By B.C. Manion
When it comes to antique radios, Johnny Vick is a little different from most folks.
He prefers the radios he buys to be broken.
The 62-year-old enjoys the challenge of figuring out what’s wrong with them and bringing them back to life.
“I like to resurrect them,” the Lutz man said, smiling.
He credits his father for leading him into the world of electronics.
“When I was a kid, when my dad would buy me something for Christmas — he’d buy me an electronic kit. He’d make me sit down at the table with that kit and make it work before I went out to play.
“My dad didn’t want me playing around too much. He used to build games (for the carnival industry). He’d have me there with him. I’d holding a solder. I’d put the solder where he wanted it, or I’d wrap the wires together. He had me working. I was learning at the same time.”
Vick followed his father’s footsteps into the carnival world, working first as a motorcycle daredevil and later as a carnival electrician.
He learned his way around electronics by watching others make repairs, through trial and error and by voraciously reading books on the topic.
“When I was at the carnival and something would go wrong with the generator, they’d call a man in. I was right there. I’d ask him if he wanted coffee or anything. I was there to learn what he was doing. I even had some of them draw me schematics.”
He’s also learned about electronics the hard way: “I’ve been zapped quite a few times.”
Over time, though, he became adept at reading schematics and figuring out how things work.
He spent 35 years making electrical repairs at carnivals and developing a reputation for his versatility.
“I’m pretty well-known in the carnival business for electricity because I knew so many things,” he said. “I wasn’t confined to one area.”
While working the carnival circuit, in New York, New England, Virginia and North Carolina, he picked up radios for his collection.
“They have little flea markets at the carnivals and I’d always go check them out. They’d have lots of radios. I’d buy them.”
He preferred buying broken radios. They cost less and he enjoyed fixing them.
Sometimes, it’s hard to pinpoint (the problem). You have to dig at it and dig at it until you find it, find that culprit,” Vick said.
But getting the radio to work again brings a sense of satisfaction, said Vick, who has accumulated about 500 radios in his collection.
He’s got models from all sorts of makers, including Philco, Zenith, G.E., Admiral and Bulova. Some are console radios, others are portable. Most of his radios are the kind that sit on a counter.
Most of them are the old tube-type radios, made between the 1920s and 1960s.
Vick has repaired most of the radios in his collection, but has deliberately left some out of order.
Some radio enthusiasts in the market for antique radios prefer to buy radios that are broken, he said.
He also has some broken radios that he uses for spare parts.
Vick said he welcomes others who love radios to drop by his place to chat.
He also is willing to make repairs, but is not especially looking for that type of business.
He’s confident that he can fix most radios, but sometimes the wires are so old, or previous repairs were done so poorly, it’s not worth the effort to take the job.
“I can fix it,” he said. “I just don’t want to go through the aggravation of doing it.”
If you would like to know more about Johnny Vick’s radio collection, or would like to chat with him about radios, give him a call at (813) 404-0660.
