I have to push back a little on the idea that old stuff was just built better across the board. That GE radio was probably made when a clock was a serious purchase, like people saved up for one, so they put real parts in it. A $60 bluetooth speaker today gets made as cheap as possible because most folks replace them every couple years anyway, and nobody expects a speaker to last 30 years. So it's less about old vs new and more about what the thing was meant to do and who was buying it. You got lucky with a flea market find, and I'm glad it works, but for every radio like yours there were ten that died in the 90s and got tossed. The dead ones just don't end up on a forum, you know?

Why are we doing side by side tests on chili like it's a science fair project? It's a pot of beans with some meat and spice in it, not a dish where the herb is the star. Fresh cilantro in chili is fine but it's not some magic trick that saves you money, you just happened to use less salt because the fresh stuff has more water and flavor punch per bite, that's it. A $2 bunch every single time you make chili adds up faster than you think and half of it wilts in the fridge before you use it anyway. Sounds like you wanted fresh to win so you found a reason it did.