My Family Phonograph
From: Chuck Darling
April 2, 2024
Re: 1947 Silvertone 8127
My Dad had one of the 500
Silvertone 8127
Cabinet Am/Fm/Sw1/Sw2/
phono/wire-recorders.
It was amazing!
Push-button Tuning,
tone switch,
2 high-boost buttons,
2 bass-boost buttons...
The unit draws 170 watts,
and the 11-1/2" dual coil
Speaker would shake the
floor at volume..!
Dad died in '64, but this
"Phonograph"
Served our family well
beyond 2000...
The phono changer was
replaced twice, but the
Tube Amp and radio
never failed !
The wire recorder and timer
still functioned, although
the wire motor made a clunky sound when it ran.
I took the fiberboard off the
back, and discovered that
Sears had glued a full set
of Schematics
inside the cabinet !
The replacement phonos
were stereo, plugged through a Y cable into
the Mono Amp.
My parents had a Cassette Deck
in their car, and quite a collection
of tapes, but no hi-fi player in the house...
In the '80's I was an Audio Salesman for SILO. I bought a Sanyo Tape Deck for my parents at Christmas.
I built a double-pole double-throw switch box, so I could fit
the (Stereo) Sanyo into the Silvertone's (Mono)
Phono Compartment.
The switch selected Tape, or Phono. The box was wooden,
with Rosewood Overlay, to harmonize with the Reddish
Mahogany Silvertone (solid wood !)
In later years, when Mom had a CD in her car, I bought my
Mom a Phillips AM/FM CD/Cassette mini stereo
for Christmas, after Grace
had forced me out of our
mortgaged suburban home.
I made sure it fit inside the phono cabinet,
before I bought it.
I patched that
Remote Controlled
Mini-System through
the same switch box that
I had used for the Tape Deck,
20 years earlier...
I even ran an audio line
from my HP Win95 computer
from my old upstairs room to the Basement, and up to
the Line-in of the Phillips,
so Dad's Silvertone could
play edited and equalized
Mp3's of Cassette tapes.
It worked perfectly.
In an attempt to please
my Mom, I went through some
of her old Choir Rehearsal tapes,
and found one with my recently
departed Stepfather Emerson
Clifton Knaier, Jr's prominent,
but off-key voice in evidence.
I had Mom sit down to listen
to it...
I thought she would be pleased
to hear her husband's voice...
She wasn't.
Maybe that's why she and Cindy had the Amherst Police evict me
from the premises, one
Snowy, 15 degree January midnight in 2005.
I've been homeless ever since...
God works in mysterious ways.
I doubt you would be paying
any attention to my efforts,
if the situation wasn't so
absurd ...
Gloria has since gone to her reward, in DC I had a dream of her flying in a gold lamee dress
that alerted me to her passing...
And to Luke's marriage...*
And to my grandson's birth...
(They don't talk to me.)
That "Phonograph" was
an important part of
our lives !
Chuck
PS.
When I was living with my Mother, Grace wouldn't bring
the kids to see their Grandmother.
Mom was very upset...
I persuaded Luke to come over
for my Mom's traditional 4th of July Cookout.
I played MP3's in the backyard
through my BoomBox.
I asked Luke how I did it...
Wirelessly...
He didn't know.
I used a auto FM-Converter
to cast the music from my
computer to the FM Radio.
Worked Great !
PPS.
Regarding Buffalo Psychiatric,
Erie County Medical Center
and Dr. Jansina Yap.
I told them I had no need of
Psychiatric Medication...
They wouldn't listen.
They thought my faith
was a delusion, and told
my family so.
Dr. Yap was kind, and reduced
my xyprexa to the lowest available dose.
I asked her if she would ever
take me off of it, and she said:
...If we did...We would have to ...TERMINATE.
Not the sort of thing you want to hear from a Chinese Psychiatrist
in a Psychological Nanny-State.
I continued to see Dr. Yap for
a year, showing her my
Geocities Websites each time.
I asked her how I was doing...
"Oh, you are making Great Progress !!!" She exclaimed.
Finally I showed her 12 months
of unfilled prescriptions...
She was crestfallen.
"Why did you do this..?" she asked in a shaky voice.
'I told you I needed no medication', I said...
'Would you have believed me
If I didn't...?'
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