What we especially love about the internet is the micro nature of its esotericism, the specificity of its arcaneness.
Virtually no detail, no minute aspect, of life goes uncatalogued or uncelebrated.
And for those of us who are drawn to the past even as we savor the present, the fine-toothed comb that is the internet continuously turns up particular rich troves of unexpected treasures.
We have a great fondness for old radios, dating from the 1920s through the 1950s (we own a few of the clock-radio variety from the latter decade, and we hold them dear, but we fervently await the day that we own a truly beautiful—and, of course, fully functional— 1930s console or table radio, like the one depicted in the illustration in the banner at the top of this page).
But as much as we’ve pored over photos of these classic beauties online and gazed longingly at those restored examples we’ve occasionally come across in vintage emporiums, we’ve never taken particular note of the designs of their tuning dials.
Thank goodness Michael Feldt at indianaradios.com is more observant than we are. His very worthy site includes a collection of antique tuning dials that is breathtakingly lovely.
Who knew these dials could be so pleasing and evocative as stand-alone images? Well, Mr. Feldt did, for one.
Don’t you dare be satisfied with the few examples above. Mr. Feldt’s site boasts literally dozens, and they’re all worth a look.