Apparently I am getting too old to spend all of my time hunched over an old radio. The cabinet restoration is taxing my arthritis as well. While I am still going to restore radios for the museum and offer duplicates and models outside of our focus for sale, we will no longer be accepting outside work. I would not want to have offered anything less than excellent, timely service to our customers.

Thanks All. And do stop by.

Russ

    "Russ, you're never going to believe this. There is a Stratosphere for sale in this area! Local pick-up only."  As predicted, it caught Russ' attention. We contacted the owner, and made arrangements to see it; soon we were on our way. 

     As it turned out, the Stratosphere dwell within a hour's drive of our home. During the ride there--on a beautiful blue-skied, warm, sunny day--many questions rumbled in my mind. Who might owe this top-of-the-radio Zenith radio? Where did he live? How did he get it? Why was he selling it?    I would soon find out the answers to all these questions...and more.

     When given permission to write this blog, I promised not to divulge the exact location- but I can tell you, I felt honored to be granted access. A long, windy road delivered us to a forested area, fronting a rolling hillside. The sun pranced on one of the slopes, then leapt into a pond; it glistened on the water. A gaggle of geese and goslings floated peacefully underneath an arched walkway that lead to an island featuring a cedar gazebo. 

      Further back, atop a small knoll, a contemporary-style cedar home with expansive windows, sat.

    Arf, arf!  A well-groomed Sheltie Collie came bounding up, following on his heels, the owner. The sheltie then took off to explore, returning later.

    "Hello. My name is Jeff Rense. Nice to meet you." After exchanging the obligatory greetings, we were given the grand tour. Jeff told us a bit more about himself. He had relocated from Montecito, (Santa Barbara County), California- a number of years ago.  A single dad, he came here with his daughter, to escape an every increasing influx of Hollywood celebrities-which included Dennis Miller and Oprah. 

     When Jeff purchased the raw property; he had a vision, one he succeeded in bringing to fruition. He built the striking cedar house, numerous ponds, trails and is even adding a small-scale railway on the five-acre property.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co5aum87h9w  (Video of railway in action.)

The results would indicate he must have been blessed with  20/20. vision. With the eye of an artist, he painted his vision onto the acreage, will the skill of a great master putting his brush to the easel.

     And his interest in radios? It became apparent as he shared his livelihood with me. Jeff is the mastermind and founder of Rense.com. He manages, owes and operates several radio networks. He has a weekly radio program at 7:00 pm, Monday- Friday. It's an interesting site; I'd recommend talking a look and/or listen. After an extended, pleasant chat, I had one final question. I wondered why he liked old radios. His interest exceeded early electronics, "Makes me feel good, seeing them."    A smile crept across his face.

We'd like to thank Jeff for his kind hospitality and sharing his Stratosphere and interesting life with us.

Till next time,

Regards,

Sue
phlog's blog

ps.. Some people feel it is necessary to place a cat on the center bottom of the Stratosphere. If you happen to be lucky enough to owe a 1000Z, and would like to, I would recommend the Cleo-CAT-tra. Think she's one cool cat, who I believe, could pull it off. ;) Jeff mentioned, that he heard from a friend, just last week, that someone had found a white cat with Zenith stamped on the bottom. Did Zenith actually produce a cat to keep the Strat company? No one seems to know for sure. Truth or legend? The question lingers on.

This is a Gilfillan radio from the mid 1930s. Gilfillans were manufactured in LA. CA. so we find them around here on occasion. It is very similar in both chassis and cabinet construction to the 6T, also a rare radio, pictured below. Both have a veneered front panel and solid wood sides and top, though this one is far more elaborate.

I have had it for about 6 months, the cabinet was missing the bottom trim on the right side. So, I finally got around to making a replacement. I have never seen a similar cabinet with inlayed bird's eye maple in the base trim.

They had to go to a lot of extra work to flair the base, making it about a half inch wider than the top. Another interesting note is that the veneer on the front panel was cut for the width WITH OUT the flair. So they had to add small strips of veneer on the right and left. I don't believe a large production run would have continued with this unnecessary step.

The cabinet seems to have been manufactured with a 3 knob (controls) chassis in mind having 3 holes drilled inside, but not cut clear through the veneer, The lower trim piece may have been added when the design changed to the 5 control chassis. The speaker mount also was modified to move the speaker towards the rear, possibly to avoid conflict with the dial.

Below is the Gilfillan Allwave Super 6T from 1934 for comparison. Both models share the little round plate that is a band switch indicator on the center knob.

So, my question is: Have you seen this cabinet used before? For that matter, do you have a 5 knob Gilfillan from 1934 - 1936?