![\"Bruce](\"http:\/\/michiganantiqueradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Bruce-with-Sparton-r.jpg\")
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In early 2012 a woman called a MARC member and basically said \u201cI am clearing out my mother\u2019s home and in the barn is a radio my father bought at an auction years ago. \u00a0Mom didn\u2019t like it so when dad died it went out in the barn. \u00a0The wind blew thru the barn over the years and its rusted now but I see some radios like it on the internet that have sold for big money. \u00a0Can someone come here and tell me what I have ?\u201d.<\/p>\n
Long time MARC member Bruce Tanner was called and he drove up to St. John\u2019s Michigan and looked in the barn. \u00a0He told her: \u00a0\u201cMadam,\u00a0you have just found one of the \u201cHoly Grails\u201d of radio collecting! \u00a0This is a blue-tinted mirror \u201cArt Deco\u201d iconic radio from 1937 made by Sparton Radio of Jackson, Michigan. \u00a0Its called the \u201cNocturne\u201d and very few are known to survive. \u00a0Examples of this radio have sold for over $50,000 in good condition!\u201d \u00a0 She asked what to do with it. \u00a0The club suggested putting it in the Extravaganza \u201cMain Auction\u201d. \u00a0She agreed. \u00a0Collectors came from all over the USA to see it and possibly bid. \u00a0How high (or how low!) would it go? \u00a0Although it was weathered, all the main parts were there and the irreplaceable blue glass was not broken. \u00a0It could be re-silvered easily, the chrome could be restored and the one missing metal knob could be turned on a lathe. \u00a0The internal parts were intact and easily restoreable too. \u00a0 \u00a0Many collectors were hoping to buy it and the room buzzed with chatter. \u00a0 There were many other radios to be auctioned, \u00a0most sold for under $100 as is typical. \u00a0Finally it came on the auction block\u2026. and after heavy bidding it closed at $34,000. \u00a0 The buyer is a very experienced radio collector who will have it fully restored .<\/p>\n
\u201cHigh style\u201d radios like this rarely show up. \u00a0They were expensive back in the day so few were sold. \u00a0One could picture a radio such as this in a Chicago penthouse apartment or the lounge of a posh \u201cArt Deco\u201d hotel in Miami. \u00a0 But a BARN in St. Johns, Michigan? \u00a0 Just goes to show, \u201cyou NEVER KNOW WHERE TREASURE MAY LIE\u201d !!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0Why a $34,000 radio, of course! In early 2012 a woman called a MARC member and basically said \u201cI am clearing out my mother\u2019s home and in the barn is a radio my father bought at an auction years ago. \u00a0Mom didn\u2019t like it so when dad died it went out in the barn. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-137","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevee.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevee.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevee.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevee.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevee.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevee.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevee.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}