Does anyone make console televisions anyymore?

[whirlcool]

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.

 

[helicaldrive]

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.

 

[kevinpreston8]

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

 

[kevinpreston8]

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.

 

[rickr]

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.

 

[rickr]

.

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....

 

[helicaldrive]

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?

 

[kevinpreston8]

Steve...

Check out the Heywood Wakefield thread that was started at :

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www.automaticwasher.org

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.

 

[dalangdon]

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.

 

[jasonl]

"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

 

[kevinpreston8]

Well at least...

I am not alone in my suffering!