On a recent visit to the Asheville Radio Museum, I was given a personal tour of the space’s reigning “queen”, an art deco style Zenith that stands over four feet tall and cost the equivalent of $15, 000 during the Depression. “It has hand-inlaid wood and came with an (art -deco-style porcelain) cat,” Director of Media Relations Peter Abzug said, “Only wealthy people could afford it and there were only 350 made. We have one of the most perfect examples.”
This piece, as well as the 200 vintage radios that have resided at the museum for the past two decades, now have extra space in which to shine. The museum, which had been located in a cozy space in Elm 315 moved across the hall to rooms 306 and 307 in late July, tripling in size to encompass three rooms. The move was no easy feat; It took all twenty museum volunteers to move the radios. Staff from A-B Tech’s plant operations department worked hard to refinish the new space’s floors and set up rooftop radio antennas.
“Lee Pack and the whole department really deserve recognition for helping with the move,” said Museum Curator Stuart Smolkin.
When they first learned they had to move to make room for more faculty office space, museum staff were reluctant to make a change. Harrison Orr, Chair of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering Technology had long collaborated with the museum, bringing in his students for tours. Orr’s office was now moving to Haynes. But, staff soon saw the perks of the move: More collaborations with liberal arts instructors and a space, which could better accommodate their inventory as well as a workshop, library, and restoration projects.
On a recent visit, Smolkin pointed out the new space’s virtues: A library space, workshop, and two rooms that showcase the radios.“It’s like moving from a telephone booth to a palace,” He said. “It will be interesting for visitors to peer into the workshop now to see what we’re doing. It will also give us space to test equipment.”
In the previous space, radios were stacked so tightly on shelves that not every piece was visible to the public. Now, with two showrooms, they can be spread out and organized in a historical manner; they’ve also been divided into sections: amateur radios in one area, and home radios in another. There is plenty of space for the museum’s own ham radio station which licensed volunteers use for both fun and educational purposes to communicate with other ham stations internationally.
In the old space there was no workshop, so volunteers would tinker on donated radios in their own homes, storing pieces there. Now, there is a designated workshop and space for a library of books about history and radio repair
Another huge advantage of the new space is more room for school tours. “We can have more than four people at a time visit. Before we had to turn down school visits,” Smolkin said.
The museum will be celebrating its new space on September 14 with a Grand Reopening at their annual Vintage Radio Market, which will include a ribbon cutting and refreshments.
In the future, they hope to cater more to local schools and collaborate with more instructors on campus. They already have their first class tour booked with an A-B Tech physics instructor and are optimistic about doing more tours customized to instructors’ needs. Teach History? How about a lesson about WWII that includes a 1940s radio recording of a German bombing. English? How about writing prompts based on museum objects? (ie: The Haunted Jukebox, The Radio Time Machine). As for Science: “We like to show how radio waves have been around since the early 1800s and this technology is the same as we use today for cell phones, blue tooth and fobs,” Smolkin said. “Even the most advanced technology uses it.”
Watch a video of the new space by scrolling to the bottom of this page.
Visit the 4th Annual Vintage Radio Market on September 14, 7:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. for a chance to own your own vintage radios, parts, accessories, and books. The Grand Reopening event will be in the Elm building in Room 306 from 10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. with refreshments and T-shirt giveaways. For questions about the Vintage Radio Market, please contact Ron Beaver at (864) 304-8527 or ronaldbeaver1320@gmail.com.
To learn more about the museum or to book a class tour, visit Asheville Radio Museum and fill out the contact request form indicating when you’d like to visit. You can also cater the tour to your own curriculum if you contact them far enough in advance.
