Finally found a vintage TV, actually two! I Predicta you're going to like these

So I've been wanting to find a reasonably-priced vintage TV set for the house, preferably one that works.  I have this idea of setting it up to play old black and white TV shows (3 Stooges, Leave It To Beaver, stuff like that).  I look a lot.  Sometimes I'll find something I like on that auction site, but it's usually 2,700 miles from me and the seller won't ship!  I also check the local Craigslist, but you don't see too many vintage TVs on there.

On Memorial Day weekend I spotted a sweet looking Predicta on Craigslist, but it had two problems:  one, it was kinda highly priced at $249, and two, it was in Annapolis.  That was Memorial Day weekend.  NO WAY was I going to try driving toward the beach, I would die of old age trying to get there and back with all the beach traffic.

But seeing that ad prompted me to check ebay, and I spotted some TVs that were in Rockville, MD, just around the beltway and not real far from where I work.  I contacted the seller and he said he had a bunch of TVs and old radios he bought from an estate, and he said I could come look at them.  I noticed a number of portable TVs in his auctions, and also, a Predicta that had a starting bid of $19.99 with no reserve.

So I took a long lunch on Wednesday to check out the stuff.  I had enough cash in my pocket I figured to get something.  After looking things over I asked if he would end auctions early if we could agree on a price for something and he said yea, it would save him having to package and ship things.  So we cut a deal on these babies:

This one is small and light weight but has great lines and matches the colors of our 1962 Shasta camper - woo hoo!

This beauty is the perfect size and color to use with our 1962 Shasta Airflyte camper.

 I plan to take it apart and clean it then find someone who can go through it and make it work.

Don't you love the details that went into the channel selector?  Why can't design today be this good?

Even the antenna housing looks cool!

So that's the GE portable.

And this, dear friends, is one awesome Predicta!

I have to do some research on both of these before I even attempt to plug them in.  From what I know there are people who know a lot about the Predicta, and one or more who will even restore them.  In the meantime, I'm now looking for the right TV stand for the Predicta.  Being a fanatic for black wrought iron hairpin legs, I want one of those TV stands that has a swivel base - I think that would be perfect for this set.

So, how will these sets look after they're cleaned up? Don't touch that dial!  I'll be back with more on each of them once I make some progress.

Road Trip Report from Sled Fest at the Old Sled Works, Duncannon, Pa.

Okay, hearken back with me to, let's see, yesterday, and the Sled Fest.

I already posted about some of my vintage finds at the Old Sled Works Antique and Crafts Mall, so here are some photos from the Sled Fest and from the inside of the mall, which has a great collection of arcade games and a vintage soda fountain.  It also has a small exhibit of artifacts from the building's original purpose, manufacturing Lightning Guider sleds.

First, the sleds.

It's great that they retained some of the old signs, including this awesome one.

And check out the wall clock.

This diorama depicts the starting point for wood used in building the sleds.  The diorama itself looks vintage.

Sleds had names, and they were printed on the wood during the construction process.  Here's the huge old printing press.

And they have some examples of sleds from different decades on display, natch.

This rare one really caught my eye.  Wouldn't you want your kid to barrel down a slippery slope of snow on the Master Bomber?  Made in 1936 at the height of the Depression.

I love looking at these old sleds, but like pedal cars, I resist the urge to start collecting them.  You need a lot of display room to do them justice.

So, once you've enjoyed looking at the Master Bomber, just work your way through the crafts portion of the mall and keep going until you find...an awesome arcade, where you can practice your aptitude for growing up to be an...

I have never seen one of these anywhere else, but then, I don't know of any other vintage arcade collections other than in private hands, or in Amber's garage!

Here are some more shots from the arcade:

Skee Ball

This is one of the coolest looking games, check out those spindle legs!  It's a basketball game.

They even had one of those newfangled high-tech Pong games

Beyond the arcade games you'll find the soda fountain with some old diner booths and more eye candy, like this jukebox, and not one, but a bunch of original Predicta Television sets!  Oh, and inside the front entrance, more mid century TV sets, and they're usually running old Three Stooges shows.  Unbelievable.

  

They had the soda fountain closed when I was there for a professional photo shoot with a pinup girl.

There were quite a few ladies in pinup or vintage attire,  I didn't get pics of them, sorry, but I did get a few car photos.

That pretty much wraps up my photos inside and out during Sled Fest.  One of the highlights for me was meeting Mod Betty and Retroroadhusband.  She is planning to do a blog post on the Old Sled Works, so if you're interested, keep an eye on Retroroadmap.com for Mod Betty's coverage.