Radio auction a bonus for collectors

John Heard’s collection of rare and antique valve radios dating from the 1920s is the highlight of Mossgreen’s Quarterly Collectors Auction Series from 10am on Tuesday and Wednesday February 4-5 at 926-930 High Street, Armadale.

The 66-year-old former Balmoral Art Gallery owner in Geelong, who first developed an interest in vintage radios as a child, has been obliged to sell his large collection of more than 100 radios because he is downsizing from his large home to a nearby townhouse. 

If John had his way he would have had a career as a radio technician, having studied the subject in his late teens at RMIT.

“However, while I was fine with valve radios I didn’t understand the new transistor technology so I was never going to be a success,” he said.

Instead, he turned to art and a career as a gallery owner and contented himself with becoming a vintage radio collector, picking up examples wherever he could including from second hand shops, auctions, newspaper sale advertisements – even the odd neighbour who might be persuaded to part with a treasured possession.

“Many of the radios I found in second hand shops didn’t work but I was lucky enough to have a couple of fellow enthusiast friends who helped me fix them,” John said.

In one of the opportunity shops he visited, John found a late 1940s STC radiogram in need of restoration – but the owners were asking 10 times its value.

John told them it was absurdly overpriced and made them a much more realistic offer – resulting in a successful outcome and another classic to add to his collection.

In addition to his radios, John also collected gramophones and pianos including a 1927 Haines Bros The Marque Ampico pianola – made in the United States using slave labour.

“Ampico pianolas were famous for their rolls which played with full musical expression,” John said.

Radios in his collection include a 1936 AWA Fisk radiolette, a rare late 1920s Band Master and a 1935 Astor Mickey Baby Grand.

There also is a rare 1932 GE Cathedral mantle radio made by AWA and a a late 1930s Empire State AWA Radiola up for grabs. 

The auction also contains a collection of European Gothic furniture, including a 2.4-metre tall grandfather clock, and about 200 items of Chinese ceramics from several private collections.