George has been a collector of antique telephones and radios for 25 years, first as a collector of antique telephones. He assembled a collection of all of the telephones used in Germany since the turn of the century. A prize in the telephone collection includes a desk set removed from the Reichschancellery in Berlin after the Second World War, bearing the specially stamped "German Eagles" and government identification marks which appeared only on those phones.

Since 1992 his radio collection has focused on sets made by the Atwater Kent Manufacturing Co. of Philadelphia. The model 12, made in 1924 (see photo) is one such set. It is one of the rarest of their "breadboard" series, with only 8,100 examples produced. Other examples of Shields' radio and television collection includes Kennedy models 5 and 15 (see photo below), a pristine Philco model 90, Atwater Kent 509 and 469 consoles, and two early televisions: a mint RCA 621TS and an equally mint DuMont RA103 "Chatham" - complete with original warranty card (never completed or mailed in) and the matching business reply envelope! (He suspects the warranty has since expired.....)