Dave Abramson -- TV Collector
From The DVHRC Oscillator
TV COLLECTOR GETS "GOOD PRESS"
:Local TV collector Dave Abramson has gotten great media coverage for
his activities The Feb. 11, 1995 Philadelphia Enquirer carried a teaser photo
in its first section, and a lead story and two big photos in the Suburban/Metro
section. There's coverage of his '39 RCA TRK-120 mirror-in-the-lid set, '49
Pilot 3" receiver, '49 Philco TV-radio-phono combo, and '57 Predicta; plus 25
or so primitive Andreas and Fadas and Crosleys, etc. - all the result of 13
years of collecting. Then WPVI Channel 6 came out and did an interview, replete
with shots of vintage kinescoped programming on the oldie receivers. The result
was a 15-minute morning segment on March 6, followed with a tightly edited
excerpt on the evening news.
Then came the public reaction: letters and
phone calls offering early receivers. The offerors ranged from elderly folks
seeking a home for what had been their first TV, to some slightly unbalanced
correspondents, to the occasional individual wanting to sell an uninteresting
set for an overblown price. Dave showed the writer a folder stuffed with notes
and letters.
In a failed publicity stunt, Lee de Forest once tried to have
a letter mailed to him addressed to the "Father of Radio, Hollywood,
California." The letter was returned. But one offer, mailed to "David Abramson,
TV Collector, West Chester, PA" came right through with correct street address
written in - even though Dave lives in Chester Springs!
The yield to date -
a Predicta, a prewar kit set, a couple of badly needed early color picture
tubes, etc. - has been rather good. Some of it required inching a vintage set
Out of a crowded basement, but donors have even driven up to deliver their
contributions.
Articles about radio collectors are more or less a staple
item these days. It's nice to see TV collectors plugged the same way.
From The Philadelphia Enquirer, February 11, 1995. By Ralph Vigoda, Inquirer Staff Reporter.
