Over the last few months, we’ve seen a fascinating surge of interest in our Model 1930. Upon inquiry, we’ve learned that a very large proportion of our customers are overseas (England, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Germany, France, Singapore, others), who are buying our Model 1930 to power one of many “flip clock” radios–the same style that is seen multiple times in the classic film “Back to the Future.” What’s going on?
“Back to the Future” was released July 3, 1985. This means that we are approaching the 30th anniversary of its release. Remember that at the end of the movie, Doc Brown took the DeLorean and went 30 years into the future, to the year 2015! If our customers are as excited about this event as we are, then it’s no wonder there is such interest in nostalgic elements from the movie. Examples of the original Panasonic RC-6015 are becoming difficult to find because of their popularity. This video nicely describes this unit:
But there are a myriad of similar clocks manufactured by GE and others which resemble this clock, and those are becoming popular, too! Why is that?
When you think about it, the only practical way to go back in time (sorry, Doc Brown!) is through our memories and nostalgia. We often collect vintage items because it takes us back in time to a setting that gives us a sense of something that was special, exciting, comforting, etc. Sometimes an item brings back memories of a loved one. So we go back in time by collecting or surrounding ourselves with these items. That’s ok! It’s wonderful to be able to experience time travel in this unique way. In fact, a good number of customers seek us out because of the sentimental or nostalgic value a horological item brings to them. Whether it is the lost art of craftsmanship, the attention to detail, beauty, artistic value, or a sense for a time when things were somehow different–all these are perfectly valid reasons to experience the time travel that our nostalgic items bring to us. It’s our form of the Flux Capacitor. And, fortunately we don’t need 1.21 Gigawatts to get us there, since as you recall it takes a nuclear reaction or bolt of lightning to generate that much power–very hard to come by. That would also assume we’ve already been able to find a suitable DeLorean and trick it out with all of the right equipment.
If you live in a country outside of North America, you will likely need a Model 1930 to revitalize your US-manufactured electric clock radios like the RC-6015. Most of these clocks were designed to be powered from 60Hz. Outside of North America, the standard is 50Hz. What’s more important is that to power them accurately, this 60Hz needs to be very accurate and stable. That’s what the Model 1930 brings. It allows these vintage clock radios to come alive just as they were originally meant to, back in the good old 1970s and 1980’s. The Model 1930 will provide the proper line frequency and voltage regardless of where you wish to power it around the world.
Here is more information about the Model 1930: