he
15:45had more time with his grandfather, and it's just so hard to part with it because there's
15:53all these memories attached.
15:54Well, what about this one?
15:56Like, here's a little baby breadboard.
15:58I mean, that's cool, too.
16:00Yeah.
16:00It looks like it's homemade.
16:01So, I mean, look at this thing.
16:02It's like a science experiment.
16:05Right.
16:05And that's something people used to go down, and they'd buy the parts, and they'd assemble
16:08their own radios.
16:08Yeah.
16:09That's what's interesting about it.
16:10This breadboard radio.
16:12This is a very early radio set.
16:14You could lay your whole schematic out on a breadboard, pop in the sockets to put your
16:19tubes in, and get the electricity to the tubes to amplify the signal.
16:23It's the next step up in the evolution of radio technology.
16:26Would you part with this one, or you want to keep this one as well?
16:29Hey, dude, if you're...
16:30Well, no.
16:32As long as it could go someplace where it'd be appreciated, I believe we could let that
16:35one go.
16:36These breadboards are cool, because they're all exposed.
16:39You can see the tubes light up.
16:40They actually can be made to work.
16:42Would you do 150 on it?
16:48Maybe 175.
16:49175?
16:51I mean, I could see this thing doing maybe...
16:53Because it's so small, maybe 250, maybe two and a quarter by the time we get negotiating
16:58and done, but...
17:01All right.
17:02I'll do it.
17:03All right.
17:03Sounds good.
17:04When's the last time you walked into a brick-and-mortar store like this, or you brought your radio
17:09to be repaired, or your VHS to be repaired, or a speaker to be repaired?
17:14It's like something Dr. Frankenstein would use.
17:16Yeah.
17:17Her father was interested in these items because of the engineering and how they impacted people's
17:22lives, and how the evolution continued to revolutionize day-to-day life.
17:27Stepping into this room is like he froze time in slivers to show how the radio's changed
17:33year after year after year.
17:35Jason!
17:36Yes, sir?
17:36Did you see this?
17:39Um...
17:39Ah!
17:40The Cadillac!
17:41The Eldorado!
17:42Oh, man.
17:43The Pioneer!
17:44Is that an SA series?
17:45C-T-F-900.
17:48Oh!
17:49These things were tanks.
17:50They were built to be indestructible.
17:51It's got three heads on it.
17:53They're just beautiful to look at, to watch the cassette play, to see the needles moving
17:58with the lights.
17:59It's...
18:00They're brilliant.
18:01But look at this.
18:01This is concerning.
18:04This just pops off.
18:05And then there's a...
18:07Right?
18:07The circuit board is...
18:09There's a piece flapping around right here.
18:11Yeah, I'd say that needs a little help, but...
18:13I'd say it needs a little help, too.
18:14Restored this cassette deck can bring anywhere from $350 to $800.
18:19But unless you're going to do the work yourself, it can be really expensive to have something
18:24like this gone through.
18:25But I'm willing to take a chance on it because this stuff is hot.
18:28I don't know what's wrong with it.
18:30It could take $200 to fix it, or it could take $20.
18:33So, what do you feel comfortable at selling the...
18:36I love saying this.
18:37The Pioneer Stereo Cassette Tape Deck CT-F-900.
18:43Oh!
18:44I'd say a unit like that.
18:46And the nice thing is you can tell the way it's built that they were designed to be repairable.
18:51You could actually get in...
18:52But getting parts where it might be kind of difficult, I don't know.
18:56Obviously, it needed some work.
18:57And, you know, younger me would have never gotten rid of something like that.
19:02But I've got so much of my own collection.
19:05I could probably let that go for $125.
19:10What do you think?
19:14I kind of grew up in this era.
19:16You know, at 79, I was a freshman.
19:18Right.
19:19And then my stereo became my whole life.
19:21Right.
19:22Every nickel I made went into it.
19:24Yeah, and it's got the cool display on it.
19:25I mean, the cool meters and all that.
19:27So, I understand.
19:28I have an affinity for that stuff.
19:30Heck yeah.
19:30I'll take a chance on it for $125.
19:32All right.
19:33All right.
19:33Very cool.
19:33All right.
20:03This is a receiver.
20:05This is how you pick up a signal from the air.
20:07This could sit on the desk and it rotates.
20:10Right.
20:10So, you can get, you know, Argentina.
20:12Directional.
20:12Or Russia.
20:13Right.
20:14That way's Argentina.
20:15This way's Russia.
20:17Right.
20:18It's almost a homemade piece of radio equipment.
20:20$75.
20:21What do you think?
20:24Yeah, I'd go $75.
20:25You'll do $75?
20:26Absolutely.
20:26It's just cool.
20:27It's a decoration, too.
20:28Look at this.
20:29Jersey, do you see this typewriter?
20:30No.
20:31Look at the long bed on this thing.
20:33What's it for?
20:35It's for large pieces of paper.
20:36If you've ever come across those early, large, hard-covered, wide ledger books, this is what
20:43they used to type those pages.
20:45And really, any time you were filling out a very large form.
20:49I mean, this isn't something that you would see a secretary using typing up a letter.
20:541930s, I think.
20:55I've never even seen them.
20:56I've seen them in books.
20:57Have you ever seen one?
20:58No.
20:58No.
20:58They're crazy, man.
20:59This is kind of like Excel before computers.
21:03This would have been one of those pieces that he just picked up out of nowhere.
21:06Unusual, interesting, mechanical.
21:08Maybe at a flea market somewhere.
21:10Somebody had it.
21:10It's a nice condition.
21:11This typewriter looks very solid.
21:13I don't see any pieces missing.
21:15To me, it looks like it would work.
21:18Is this something you'd sell?
21:19I believe we could part with that, yes.
21:21All right.
21:23$250.
21:28How about $275?
21:30That's very cool.
21:31I mean, obviously, it needs some work.
21:32Yeah.
21:33But I'm telling you, I mean, I've bought and sold a lot of old typewriters.
21:36I've never seen a long bed like this.
21:38The snapback on the keys is very quick.
21:41It's what I like to call the schwa-tang.
21:44I mean, look at this thing.
21:47Van der Graf generator, man.
21:48Right.
21:49Have you ever messed with one of these?
21:50It's been a long time.
21:52But you have, right?
21:53Yep, I was probably at a museum.
21:54Man, you're my kind of freak, dude.
21:56Because I love stuff like this, too.
21:57This is a Van der Graf static electricity generator.
22:00It generates electricity with a long belt that goes in between the base where the motor is up until that
22:06aluminum ball.
22:07It generates a charge.
22:08It's like a science experiment.
22:10It produces huge amounts of static electricity.
22:12When you touch it like this, you get a shock.
22:14Or you can give somebody else a shock.
22:16Or it raises your hair like straight out.
22:19Like your hair stand out, right?
22:19If you touch it, you'll get an electric shock.
22:21But then once you've established that connection, your hair will stand out on you and things like that.
22:27Things that static electricity can do.
22:28So it's kind of a fun science piece.
22:31It looks like it's probably from the 60s.
22:33There's not really a practical use for a Van der Graf generator.
22:36It's more of a science experiment.
22:38I mean, it looks like something from Back to the Future.
22:40A hundred bucks.
22:41Yeah.
22:42You'll do that?
22:43Absolutely.
22:43All right.
22:44And this.
22:45I found this.
22:46I mean, this is obviously some whacked out switch that somebody put on this thing.
22:49Oh, yeah.
22:49I mean, it's a quality task light, work light.
22:52Yeah.
22:52You know, look, you clamp that on.
22:53Yeah.
22:54You know, this is like a solid piece of brass.
22:56Early industrial design has infiltrated our homes because it's so simple.
23:01It's bold.
23:02It's overbuilt.
23:03The colors are incredible.
23:05It's utilitarian.
23:06I mean, this lighting piece is very simple.
23:08It's a task light.
23:09The arm is articulating.
23:11It was probably mounted to a piece of machinery or to a workbench.
23:15But really, it can be repurposed in any shape or form.
23:18That's the beauty of this stuff.
23:1950 bucks.
23:2260.
23:23Boom.
23:24Got it.
23:25All right.
23:25This stuff is hot.
23:26They're reproducing it.
23:28I always buy it when I see it.
23:31You know, they said that family went through all of this stuff.
23:34But it's so hard to go through everything when you're dealing with layers.
23:40Look at this.
23:41This is like one of the first drum machines.
23:46Seaburg, Rhythm Prince, Foxtrot, Rumba, Samba, Cha-Cha.
23:51I've got some buddies that are musicians in Nashville.
23:53And so I've been around this stuff a little bit.
23:55In working order, this is like 300 bucks.
23:57This is obviously just a piece to it.
23:59You know, there had to be a speaker system where you could hear it.
24:02An amplifier to batch into it.
24:04And the condition it's in.
24:05For like an audiophile dude, he would love to dig into this.
24:08This would be like a weekend project.
24:1160 bucks.
24:14Yeah, we go 60 bucks.
24:15Okay.
24:16Thank you very much.
24:17It's very cool.
24:18So, you know, I'm a drum machine kind of guy.
24:20What?
24:21Yeah, I am.
24:21Well, then keep it.
24:23You need to bub on this stuff.
24:25I didn't even know that my grandfather had that.
24:27There's just so much in that space.
24:29And it's a cool piece.
24:31You can keep it if you want.
24:32But, yeah, you know.
24:34Jacob Marley, link by link, that chain.
24:37Yeah, it does.
24:39Are you saying you don't want him to be his grandpa?
24:41Right.
24:43The apple didn't fall far from the tree.
24:44One of my sons is into instruments and music and that type of thing.
24:49My second son, Wyatt, his great-grandson, is showing some interest in music.
24:55And we have some more modern drum machines at home that he's working with.
24:59But I thought that would be a nice piece to preserve for him.
25:03And I could tell him this came from Ray's collection.
25:06And that would mean something to him.
25:08So, I'm probably going to keep that one.
25:11I love that you're keeping it.
25:13I love that I found something that him and his son can be passionate about.
25:17It's directly connected to his grandfather.
25:20If your son can appreciate this, he's a pretty damn cool kid.
25:24It speaks volumes about you.
25:26We're birds of a feather.
25:28He understands the connection to the item.
25:31And I really respect that.
25:55This thing sounds like it's a Hemi ready to take off at the drag strip.
26:09Oh, you f***.
26:14F***.
26:38This side was originally my grandparents' antique shop.
26:41Oh, man.
26:43Oh, man.
26:44There's so much in here.
26:46It's overstimulated.
26:47You can't see the forest for the trees.
26:49No.
26:49And I love it.
26:50My grandmother passed away in 1985.
26:52So, they had an auction and sold everything that was in the antique shop, which opened up more space for
26:59my dad.
27:00You have a lot of speakers in here.
27:02You've got signal horns.
27:03You've got these diaphragm speakers.
27:04Walking into a room like this and seeing all of these pieces, you start to imagine the music that was
27:11played on them from a region like this.
27:13Here we are in Tennessee.
27:15Jersey.
27:15Touching a wood horn.
27:17Is that a wood horn?
27:18At this time, technology was meant to be seen and not hidden away.
27:22I mean, sound now is so common and so ubiquitous.
27:25You don't even know where it's coming from.
27:27In your car, you don't know where the speakers even are.
27:30But back then, sound reproduction was new at this time, so they wanted to celebrate it.
27:34This thing looks like it worked.
27:36He liked collecting things.
27:37That worked.
27:38That worked.
27:39That's cool, Mike.
27:40I mean, it's got a crack in it, but who cares?
27:42We see these Edison cylinder players quite a bit, and they have like a witch's hat.
27:46But this one's unusual because it's got the signet horn on it.
27:49It's an oak signet horn.
27:51A signet is a young swan.
27:53That's why they call it a signet horn.
27:55It's the shape of a swan neck.
27:57The wood horn gave it a more lower tone.
27:59It would change the tone?
28:01Change the tone, absolutely.
28:02It was a more significant sound.
28:04It was more interesting and higher quality.
28:06It makes that more warm sound.
28:08Here we go.
28:15I love it.
28:18Isn't it so cool?
28:20Why is it not maintaining a constant speed?
28:23The motor needs lubrication.
28:25Yeah, and the belt is slipping.
28:26The belt is slipping.
28:27It's just like, it needs a little love.
28:28This would have been one of his more interesting pieces.
28:31Probably something that he really was fond of.
28:34I would agree with that.
28:35Yeah, I mean, he knew when he got this, it was special.
28:39Do you know where he found it?
28:40I mean, no, I wouldn't have any kind of idea.
28:43Oh, maybe he found it on the radio show.
28:44Yeah.
28:45When I was a young girl, he wasn't really buying a lot of this stuff.
28:48It was really later.
28:49He really didn't start collecting until he was in his 40s.
28:52A lot of, I mean, whole hog going and regularly purchasing stuff.
28:57That's interesting because that's later in life.
28:59Right, and he lived in his 90s, so he had 50 years of collecting.
29:03And he was in good health.
29:04And he was in good health.
29:05Was he still buying in his 80s and stuff?
29:08He was still buying.
29:09And he was still on the radio.
29:10Yeah, in 92, he was still working full-time.
29:13Yeah.
29:13He was probably buying things weeks up to when he passed away.
29:17Yeah.
29:17My daughter Terry says, if you're not buying, you're dying.
29:22That's what I say.
29:22Put you on the other side of the truck.
29:24That's what I say.
29:24Is that what you say?
29:25Obviously, he was passionate, he was driven, and he was very hardworking.
29:29This is a lifelong collection condensed to 40 years.
29:33And he probably was reflecting on the industry that he had been in and watched evolve.
29:38Is this something you want to sell?
29:39Sitting down here and sitting in this environment, no one's really appreciating it or enjoying it.
29:44I think that's something that we would be willing to sell.
29:46Yeah.
29:46Jason obviously understands his grandfather's collection.
29:49I mean, this guy is really interested in what his grandfather was doing.
29:54And that's so cool nowadays, man.
29:56Retail on this, because it's a more unusual machine with a wood horn, is $1,200 to $1,500.
30:02What would it be worth, Jersey, if there wasn't a crack in the horn?
30:04The crack in the horn is a big deal.
30:05It's a hard repair to do.
30:07You don't want to affect the original finish on this because that's what makes it valuable.
30:10So the conservation of the horn means that we've got to do it in a way where you're not damaging
30:16the original finish.
30:17That's more expensive.
30:19And plus, it's missing the gear cover.
30:20So it's like a gear cover that goes over this part, too.
30:23That's gone.
30:24It just needs to be gone through general cleaning, new belt.
30:26With the pieces missing, the crack in the horn, $500?
30:30Um, I was thinking more something like $700.
30:34Yeah.
30:36How about we split the difference?
30:38$600.
30:53$600.
30:55Six and a quarter.
30:57Fine.
30:57Six and a quarter.
30:58All right, dude.
30:59Ha-ha!
31:00I love it!
31:00Love it!
31:01I love it!
31:02We got a significant horn with wood on it.
31:04I know.
31:04It just reminded me of how much my dad loved all this stuff.
31:08And to see someone appreciate it and want to restore it and not let it just crumble to dust made
31:15me really happy.
31:23Check this out.
31:24You know what this is?
31:25I don't know.
31:25That's a car radio.
31:27What?
31:27For a Model T.
31:29Really?
31:29Yeah.
31:30$150.
31:31One night.
31:31Do it.
31:32Here, Jersey.
31:32Shake my hand.
31:33All right, thanks.
31:35Ha-ha!
31:35Ha-ha!
31:35The people that were initially collecting this stuff over the past 70 years...
31:39That's a beauty.
31:40...were directly connected to it because they lived it.
31:44I'm at, like, $175.
31:45They were lucky enough to watch all of this come into the market and see the evolution of sound and
31:53music in real time.
31:55Will Jersey John find love?
31:57I have.
31:59$50.
31:59But unfortunately, a lot of those guys that carried that torch are now passing away.
32:05I've got a lot of friends that are musicians.
32:07They're always telling me to look for old mics.
32:08But the second wave of collector that's buying this stuff and wanting it are the people that are just really,
32:15truly music lovers that love the history and the root of it.
32:20$500.
32:21$6.
32:22Okay, I love them.
32:23If you truly love music to the marrow, to the beginnings, to the roots of it, you want something like
32:30this.
32:31I've got a guy.
32:31He can Bluetooth anything.
32:34He can Bluetooth this.
32:35Right?
32:36You're an audiophile, man.
32:38You're playing vinyl.
32:39You're interested in speakers and amplifiers and equalizers and reel-to-reels and cassettes and 8-tracks.
32:44This is connected to that.
32:46Those are the people that I'm selling this stuff to.
32:48Being so close to Music City, it makes a big difference with the clientele.
32:52The type of people that are coming in my store looking for stuff.
32:55There's another Crystal Radio.
32:56This one's super primitive.
32:58$40.
32:58Yeah.
33:01So, Jason, look at this.
33:02Certificate of training from the Army.
33:04He went to radio school in the Army.
33:06Did he see action in Korea?
33:08No.
33:08No.
33:09He stayed in the States, and he was working with the radios on an airplane.
33:13Okay.
33:14So, when Ray was in the Army, his commanding officer had him do some work for him.
33:18And one of the things he did was he had a speaker put in his office.
33:22And one of the things you can do with a speaker, a speaker can operate as a microphone.
33:28So, he had it switched in so that if they were in there making plans, he and his buddies
33:33could listen in on what was going on in his commanding officer's area, and they would
33:38learn about war games beforehand and kind of gave him an upper edge on some things, I
33:42guess.
33:43He would have been 21.
33:44Right.
33:44And look who we are now.
33:46You know?
33:47Yeah.
33:47It's pretty cool.
33:48Now we're waist deep in it.
33:49Oh, yeah.
33:50This explains everything.
33:51It's the origins of his expertise.
33:54So, I would like to buy a lot of these signet horns.
33:57The only reason I'm thinking about buying all of these signet horns is because when we're
34:01looking around the room, we're seeing that there's more signet horns than machines that
34:06they have.
34:07So, if they've got all of these loose horns and they're willing to sell them, this is
34:12like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy so many all at once.
34:17Woo.
34:18All right.
34:19Look at them.
34:19See, this is what I'm talking about.
34:20As far as putting a bunch of them together.
34:24Lining up all of these signet horns, you know, it's just beautiful.
34:28It's art.
34:29It's got a cool look.
34:29It just becomes an orchestra, man.
34:31Yeah.
34:31Or assemblage art.
34:33It's like a cartoon.
34:34Yeah.
34:34It's this repetition, repetition, repetition.
34:36And they all have different textures.
34:37They have different shapes in regards to how high they are and the shape of the horn itself.
34:43You know, and this one here, look at this.
34:45This has actually got, and this will probably clean up a lot, the grain paint.
34:50Yeah, grain paint on it.
34:51That's all grain painted.
34:52Right.
34:53Yeah.
34:53You know what I mean?
34:53So it's metal, but it's painted to look like wood.
34:56Yeah.
34:57Jersey said they retail, what's the highest, 200 bucks a piece?
35:00Yeah.
35:01These are most of the nicer ones, so I'm going to say they're on the higher end, like 200
35:04bucks a piece.
35:05One signet horn is beautiful.
35:08It's elegant.
35:09It's interesting.
35:10But when we line all of them up, it's just like a gaggle of swans.
35:15You know, it's an art installation.
35:16It's so cool because, again, it's the history of music, the history of sound.
35:23If these were props in, like, a music video or if somebody was doing, you know, like a
35:27really bad-to-the-bone listening room, you know, there's 14 of them.
35:32Uh-huh.
35:33Sounds like you've done a little bit of research.
35:35A little bit, yeah.
35:35What are you thinking on them?
35:37What would you like to get out of them?
35:38And here's the deal.
35:39I don't expect a discount because I'm buying volume because, at the end of the day, they're
35:45worth what they're worth.
35:45You know what I mean?
35:46Yeah.
35:46So I'm not looking for that, you know?
35:49Well, let's see here.
35:50So we got 14 of them.
35:51Yeah.
35:51Right?
35:52Um, gosh.
35:56$1,500.
35:59I'm going to do it.
36:00I think that they're impactful.
36:03Yeah.
36:03That's a group.
36:04They're just so cool.
36:06Blood brothers.
36:08Sweat.
36:09Spit, brother.
36:11To own something like this, just one piece of it is inspirational.
36:16But to buy all of these is delicious.
36:24So this was my grandparent's house.
36:26It was built in 1947.
36:28Uh-huh.
36:29And my grandfather was in World War II under Patton.
36:31He drove a Sherman tank.
36:33Whoa.
36:33He was in the Battle of the Bulge.
36:35What?
36:35Oh, my gosh.
36:35Yes.
36:36Wow.
36:36Incredible.
36:37When he was 33 years old, he was drafted.
36:39Wow.
36:39At 33?
36:41At 33.
36:41What a sacrifice for your family.
36:43Yes.
36:43Oh, my gosh.
36:44So, yeah, this is where my great-grandparents lived.
36:47Look at the view they had.
36:48Yes.
36:48Oh, yeah.
36:49Oh, my gosh.
36:50That is so beautiful.
36:52Yep.
36:52Got the tower here.
36:53Out back, there's this ham radio antenna that is huge.
36:56I mean, you could reach Australia with this thing.
36:59Grandfather was an avid amateur radio operator.
37:02Oh, really?
37:03Yep.
37:03And I caught the bug.
37:04I got licensed.
37:06And most recently, my son Kingston just got his license.
37:09Wow.
37:09And how old is he?
37:10He's 12 now.
37:11No kidding.
37:12And he has interest in that.
37:12Yeah, absolutely.
37:13That's so awesome.
37:14Yeah, and my mom.
37:15I have my license.
37:16You do, too?
37:17No way.
37:17My sister had her license, and that's how she met her husband.
37:21Just having all these different amateur radio operators in the family, it's really incredible.
37:26And a lot of that comes directly through Ray's influence.
37:30It's amazing that Ray had such an influence on his family.
37:34All right, there's a lot more stuff inside.
37:36All right.
37:37So, this room right here.
37:38Oh, my gosh.
37:39Wow.
37:40It is packed in here.
37:41We always call that the music room.
37:43And it's where he kept his prized pieces.
37:46Whenever we came to visit, I mean, this is where they would be when we came in.
37:50No kidding.
37:51Yeah.
37:52Wow.
37:52There was a lot of music listening that happened here.
37:55So, this was his church.
37:57Absolutely.
37:58Mom and I made a deal.
37:59She wanted a listening room at her house back in Middle Tennessee.
38:03So, a lot of this is going to go to her.
38:05Yeah.
38:06The hi-fi gear.
38:07I'll be able to take those pieces and set up a listening space for Mom at her house.
38:12And she can appreciate and enjoy what he had.
38:16There's a lot of blue tape here.
38:17It's like a sea of blue tape.
38:18Everything's got Jason on it.
38:19These are the kids.
38:20These are grandkids.
38:21They are passionate about their father's and their grandfather's collection.
38:25And that warms my heart, man.
38:27Here you go.
38:29What are you doing with Nipper?
38:30What's going on with him?
38:31It's probably 60s, 70s.
38:33He's starting to...
38:34Decomposing.
38:35He's starting to flake off.
38:35Have you ever considered keeping Nipper?
38:38I have considered keeping Nipper.
38:40Well, I mean, here's your...
38:41This is...
38:41This is your opportunity.
38:43This is America's dog.
38:45America's dog.
38:46This is America's dog.
38:46It's true.
38:47You know, because I will have a couple of phonographs and that's the way it was.
38:52Yes!
38:52Yes!
38:53I love that!
38:54Absolutely.
38:55I'll put that in front of one of my phonographs and kind of keep it going.
38:59So, RCA had Nipper.
39:01Crosley had Bonzo.
39:05Crosley, pup.
39:07Very cool.
39:07He looks so mellow, man.
39:08Again, paper mache.
39:09This is early.
39:10This is probably...
39:12To be honest with you, this is probably...
39:13I'd say late 20s.
39:14You see...
39:15Really?
39:16Yeah.
39:16He's got the headphones on.
39:17He's falling asleep.
39:18He's pretty cool.
39:20Yeah.
39:20You see way more Nippers than you do Bonzos.
39:23Right.
39:24400.
39:29Yeah, 450.
39:33425.
39:34I could do 425.
39:36All right, man.
39:36Beautiful.
39:38I love that he accumulated all of this stuff because he wanted to push the story forward
39:43by sharing it with future generations.
39:46He was obviously passionate about his collecting, but his collecting also had a mission, and
39:52that was to tell the story of an industry that he had been in really his whole life.
39:58Oh, my gosh, guys.
39:59Thank you guys so much.
40:01Yeah.
40:01All right.
40:01It was fun.
40:02It was fun.
40:02It was fun.
40:03I love getting to know you guys, and I tell you what, your grandfather had a hell of a
40:07work ethic.
40:07Yeah, thank you.
40:08Watching Ray's heritage being sold off was difficult, but it's something that had to
40:15happen, and we're just glad that it's not going to be deteriorating, and people are going
40:20to be able to appreciate it.
40:21That's important to us.
40:22Whiskey, take a bravo.
40:24All right.
40:24Bye.
40:26Oh, my God, dude.
40:27All those signet horns.
40:28That was nuts.
40:29We should call Robbie.
40:30Yeah, we should call Robbie to find out where he's at with that car.
40:32Or I don't even...
40:33What would you call it?
40:35I guess that's a car.
40:36It's got four wheels.
40:37It's kind of a car.
40:38Woo-hoo!
40:39Woo-hoo!
40:41Dude, what's up?
40:42What's going on, Robbie?
40:43What the hell's going on?
40:44It's loud in there.
40:45Are you in a tow truck?
40:46Oh, I got that car running, man.
40:48Really?
40:49You got it running?
40:50You're driving it.
40:50Hell yeah.
40:51Is Jersey full of crap, or do you really have a garage door opener on it?
40:55Yes, it does.
40:56It's got a garage door button on the side, like a combination.
40:59Where are you driving it at?
41:00I'm driving it around the block.
41:02I wouldn't go further than that.
41:04And everybody's garage door is opening up as it goes by.
41:10Hey, Robbie, keep the thing going.
41:12I want to drive that thing when I get to Davenport.
41:13You can drive it all day long, brother.
41:15All right, later, man.
41:17Later.
41:17Peace.
41:18Woo!
41:21There's Robbie.
41:22That's crazy.
41:22Actually, you know what?
41:23It does not surprise me that he got it running, because since he was 14, he was always buying
41:27the worst junk car, and he would always get it running.
41:29Yeah, Robbie knows how to turn a wrench.
41:31He does, man.
41:31Yeah, he's good.
41:32All right.
41:33Yeah.
41:34What the f***?
41:38Damn it.
41:41Damn it.
41:56I'm a f***ing thing.
42:00I'm a f***ing turd from f***ing hell.
42:02Damn it.
42:03Damn it.
42:07I'll see you next time.
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