The world in black and white...
For years, people watched black and white television. Even once color came out, most folks were still buying monochrome sets. They costs less, and had fewer problems. Heck.... even my grandparents watched a black and white Admiral till 1975. Even though they were simpler sets, they could still be bought in very nice cabinets with some neat features. Here are a few of my consoles.
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1963 Curtis Mathes 23" Combo
This Curtis Mathes 23" B&W combo unit was my first vintage set. It had been passed down by a couple of family members before I got it. The video was washed out on the TV, but came back to life after changing all the capacitors and some of the tubes. Stereo and record changer worked great, and I have changed the needle once. The stereo has the neat "green eye" for a tuning indicator. It has been 10 years since I went through this unit, and so far it has served me well with no problems. I watch this set on a regular basis. |
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1953 Sylvania HaloLight 21"
In the 50's and 60's, Sylvania was known for their "HaloLight" televisions. The mask around the picture tube contains a flourescent bulb that lights up when the set is on. It was said to give better viewing while watch TV in a dark room... for instance during the night. When I first got this set, the light was the only thing that worked. The power transformer was toast, and I was lucky enough to find donor chassis to get a good transformer. The chassis needed all new capacitors and several tubes. I stripped and refinished the cabinet once I got the set running. The set still needs a few finishing touches here and there, but looks and plays pretty good. |
Sylvania screen shot.
It is surprising to me that the 50 year old flourescent bulb still works in this set.
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1959 Motorola 21"
This Motorola set was given to me by a friend. It needed new tubes in the tuner and a peaking coil. The picture tube in it is a Dumont, so I believe it's been replaced. Motorola would have used their own brand of tubes. This set was retired in 1970. |
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Motorola screen shot
This set produces a nice picture. It's tilted a little bit, so next time I removed the back I'll turn the deflection yoke to straighten it. |
