Does anyone make console televisions anyymore?

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dalangdon

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My mom desparately needs a new TV, and I would like to buy her one for Christmas. However, she is from the old school, and refuses to have a non-cabinet TV in her living room. (She still mourns the TV before this one that not only had "Early American" styling, but also doors that pulled out and covered the screen when not in use)

I thought about buying her an Armoire or something, but that opens up a can of aesthetic worms that I don't want to even go near.

Surely there must be a niche market for other stubborn old ladies who dislike the modern plasticy TVs, but I can't find it. Does anyone know if there is company that sells console televisions anymore?
 
I knew of

a company in Cleveland..(forget it's name, sorry), that specialised in rebuilding tv chassis. Maybe there's a similar one in Rain City.

Last new consoles I remember were from the early 80s.

Good luck-

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
If I recall that last of the consoles were more or less "special order" items. You had to go to a Ma & Pa television dealer to order one, the big boxes didn't carry them anymore.
Over the years, some beautiful consoles were made with nice speaker systems built into them. I think Zenith made some of the nicest looking of the consoles of that era. I used to like the names the companies would give to their models.
 
Thanks for the offer, Blackstone..

Actually, the TV would need to go to Council Bluffs, Iowa. That's where my mom lives, but that's still too far away.

The Early American TV was an RCA. We just threw the cabinet out a few years back. My dad had busted the guts out and they used it for storage. It was a nicely made piece of furniture, but it was also campy as hell. I wish I had a picture of it.
 
Hi Dan,

YES! Here are the Zenith consoles, both in contemporary and traditional designs. RCA had one console model left for the longest time, but it appears they recently discontinued it as I can't find it on their website. Hope this helps...
 
Thanks, Kevin!

That would probably meet with her approval ;-) but the Amazon offer is weird. There doesn't seem to be a way to actually buy it. I tried adding it to my cart, but it didn't list a price.

I also found it on the Zenith corporate website, so I know it's legit. They don't talk about the cabinet, however. For the MSRP($950) I would hope that it's real wood.
 
The grandparents got one of these Zeniths a couple years ago, and at that time consoles had all but been abandoned by the rest of the manufacturers; looked very much like the one in the link actually. The problem with Zenith, I mean Goldstar, is that the electronics will only hold out for a couple years, tops. Biggest complaint is failure of the CRTs. Either a failure of one of the three guns, or soft focus. Some googl'ing would be a good idea before handing over cold hard cash. Too bad that the great American electronics names get slapped on offshore crap.
 
Well, it was a nice idea, but I just called Zenith, and they have been discontinued. I told the customer service rep that they were still listed on the their corporate website and on Amazon, and she said "Oh. They need to take those down"

Back to square one....
 
MY aunt

Her console TV has gone out. I was talking to her the other day. She is going to have a neighbor gut her console for her and sit her new tv inside it. <p> Makes me wonder when I am 80 what ideas I will be holding on to and refusing to give up. LOL.
 
Wow, they discontinued them? Considering how they weren't exactly cheap, it doesn't really surprise me, but it's sad to see that there are no more console TVs being produced new anymore.

Cory, I second your comment...I've heard numerous times before about the electronics going out early on the recent Zeniths. At an estate sale I went to in late '04, there were two Zenith consoles in the living room, a 1983 and a more recent one from 1996 next to it. Out of curiosity, I plugged each one in and hooked up the cable, and believe it or not, the picture of the '83 model was better than the newer one, not as washed-out or grainy! I knew of the problem at that time, but still thought about getting the '96 since it had more features. However, I took one look at the plasticky cabinet...nope! Needless to say, you can guess which one I picked up! It still works great and that Chromatic setting really makes the picture stand out; it's just that I use my computer more than my TV and hardly watch it!
 
Read somewhere (Wall Street Journal?) that electronics makers are getting out of the traditional television market. Soon it will be either LCD or plasma, with the old fashioned picture tube TVs going the way of the Dodo. Some electronics makers will contiune to supply sets, but mostly low end and they will be small, things one finds in Walmart and such.

As things stand today, one would be hard pressed to find tube sets in anything larger than 27", and even then offerings are slim. Our local Best Buy has several rows of Plasma and LCD sets, but only two or three (sets, not rows), of tube sets.
 
I recently bought a 30" tube set because I wanted HDTV but couldn't afford the plasma or LCD sets available.

They have what are called "slim fit" sets, that are thinner than the behemoths the traditional tube sets, but deeper than a CRT.

LG and Samsung each put out one model for the US and Canada. Both companies expect to sell them for quite a while in places like Oz, the Middle East, Africa, etc., where LCD sets haven't penetrated the market as they have here in North America and in Europe.

I'm pleased so far with the LG's performance. I think it was a good compromise for me.
 
dalangdon, how about getting Mom a beautiful wooden TV cabinet with a rolltop-style or French-door opening (the Amish outlets sell them affordably) and throwing in a stock TV, or maybe even a TV/DVD=type combo that can be upgraded later, as necessary?

I'm going through the same struggle with my mom (pinch-pleated draperies and full-size ice cube trays aren't much easier to find!)
 
Check with the other manufacturers

Don't give up yet. Not all that long ago, to my surprise, I saw an ad in the Collinsville, Illinois local newspaper for a television shop, and it claimed to have new console TVs. If I can remember what the name of the store was, I'll let you know. I'll ask some of the people at work who live in that town. There would be a big market for console TVs in that little town -- lots of old ladies who wear polyester clothes, have bouffant hairdos, and drive big old Ford Crown Vics.

Steve
 
Our family has always been strong on Zenith teleivisions. The first one we had was a 21" B&W set back in about 1958 or so. Then in 1963 we got one of the first rectangular color sets, and even though it needed a few tubes replaced now and then it lasted until 1973 or so. Then that one lasted until 1986 or so.
I have a 12" Zenith B&W portable that I purchaed in 1969 that only recently needed a tube (and resistor) replaced.
However, the last Zenith we bought was in 1994. I think it was one of the first Goldstar sets. What a POS. The picture was fine, but the set had to have the power supply/transformer replaced several times. Then it needed various circuit boards replaced. Eventually in 1999, it went out in a blaze of glory. It caught fire during the middle of the night smoking the house up and fortunately the only damage was smoke damage and a scorched wall. The fire department came and took it outside for us as the fire stopped when I unplugged the unit. Since we have cathedral ceilings in our den, the smoke detector didn't go off, one of our dogs alerted us to the fact that we had a fire in the house.
Then we had a Zenith 19" portable one of our neighbors gave us, it was about a 1980 unit or so. Great picture. Then in 2003 we went with a Sony Wega.
I think the Zenith Consoles would have looked better had they had the tuner in the top over the speaker and some kind of trim strip over the top and bottom of the television. As stated before, it looks like someone took a portable and just stuck it in a cabinet.
 
DAN, I FOUND THE STORE!!!

I'm sure this is it:

Terry's Appliance Center
124 Vandalia St.
Collinsville, IL

618-345-9200

Call them tomorrow! I'd betcha they still have some in stock.

If you need to, you could have them deliver it to my house, and it could stay here until you arrange shipping. (FYI, Collinsville is a small town bedroom community about 10 minutes across the river from St. Louis). Let me know how it works out.
 
One more consideration

This is not cheap and may not be as "traditional" as she wants, but you might try a new Predicta. These are "genuine" Predictas, the people own the name.

I bought one a few years back and it was shipped and crated to me. They let me pay for it on time with no interest before they sent it to me--they just kept a record! Finally we got it. It is a Phillips chassis, but the cabinet is all custom fitted. It's slightly larger than the old models, but proportional and in scale due to the larger tubes.

You can see it to the far left in this picture.
Ours runs CONSTANTLY for my son and my wife in the living room with no problems. We got the "Holiday" in Tuxedo Black. Perhaps your mom might be interested in the "Danish Modern" or "Pedestal" which sit right on the floor and are fine furniture!

Here is mine in action....

http://www.predicta.com/index.shtml
9-21-2006-21-49-56--kevinpreston8.jpg
 
One additional thought

You might want to make some calls around the very largest TV shops, or places that sold that set, and see if they have one still in stock. Zenith should be able to tell you what chains sold them.

I can imagine that some stores did not move them, and since the Amazon site said that those units first were placed on Amazon in 2005, its not that long since they were discontinued.
 
a black plastic tv won't fit my decor either....

Hi Dan, Don't know if you could still do this or not.... I gave my 1965 Magnavox a "transplant" in 1988. First gutted the old round tube chassis,picture tube and bezel. Bought a new Magnavox TV and stripped the picture tube, chassis and bezel, and grafted the whole thing into the old wooden cabinet.
Only had service on it one time, about a year ago.(don't watch much tv either though) The service man said he did not know the cabinet was an old "roundy" until he moved it out from the wall to remove the back.

9-21-2006-22-23-38--rickr.jpg
 
.

what the 1965 Magnavox looked like before the "transplant"


BTW: the "operation" took all weekend, but it was winter time in the Mid-Worst anyway....

9-21-2006-22-26-36--rickr.jpg
 
Never mind

So sorry, Dan. I called Terry's this morning to satisfy my own curiosity. The reply, "Ohhh...we've been out of those for about a year now."

Rick, what a fun, nostalgic ad! The prices on those TV's are surprisingly high considering the value of the dollar back then! Almost on par with what people are paying today for those mega-sized plasma and LCD models?

Kevin, no fair! You never told us before that you have Heywood-Wakefield too, including the much-coveted room divider. We want more pictures! And that TV is awesome. Who'da thunk they'd be making repros?
 
Steve...

Check out the Heywood Wakefield thread that was started at :

http://www.automaticwasher.org/TD/THREADS/SANDBOX/8045x98.htm
Some folks on here have some mind bending HW collections, you will love it. Do you collect it too?

This whole thing reminds me of what I call "The Kevin Preston Phenomenon". What's the Phenomenon? It's when you decide you want something, suddenly, and only at the exact moment YOU want it, it is no longer available, no longer made, no longer in stock, but it was just available a few months ago. I don't know HOW many times it has happened to me.

When I was in the market for a new full sized wagon in 1998 or so, and found out they no longer made them new.

When I wanted a normal weight bench and not one that is three feet wide and huge and you can't store it anywhere.

When I wanted a vintage console stereophonic HiFi that a few years ago seemed to be everywhere, but when I wanted one, had to go to New Jersey to find one.

Polaroid film for my son's brand new Izone, which suddenly is nowhere to be found, Kodachrome film which is discontinued right when I really started using it.

A window air conditioner when it's not "in season", as well as shorts for kids when it's September and 100 degrees, and long pants for kids when it's March and 55 degrees.

The Black and Decker electric scrubber that was advertised years ago...when I wanted it, people looked at me like I was crazy and imagining the device. Two years later they re-release it, but of course, looks completely different and it't not as good as the old one.

An "electric broom" that is not some stupid hand vac that has been grafted onto a stick.

When my wife and I were first married, we could not find everyday dishes that were not either bad Southwest American style or something that had a huge sunflower or some other dorkwad design. This actually had an upside as I made the decision to go New Fiesta (before it became available in stores) and mail ordered all our new dishes.

I could go on and on...this seems to happen to me at least once or twice a year, and it's precicely what Dan is experiencing now.
 
Kevin, I would LOVE a Predicta, but my mom would squawk so loud that you could here it from LA. Despite the fact that she was married in 1952, she despises MCM. It's all Ethan Allen rock maple in her place (which I, in turn, despise). I don't know how I was born into such a tacky family.

I think the way to handle this is to buy her one of those dreaded modern TV's and, once her feathers get settled, take her to a furniture store to find a suitable cabinet for it. And if it's rock maple, she had better bring her checkbook ;-)

Thanks for all the help and suggestions everybody. I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
"This whole thing reminds me of what I call "The Kevin Preston Phenomenon". What's the Phenomenon? It's when you decide you want something, suddenly, and only at the exact moment YOU want it, it is no longer available, no longer made, no longer in stock, but it was just available a few months ago. I don't know HOW many times it has happened to me. "

That's the Jason LeBouef syndrome :-D
 

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