A little retro beauty

I recently discovered Mock Electronics, the most amazing electronics store that is reminiscent of the stores of my youth. Visiting this store, which has been in business since 1946, is like taking a Magical Mystery Tour into the unknown, because you never know what you will find there.

A couple of days ago (and only a few days after my first visit), I convinced myself that I really needed to return to Mock Electronics to purchase a few components. Do you remember The Jetsons – an American animated television sitcom that was first produced in the early 1960s?

Well, as soon as I entered Mock Electronics, I ambled my way around the corner to the "antique area" to see if anything new had turned up, and the very first thing that caught my eye was a little portable television set which I am guessing is circa the 1960s (if you have any information on this I'd love to hear it). The thing is, this little retro beauty looks just like something you might have seen on The Jetsons. I would have purchased it just for the look of the thing, but the great news is that it still works as shown below.

Doesn't this look mega-cool? Now, there are a couple of things that need attention, such as the fact that it's missing the plastic knob that acts as the On/Off switch and then selects between the different bands of VHF frequencies. Also, the two "rabbit ears antenna" need replacing, because only the bottom sections remain.

But none of this attracts from the visual appeal of this little beauty. I had a great big smile from ear-to-ear when I brought it back to my office.

Yesterday, when I had a few moments to spare, I drove over to an old TV repair shop that's just a couple of miles from my office, taking my Jetsons' TV with me. The owner of the repair shop was as enthusiastic as I with regard to how cool this little scamp looks. So I asked if he had any spare knobs and/or replacements for the rabbit ears antenna, and he replied "No I don't, but there's an old electronics store downtown called Mock Electronics that has boxes of old knobs, and that probably has the old rabbit ears antenna also."

And that's when I said "Doh!"