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That is a 1947 Philco radio. Johnny Wharff gave me a little history lesson on this thing and it still works! Quality products last the longest.
It's been around for awhile..just like an old car... takes a little while to warm up before you get optimal performance.
This was a bit before TVs were REALLY a big deal and the radio was the entertainment box that sat on the floor in the living room. Or in this case a mantle piece with tubes in that back of it that need heat just like the coffee maker in the kitchen.
I'll be honest, this is kind of difficult for me to write because I was born in the 90's and always resorted to the television for entertainment. That is just sickening to say since I work in radio... Geeze. But my father made me realize some stuff.
The question I have is... what was it like to have nothing but a radio? I don't have the answer and I'm looking for it. It wasn't my time, it wasn't my decade or era. l wasn't there, I wasn't present, I wasn't ABLE to see what it was like to live in a world where radio was the source of info and sports and entertainment. I work in this industry and realize that what I'm doing now is something people have relied on for so many years and I love it. If kids are reading this... they must be like... well turn on the TV. But I want to know what it was like BEFORE THAT because I'm so intrigued to find out.
I always had a TV on a table in the living room and damn... I was only 6 when social media was invented. Email, Xanga, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, SnapChat... the list goes on and it WEARS ME OUT.
I believe that people my age and several years younger, really are the last ones that truly can relate to basic technology. Sure we had tapes and CDs and TV and the internet was being born in the late '90s and early 2000's, but when I was growing up, I didn't have an iPad or an iPhone or an ABC app, or as my 56 year old father calls it... myface, twitbook and snaplink. We didn't have that. Just looking at that radio in that office made me realize that kids born back then thought that was the best it was ever going to be. After that... LOOK! A TV! SO WE CAN SEE WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING. Then a ton of year later, 90's kids were like... "look at this disc with 12 songs on it... 'the future is in our hands.' And what we have today... people sending pictures to one another with dog ears and a dog nose... OH AND WHEN YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH A TONGUE FLIES OUT AND IT MAKES NOISE!!!
I'm not taking a stand against people born after me or anything because I know there are people in that age bracket that will make it and become amazing people. I know this because I have already met them. I truly believe that us 80's and 90's kids are really the last kids that truly know how to interact with people in person, know how to hold a conversation with that person and know how to find the source of information without social media. But I know with the people/kids that I've met... there is still hope.
A lot of you may have a radio that is similar to the one that is in Johnny's office. Or a huge four foot tall version. It's a great decoration, it's a great thing to look at. To some people (mainly the younger people) it's a thing to set a set a Mountain Dew on top of or a strange wooden object to ram your knee into while you're hashtagging the latest trend. It's there and it's going to stay because it's history. And if your child or grandchild ask why this huge wooden object is in the living room... please tell them that it's where it all began. Tell thim that without that they wouldn't be entertained today.... and be sure to tell them to tune into AM 1490 for the purest local radio you can find.
Hashtag this and Hashtag that but in the end... keep it real, stay strong and remember that it started with a guy talking to another guy... it turned into a radio then it turned into a tv and then it turned into an app people can download from anywhere... We have to adapt... So download our app and listen anywhere.
#ProudToBePartOfTheLastBunchOfPeopleThatCanHandleItWithoutTheInternetWithTheExceptionOfSomeGreatUpAndComingKids.
