Posted 14 years ago
nostalgia5
(1 item)
This piece of furniture was built by a cabinet maker who
came from Italy to America in the early 1900, this person
was my wife's Grandfather. He built this Cabinet and added
a 12 tube Zenith-Long Distant Radio Model # R250836 and
added a Gilbert clock on top, the year that this was built was
somewhere between 1938/1940 ?.His name was George Rossi
His initials G.R. are on the clocks hour and second hands, the
cabinet by itself is 32" wide and 16" deep and stands 47-1/2"
Inches high without the clock. The clock is separate and sits
On top of the cabinet, it is 33' Wide and 21-1/2 inches high.
Total height of cabinet with clock on top is 63".
The cabinet has three hidden doors to it, and there are two
People ballroom dancing on either side carved into the wood
With a black man playing a Banjo in the center.
The Material used in making this Cabinet is either oak or
maple the Speaker for this Radio look's like a giant beehive
of Spun wire, the cabinet is in great shape considering its
over 75 years, the radio still works, the Clock needs to be
worked on, I think it is wound too tight. This piece does not
have any restoration done to it, it is in its original state as in
the first day it was built. This piece was inherited, it came
from my wife's Father's estate in 1985, my wife passed away
in 2007 and now I inherited it.
What an extraordinary treasure.
The radio chassis is a Zenith 1204 chassis (the 'R250836' is its manufacturers serial number) made in 1938. It was originally used in one of several different models of sets from that year which ranged in price from about $100 to $180 new in 1938 money - likely in the $1500-3500 range in today's money - these were high-end sets that were marketed to high-end households and were that days' version of the theater big-screen home entertainment system of today.
IMHO, that cabinet was likely made sometime in the 1940s to replace the set's trashed original.
Do not plug in and 'try out' this radio until its internal parts have had a good going over - at minimum all of its wax-paper and electrolytic filter capacitors will have to be changed and it will likely need new motor-drive dial belts. The parts are not expensive and someone who can read a schematic and is handy with a soldering iron can do the work.
Mike
It is not possible tio overwind any clock made after about 1650. The problem with your clock is that the springs are probably filty, and I suspect a couple of the pivots and bushings are worn. That clock is definitely worth having it overhauled. If the springs have remained fully wound for a long time (like five or ten years) they have probably "taken a set" (lost some of their resilience) and should be replaced. Wheels and pinons are not readily available for these, but replacement mainsprings are. If you move the clock, before you do so, take the pendulum bob off, so that the suspension spring does not get kinked or broken. If it is already "pranged", here again, replacement suspension springs are available through the materiel houses. Any reputable clock repairman should be able to overhaul that clock and put it in good running order, and there is no reason it should not last another hundred years or so, provided it is serviced regularly.
Very, very cool.
Beautiful piece and even better story!