High-Style, Indeed!

[moparguy]

All I can say about all the early American of the period... is that it was followed by Spanish Mediterranean with the distressed wood look! Talk about one extreme to the other!

Although not a fan of the look, this TV is interesting because it is so period and probably pretty rare, I don't recall ever seeing another.

But it is a large and statement piece for almost any room, it won't quite quietly hide in a corner amongst McMansion moderne or whatever the current design trend might be!

 

[tomturbomatic]

I don't even recall seeing a TV like this advertised anywhere, not in the Atlanta Journal newspaper nor in shelter mags. I do remember seeing those wagonwheel lighting fixtures, but not this. Maybe it was advertised in more hard core Country/Early American publications. This is needlessly cruel, but it looks like something Penny's would have marketed somewhere at least for a little while.

 

[twintubdexter]

Jeff,

Considering there are members on here that "quietly hide" Foodaramas, Duomatics and a dozen washers & dryers, I don't think this "beverage cart" TV would be all that difficult, and it is on wheels. (just kidding with you of course)

 

[tomturbomatic]

Do you mean that it could be wheeled out on the patio and watched while the meal was prepared on the GE patio cart range? Going up and down steps might not be good for the TV unless it was lifted.

 

[moparguy]

LOL, to both Joe and Tom!

Yes, it is hard collecting such large "trinkets" as refrigerators, stoves, washers, and dryers... they aren't easily hidden from friends and partners!

 

[petek]

Well as horrific as it is I'd still buy it if it was here in town.

 

[rp2813]

Put me in the camp along with the rest of the early American haters, but there's something about this tea vee that's so over the top it lends the same sort of so-bad-it's-good appeal as a John Waters film.  Indeed, it would have been a great addition to Francine Fishpaw's living room, or that of most any other character Divine portrayed for him.

 

Definitely a B&W without a UHF option -- there are only 12 windows on the channel indicator.

 

[tolivac]

Wheelbarrow TV!First for me-never seen a TV like this.Use it in your garden-haul bags of fertilizer on the top?Does it have an optional mortar mixing tray and hoe?

 

[112561]

It's a Packard Bell

Tea Cart television. Came in 23 and 25", available in color later on, from what I get in this link:

Loading…

www.collectorsweekly.com

 

[circlew]

Maple

is probably my favorite wood - but not in the common "Early American" finish. I had a couple pieces in my bedroom when I was a kid that had that orangy-brown stain.

 

[firedome]

I love kitschy decor like that...

while we have classic MCM '60s Swedish teak in the LR & DR etc., I've set aside the den for our own special celebration of '50s Early American Revival, right down to the black eagle on the pine panel wall, dough-box magazine collector, highboy-hutch, hobnail lights, beer trays and glider-rocker with wings (still looking for just the right Eagle & Liberty Bell fabric for the cushions or drapes)... everything in glorious hard rock maple! Yes it's deco-kitsch personified, but even though it's somewhat tongue-in-cheek, there's something about it that warms the cockles of my heart. I guess it's because it was everywhere growing up, and I had a good childhood. Most people, at least in much of the country, had family, relatives, friends and neighbors that had EM decor, and even Pam Kuehber over at www.retrorenovation.com has written about it, along with knotty pine kitchens, which I also happen to love. It's all about home, hearth, warmth and nostalgia in some funny way. And after all, it's easy to display good taste, but cheesy can be fun too! Baltimoreans tend to be off kilter: John Waters, Frank Zappa, EA Poe), so that must explain my love of EM.

BTW: funny mention of John Waters, both he and Divine (Glenn Milstead - RIP) went to my high school in Towson, 2 yrs ahead of me, and Pink Flamingos was filmed on the farm of a friend of mine out in Hampstead. Another friend lived the the same Apt building as John, off Mt Royal Ave in Balto in the early 70s... love JW, he's coolest guy ever.

 

[tomturbomatic]

We had pine paneling in the kitchen and den of the 1955 house. What was the purpose of the peculiar grooving with a curved dip and then some sharp ridges at the edge of each piece? Was it just someone's idea of decorative accent because otherwise the planks would be flat? The kitchen cabinets were stick built pine, but did not have the same grooving pattern.

I like the little gray tire on the outside of the wooden wheel on the TV cart. Do you suppose it was original equipment?

 

[danemodsandy]

Tom:

The fluted/grooved edge was just decorative, giving a wall some surface interest. The stuff is called Pickwick paneling, and it's still available, should anyone be hell-bent on recreating a '50s knotty pine kitchen.

The house I grew up in had Pickwick paneling in two rooms, and the fronts of the kitchen cabinets were made of it as well.

 

[tomturbomatic]

That's it exactly. Thank you very much.

 

[xraytech]

I absolutely love that TV, if it were close to me I'd buy in an instant.
Myself, unlike most everyone else in this thread loves maple furniture in the Early American style. I have always loved the Early American furnishings of my grandparents, one grandma had mostly Ethan Allen maple, only non maple furniture is a Sears open hearth bedroom.
My other grandmother has a Victorian full of Tell City maple from the Young Republic collection.
This tea cart tv would be 100% at home in my living room and it's little old lady decor I love

 

[whirlcool]

I always used to call Early American Maple stained furniture "Newlyweds" furniture.
Because a lot of newlyweds had this stuff as their first furniture sets, complete with "milk glass" table lamps. I think 1963-66 was the prime era for this stuff.

I don't think that television could be very portable. If you look at the photos closely you will see that there isn't an axle between the wheels. The wheels are connected to the cabinet only. I think moving a set of this size on those wheels would overstress the joint that holds the wheels on.

But I do think this is a great example of MCM over the top design. Cule this be what one of our German members would call a "Frankenstein Coffin Cabinet"? Or would that be a combination stereo and television?

 

[countryford]

I have never seen this tv before. One link posted mentions it as a Packard Bell. I do have a Packard Bell from that era that looks close to it, but without the wagon wheels.
I would purchase it, if it were closer to me, or if I was in MN visiting.

 

[ken]

Firedome (Roger):

You mentioned John Waters and Divine. Many years ago at the video rental store (remember them?) we came across this movie titled Female Trouble. Had never heard of it before and had no idea who Divine was. We thought it looked interesting. I just about wet myself the first time I watched it. Right now Im laughing as I think about it!

The Christmas morning scene where Dawn Davenport's mother ends up on the floor with the Christmas tree on top of her is classic! I guess that type of humor isnt for everyone but I find it very funny.

 

[danemodsandy]

Oh, Ralph!

"tea vee"

I am ashamed I didn't think of that one!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Sandy,
Was the Picwick treatment done to any panneling other than pine?
Thanks.