{"id":3340,"date":"2026-07-08T20:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/?p=3340"},"modified":"2026-07-08T20:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:40:21","slug":"back-to-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/08\/back-to-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In 1927 Sparks-Withington Co (Sparton) produced this battery powered radio for $188.00. Adjusted for today’s inflation that price is now approximately $3,620.88. Most today would see this as an old relic from the past and dismiss it immediately. My grandmother passed away 10 years ago now and she told me many stories of listening to this radio. She was 8 or 9 years old, as she recalls when she first heard it. This radio manufacturer was a stone’s throw from where she grew up and I have fond memories of playing around the building where Sparton used to manufacture these in southern Michigan. The company has long since vanished, but the building still stands as so does this cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The box was built of stunning quality hardwoods and all the hinges worked great. Not bad for being almost 100 years old! The original radio had long since been dismantled and used for parts leaving only this very well crafted wooden box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here is a pic of the original box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I thought it only fitting to restore this box, changing the purpose only slightly from its original use. I added 127hp of 3U eurorack space and a 1U Pulp Logic row as well as a Korg sequencer with some custom made brackets to attach it to the front door. Added a Bluetooth receiver and small amp to power my old Fisher speakers. There are of course a few of my own custom modules in there too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Put the refurbished box into the center of the basement where it now can entertain my friends and I today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There will never again be a time like my Grandmother’s childhood, a hundred years ago, but maybe with a little bit of luck we can hope some of these things can still be used and reused, going well into the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1927 Sparks-Withington Co (Sparton) produced this battery powered radio for $188.00. Adjusted for today’s inflation that price is now approximately $3,620.88. Most today would see this as an old relic from the past and dismiss it immediately. My grandmother … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[560,561,563,562],"class_list":["post-3340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1927-sparton-radio","tag-custom-chassis","tag-hidden-eurorack","tag-retro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3340"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3349,"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3340\/revisions\/3349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/millionmachinemarch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}