Blimey! Colour Television!!

[63getelevision]

I got bored, and found this as I was looking for vintage television sites. They have links. Any of our UK guys collect television sets?

http://www.oldtechnology.net/colour.html

 

[selectomatic]

It's funny how something so familiar can look so alien. Some beautiful cabinets, and it's interesting to see how many of them had doors to cover the screens when not in use.

-kevin

 

[63getelevision]

And In America--RCA Victor from the 1950s

Here's the line-up from 1954 to '59.

http://community-2.webtv.net/stevetek/StevesCT100/

 

[74simon]

I love old televisions,

but they really are beyond my ken. I used to own two black & white dual-standard sets, but ended up disposing of them after trying to flog them on ebay a couple of times. I do still have an early 70s Sony 14" though, which converts the PAL signal to NTSC and is very cute!

Some of the colour sets on that website are very rare. We didn't get colour TV in the UK until 1967, and even then that was only on one channel (BBC2)! BBC1 and ITV weren't broadcast in colour until November 1969, so there wasn't much demand for early colour sets - plus they were very expensive and unreliable.

Here's a film from 1936 of an early BBC TV broadcast - you've gotta love this song! It kinda captures the wonder of it all back then.

<object width=425 height=350> <param name=movie value=> </param> <embed src= type=application/x-shockwave-flash width=425 height=350> </embed> </object>

The link below is of a site with some marvelous pre-war TV sets by the way - all ridiculously valuable nowadays!

http://www.jdwn.freeserve.co.uk/eps405tv/index.htm

 

[63getelevision]

A Mr. J. Hoskins of Stuart, Florida patiently explained to me on my first and last call to him, "nobody collects TV sets". That is far from the truth. The video and the site are priceless. Thanks for showing them. And by the way, how would I find out anything about Muriel Smith? She had a beautiful recording made in December of 1953 entitled "I'd Love To Fall Asleep(and wake up in the arms)", backed by "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me". I think it was on London Records. I also love Vera Lynn. I am an Anglophile.

 

[drewz]

RCA Victor

Several Models to choose from!

RCA Victor "First In Color"

http://novia.net/~ereitan/

 

[63getelevision]

another excellent site

Thank you, Drewz. I keep forgetting, that for about two days, in the early '70s, I had a 1957 RCA Victor color set. I had to sell it off, because my parents refused to let me have it in the house. If they could see this place now......

 

[74simon]

Over here, there seem to be only a handful of television collectors. Pre-1964 sets use VHF broadcasts and 405 line CRTs, and we haven't had 405 line transmissions since 1985. Analogue television is also currently being phased out in the UK in favour of digital broadcasts. I have a lot of respect for the folks that keep these old sets going!

I have dipped a toe into the water of collecting old TVs, but I don't have a background in electronics. Mechanical devices like washers and vacuums I can understand, but I do treasure my 1935 Ekco radio set, which is a hulking great lump of (non-working) bakelite!

I found this page on Muriel Smith - seems she gave up her career to concentrate on working for racial equality. According to this page, her biography is currently being written.

http://www.us.iofc.org/people/3237.html

 

[63getelevision]

My Gosh, Muriel Smith was

An opera singer! And a great lady! This video seems to have her in it:

 

[bewitched]

Collecting tvs...

I'do collect old televisions since I was 5....I'm italian and I actually have more than 300 television sets. I love all my tvs bu t I have to say my heart is firmly stitched to Zenith televisions...
Here is one of my most loved babies...

 

[63getelevision]

CT-100

The FIRST RCA Victor color TV set? Wow!! My loves in this order: Magnavox, General Electric, Zenith, RCA. Lucky you, Bewitched!

 

[danemodsandy]

bewitched:

You ARE lucky- a CT-100 is one rare machine. For those who don't know what a CT-100 is, it was the first RCA colour TV, from 1954. It was not, strictly speaking, the first colour TV- there were experimental sets before that, and Westinghouse beat RCA to market with NTSC colour TV (the system we use today, soon to be abandoned in favour of ATSC) by a few days. A CT-100 cost $1000, and as you can see, the screen was tiny. They didn't sell well, due to the high price and small picture, but RCA got the price down and the screen size up very quickly.

How on earth did one of these end up in Italy? P.S.- I took the liberty of adjusting the gamma on your photo to bring out the detail better- that set deserves to be seen in all its glory.

 

[bewitched]

Thank you!

Hi Sandy, thank you very much for the touch up at the picture of my loved Rca tv! I must admit I'm really at loss when time comes to make a photo, no matter how simple the camera can be! I bought it several years ago from a nice guy named Harry Poster. I simpli LOVE all early televisions coming from your country especially Zenith. I own other vintage color tvs like the one in the picture... I would love so much to own a console with the clicking space command...

 

[bewitched]

And another one... Zenith

The following is an especially made for PAL system 625 lines 0 frames color tv...

 

[63getelevision]

I almost hate to tell you this, but for years, in the basement of the "Red Rooster Antique Mall" in north Fort Pierce, Florida, there was a top of the line Zenith rectangular screen color console, with twin speakers, bass and treble controls, and I imagine it was the clicking ultrasonic "Space Command" model. It disappeared, I only hope to a collector, instead of some nut looking for a cabinet. It was French Provincial. I love Zenith television, I have 3 1987 sets, one 19 inch stereo table model, and two 13 inch models. I know their not collectable if ever, but the color is beautiful!