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Whenever I walk into my parents’ home, I am reminded of how we all seem to hold on to things from the past.

For various reasons, we seem to cling to things that have sentimental value, things that are well constructed, or maybe you are just a pack rat. In my parents’ case, it’s a home entertainment system that has to be more than 45 years old that keeps my mother in touch with her past.

I am referring to one of the first combination radio, stereo and TV systems to hit the market. Sleek in design, attractive and costly, it offered the best technology that man had to offer at the time.

Over the years, the components became outdated, too costly to repair or unable to be repaired. And new technology rendered them obsolete.

What do you do with a piece of furniture that played your favorite 78/45 vinyl records, that brought music by black DJs Steady Freddie Allen, Art Alexander and Rufus Bostic into your home, that provided hours of “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “Days of Our Lives,” “As the World Turns,” “The Edge of Night” and “The Guiding Light”?

You do what my mother and people her age do: You turn it into a display case of family pictures or use it to display your collection of knick-knacks and old relics.

No matter how it’s being used now, it provides a connection to a past when times were hard, when folks appreciated what their hard-earned money bought, when things were built to last much longer than most of the pieces that are built today.

If we look beyond the obvious regarding the many old relics our parents accumulated over the years, we just might find some hidden treasures.
I found what one might describe as black vinyl gold, which explains my mother’s fondness for her old-home entertainment center. These are some of the old heavy 78 records my parents saved from back in the day. If you aren’t sure of the facts surrounding the song, then search it on the Internet.
The following is a long list of just some of the records: “I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You” by Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy, 1929; “Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere” by Joe Morris and his orchestra, 1950; “Southern Echoes” by Buddy Johnson and his band; “Come Back Maybellene” by blues pianist Mercy Dee. 1955; “Tonight at Ten” and “All of Me” by Count Basie and his orchestra; “Let’s Spring One” and “I’m in the Mood for Love” by King Cole Trio, 1944; “Tonight You Belong to Me” and “No, Baby, Nobody But You” by Erskine Hawkins and his orchestra, 1940; “Born to Swing” by Mildred Bailey and her orchestra, 1938; “What Is This Thing Called Swing,” “Wham” and “Sweet Sue — Just You” by Jimmie Lunceford and his orchestra; “Someone as Sweet as You,” by Buddy Johnson and his orchestra; “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” by Don Byas and his orchestra; “Mood to be Stewed” and “Coppin Out” by Slam Stewart; “Tell Me Why” and “Drifting Along Blues” by Lonnie Johnson, vocal and guitar; “Hot Biscuits” by Jay McShann and The Band That Jumps the Blues; “Cryin Blues” by The Blues Woman; “Wrapped Up in a Dream” by Do Ray and Me, 1948; “Luke the Spook” by Luis Russell and his orchestra, 1946; “Swingin for Pappy” by Bill Moore and his band; “Well Oh Well” by Tiny Bradshaw; “Savoy” by Lucky Millinder and his orchestra; “I Surrender Dear” by Benny Carter and his orchestra; and “All I Ever Do Is Worry” by Julia Lee and Her Boy Friends.

The above artists are all black, but there are also records by the Andrew Sisters, Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye, Gene Krupa, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, the Four Vagabonds and others.

My father and his people migrated to High Point from Franklin, N.C., and along with them, they brought along the only music they knew anything about. So, included in this collection are a few records by Ernest Tubbs and Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys. I even found my name on a rare Chess label from the early ’50s featuring Larry Liggett.

In the late ’60s I bought a Chroma Color TV from Sears that I loved. I kept that TV until the color faded and the cost of repairs was more than the cost of a new one. Twenty-five years later, I fell in love with something called widescreen and picture in a picture.

So, what did I do with my relic of the past? My wife had a furniture maker convert it into a beautiful functional desk that has been in our family room, game room, hallway and now the laundry room.

Whenever I look at it, I reminisce about the wonderful years I spent in Washington, which serve to remind me that I am getting older.

Eventually time catches up with most things, and they lose their luster. Maybe we should ask “Is there unknown value in something that we haven’t taken the time to explore just because it’s old?”

Two things are sure: Value is in the eyes of the beholder, and we are old getting older each day.

Glenn Chavis researches and writes about High Point’s black history. Contact him at Storytime40@aol.com.