Wow!
From all the comments I have received, I would say the convention
was by all accounts a tremendous success. Here are some highlights.
Over 200 registered attendees. Almost 1200 items put up for sale in the
three live and 2 silent auctions. Less than 200 items failed to bring
the minimum bid. Total sales were over $57,000.
The contest displayed a wide variety of seldom seen radios and related
artifacts. Included was a rare RCA chrome console and an equally rare
Radio Products Manufacturers breadboard. Both had been lovely and
accurately restored.
Our technical session was a sight to behold. How often have you been
able to "watch" an image on a 1929 scanning disk television. HDTV it
was not, but we had to start somewhere. We have some extremely talented
and knowledge club members willing to share with the members of this club.
Ah, but the banquet was definitely the highlight of the weekend. The
Dallas Blend, a barber shop quartet from the world renown Vocal
Majority, did us and themselves proud. Rick Wilkins was there with his
12 foot horn to record several songs on wax cylinders. Every thing
worked to perfection, even the original Edison batteries used to make
the recordings. It was amusing to watch the performers sing "with
volume" in order to make the strictly mechanical recordings come to
life. And come to life they did. The attendees witnessed a process all
too common in the late 1800's, but rarely seen by anyone since, and
surely not by another audience in the current century.
Again, thanks so much to the numerous volunteers willing to spend so
much time putting together the various aspects of the show so that
everyone would have a wonderful memory that would last a lifetime.
