1950's Curtis Mathes TV/Stereo Cabnet, Wood - $5500

[ovrphil]

Must be one of a very one of a kind, for the asking price. Maybe the typewriter on top of it is worth something and is included?

"One of a kind Curtis Mathes TV/Stereo Cabinet with side speakers, Radio and Record player are in perfect condition, Tube Style TV not functioning, Wood is all in good condition and can be restored. Very nice decorative item."

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/atq/4158425795.html

 

[kb0nes]

Tube Style TV not functioning...

It may not be a failure of the TV itself, perhaps it just happened to fail on June 13, 2009!

I'd hold out to get the flooring with it, they look good together

 

[rp2813]

"Very nice decorative item."

Sure it is.  So are the empty Almaden jug and typewriter sitting on top of it.

 

 

 

[rustyspaatz]

The Math

the original price x inflation = current price

 

[countryford]

People have no clue about pricing. I seen a Curtis Mathes TV console similiar to that for $1000. It was on Craigslist forever. I don't know if it sold, or they just gave up.

As far as it not working after 6/2009, one might not get a tv signal, but you would still get "snow" or one could hook up a digital converter box, dvd, vcr, or laser disc player and if the unit does work, you would be able to watch them.

 

[kb0nes]

NTSC Signal

Indeed Justin it would be easy to feed it a self generated analog signal to test it.

My point was I am banking on the type of people that price an item like this at North of $5K likely don't realize that

 

[tolivac]

Very nice CM Hi-Fi and TV-Now I have an idea where the VM/CM turntable I used to have years ago came from-a unit like this one.Yes,agree with the others here-try to test the TV with something that generates a standard NSTC analog TV signal-Just about any VCR,Most Laserdisc players and some DVD players had Ch#3,4 modulators.At one time you could get a standalone Ch#3,4 modulator from Radio Shack-just feed composite video and audio into it-and you could use it to feed an old TV like that.

 

[whirlcool]

Look how filthy dirty that thing is. I wouldn't give $200 for that thing.

Well remember the Curtis Mathes advertising slogan "The most expensive television made, and darned well worth it." Maybe the sellers remember that.

 

[tolivac]

Whirlcool:-You are right the thing does look kinda dirty-note the dirty dingy grill cloth on the speaker cabinets.The machine could use a cleanup.Wonder if the Hi-Fi came from a household that has a smoker.

 

[ovrphil]

Curtis Mathis

A few months ago, I found a couple tv's ..one is a 19 " color RCA XL-100(FMR455-W) and a color Zenith 19" Z1926W . (The RCA happens to have the best picture). So....in my past, the most commonly purchased brands were Zenith, RCA and Magnavox along with some Admirals. I never saw Curtis Mathis or don't remember if they were even marketed in southeastern Michigan.

So, if anyone owned a Curtis Mathis tv....were they " darned worth it? "

 

[whirlcool]

That's what I always wondered. They were sold here in Texas but you never saw them in any bog box store. They were sold through independent dealers.

The Curtis Mathes company was doing quite well. Their heyday was in the 80's. CM had designed their televisions like the IBM PS/2 computers. Completely modular. All electronics were on cards that could be popped in and out. A service call never took more than 20 minutes. The televisions had a 4 year warranty on all parts. And even if your set was out of warranty a service call to your house was only $20.00. Their factory was located in Texas. They were the last all American television set to be made.

The company went into decline after their chairman, Curtis Mathes Jr, was killed on that Air Canada flight that caught fire in mid air and landed in Cincinatti. Eventually the Curtis Mathes brand became a house brand for Kmart & Target.

Has anyone here ever owned or saw a Curtis Mathes television in operation? I wonder how good the picture was?

 

[rustyspaatz]

Reminds me of .

the movie trading places, from 1983 with Eddie Murphy.

When Eddie's character first enters the Townhouse and the Dukes are showing him around, if I remember right, they had a console similar to this.

 

[rinso]

When I was a teen, our first color set was a Curtis-Mathes stereo/television combo. It had a great picture for its time, and the cabinetry was beautiful. It also had side-firing bass speakers ala Magnavox. Good sound too. Unfortunately, it didn't last all that long and needed a couple of service calls a year, which of course included the necessary degaussing. The VM record changer was the first to fail and soon after that, the color TV owner's nightmare, the picture tube, lost its red gun and had to be replaced. My parents replaced the set after only 5 years of service.

 

[rustyspaatz]

These consoles are kind of a weird item.

They start out as a finely made piece of furniture, then, an appliance is installed into them.

I've seen it where people have removed the old nonfunctioning tv or stereo and either, installed shelves, to make it a piece of furniture.
Or use it as an entertainment center. Sliding their freestanding tv into the spot where the old tv was.

As furniture goes, its nice. Certainly not worth $5000+ I wonder if they would have a better chance of selling it if they extracted the stereo and old tv?