Happy New Year

Kicking off 2010 with a couple TV finds right off the bat. Hard to believe yet another year flys. 2010 marks the 7th edition of the "estate sale finds" thread.

There were actually a few estate sales on new years day and I took advantage of the opportunity to see what was out there. Just one sale, at 9801 S. Carpenter St in Chicago. You know you're in a good area of the city when all the homes have those iron bars with pad locks in front of all the windows and doors...

I found a 1974 RCA XL-100 Mural TV (hotel model) with what appears to be the original stand. The TV was on the stand backwards as shown when I found it, those brackets must somehow retain the TV, but I havn't looked into it yet. Works fine, and yes, you're seeing analog TV pulled in off the rabbit ears! We have quite a few low powered UHF stations on the air still and even one on VHF, channel 6.

In the garage was a silvertone combo, probably a '65 or '66 model. I'd say its been sitting out there for about 10 years. It was free, so why not. Im sure the TV doesn't work, or else it wouldn't be out there. Not in bad shape, just alot of dust and debris on the cabinet.

For the record, here are the previous estate sale finds threads:

estate sale finds in 2009 (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=236206)
estate sale finds in 2008 (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=143324&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
estate sale finds in 2007 (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=106851&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
estate sale finds in 2006 (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=57948&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
estate sale finds in 2005 (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=33442&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
estate sale finds in 2004 (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=13268&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
additional finds in 2004 (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=16123&highlight=drh4683)


In 2003 estate sale finds got posted as a new thread when they were found:

2003 finds A (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=11263&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
2003 finds B (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=9296&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
2003 finds C (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=9297&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
2003 finds D (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=5205&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
2003 finds E (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=7788&highlight=estate+sale+find+2008)
2003 finds F (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=11537&highlight=drh4683)


http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/Sz9xvNrww0I/AAAAAAAAA2s/m7gGh3Wnorg/s800/DSCF0930.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/Sz9xvYpNbnI/AAAAAAAAA2w/2jd_vQcKrIk/s800/DSCF0928.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/Sz9xvZbj3pI/AAAAAAAAA20/wkP99bpKihg/s800/DSCF0927.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/Sz9xvl4InTI/AAAAAAAAA24/_wGhg-fIAL4/s800/DSCF0925.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/Sz9xv898QjI/AAAAAAAAA28/Ds-NeeY7Dw0/s800/DSCF0926.JPG

I am a sucker for combo's..... my back dont really care for them but they are unique in my opinion. those are nice sets you have.

I thought TV stations weren't permitted to transmit analog signals as of June 12 last year. Why are there so many analog TV stations still in Chicago? There is only one analog station left (that I am aware of, anyway) in the Cleveland area (W51BI in Kirtland, east of the city in Lake County, Ohio); I'm not sure if that station is still on the air, as I have cable (Time Warner) which does not carry the station at this time. Are these analog translators going to be around awhile, or is there a cutoff date by which they must either convert to digital or go off the air? :scratch2:

You are fortunate to live in such a rich area for mid century to mid 70's housing. Always seem to be the best goodies at those estate sales.
Nice sets BTW.
Did those RCA bunny ears come with the set? I have looked for over a year for that vintage of RCA set top antennas to go with my XL 100 consoles but the only place to find them is on eBay - and the shipping is always more than the price of the antennna set.
Sorta the same with Zenith set top antennas - very hard to find - but would like to stumble upon a '77 model to go with the CC2 table top set I got from you - even though it has built in antennas.

Duplicate post - please disregard

I thought TV stations weren't permitted to transmit analog signals anymore as of June 12 last year. Why are there so many analog TV stations still in Chicago? There is only one analog station left in the Cleveland area -- W51BI in Kirtland, east of the city in Lake County, Ohio -- and I'm not sure if that station is still on the air. Are these stations (including the ones in Chicago) operating under some sort of special temporary authority and are expected to go off the air or to cable eventually? :scratch2:

BTW, I've been following your estate-sale finds threads in VK since you started posting them seven years ago, and it still amazes me how you are able to find room to store all those old TVs you're finding, especially large consoles such as the Silvertone console pictured in your post. You must have a huge storage building somewhere near your house; that or else your basement is a hundred times or more larger than most.

Doug, looks like you're getting 2010 off to a good start with a couple great finds. I always liked those SS 19" RCA's with the stand up chassis. Very good picture on those sets. Those vertical chassis RCA's were probably among the best SS sets they made.

I assume that Silvertone is built by Warwick. I wonder if it's all tube or is the stereo SS.

Jeff, only full power TV stations were required to discontinue analog broadcasting and go to digital. The low power stations are not required to terminate analog at this time. In my area, we have one such station - channel 47, which is a translator station for the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

"There is only one analog station left in the Cleveland area -- W51BI in Kirtland, east of the city in Lake County, Ohio -- and I'm not sure if that station is still on the air."

From FCC records, it appears that this translator is still transmitting in analog... they have a construction permit to go digital, which expires 12/29/2011.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=67934

It appears that no firm deadline has been set by the FCC for low power (and likely translators, as well) to transition to digital.

http://www.dtv.gov/lptv.html

jr

Nice silvertone!

The Silvertone looks like a direct competitor for the Airline I picked up recently. A real shame they have to be so darn big. A nice start!

Cool Silvertone! Those don't pop up often. You're off to a good start this year.:thmbsp:

...

It looks a lot like my '66, I agree, I would be willing to bet the stereo is SS by that year. My set looks to have a modified CTC 16 clone in it, I look forward to seeing the inside.

Very sweet finds Doug, looks like 2010 should be a promising find year as well! Im looking still on my end as usual.

Happy new year everyone! Nice finds Doug. You always find the best of the best. No TV finds for me yet in 2010 but I did find a mint 1963 RCA Victor clock radio model 3-RD-65, turquoise and white, a real nice one.

Went to a sale at 7332 Crain Ave in Niles, IL this afternoon. The sale was on the third floor of the three flat apartment. Turned up a nice Sears Silvertone console in the early american cabinet. This is a high end sears set too, a very well made sturdy cabinet and it also has the unique slide out control panel. In the living room as you can see, still wired to the antenna. Working perfect, well cared for and low hours. It appears to be a TV that never was serviced either. On the back is the "sears quality" sticker with the date stamp of February 24, 1972 with the inspectors hand written initials. This is a Chicago made Wells Gardner set, they were still loaded up full of tubes still in '72. The TV also came with its owners manual.

There was a guy at the sale who was interested in this late 70's Wards console stereo but he wasn't going to buy it unless the turntable worked. I was not prepaired to move this TV down the staircase in this apartment, so I asked the guy interested in the stereo if he could help me move the TV in return for me fixing the turntable. The changer lever was stuck in the off mode, so we asked the sale people if we could take it apart on the spot and if we could fix it, it would be sold. So we did. I always keep my trusty little xcelite reversable screwdriver in my truck in case I ever want to pop open a TV or radio on the spot. Pulled the phonograph out and fixed it, just had to free a stuck lever due to dried/tacky grease. That made this guy and his wifes day when I got it going as they both told me they were not very mechanical inclinded to undertake repairing it themselves. Everyone at the sale was watching as I took this thing apart in the living room, haha. It was kind of a show and tell, everyone wanted to know how the phonograph worked when I pulled it out. We put it back together and tested it out on one of my favorite albums that I see at almost every estate sale. It was Ray Conniff; 'S awful Nice from 1958. Its amazing how much those instrumentals are appriciated by people my age who never heard the stuff before. Everyone at the sale thought those songs were great. Made me feel good because thats the kind of music I appriciate. So we let that play while the guy helped me move the TV down into my truck. I also helped move the stereo for them also.

Those little things like helping other people out make my day. I made a couple good friends at that sale while others watched me take the stereo apart and also got my name out to the people running the sale that Im into the vintage electronics. Not everything is about money, if people can just help each other out from time to time it makes for a good day.

Yes, thats analog TV you see, picked up live off the outdoor antenna. Channel 23 on UHF is still alive for us Chicagoans.

And no, that '62 Chevy Bel Air 4 door sedan in the driveway wasn't for sale! Darn!

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S1uKSeCvi8I/AAAAAAAABEI/TcRLRXb8ppo/s800/DSCF1170.JPG

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Good for you for fixing the turntable.

What's the deal with the "chromix" control on the Sears TV?

Am I imagining things, or is that a tilt-out control panel on the Silvertone console? Hmmm. :scratch2: I thought Admiral had a corner on that design.

What's the deal with the "chromix" control on the Sears TV?

That control worked with a circuit in the set that injected a soft, warm blue to brown cast into b&w TV pictures; blue at one end of the rotation, brown at the other, and neutral (normal b&w) at center, IIRC. Most people got confused as to how to use the control, so most of the time it was set to neutral and forgotten.

Yes, even the popular TV repair books by Art Margolis back in the 60's would say that the chromix control was more or less a gimick and hassle that didn't do anything but confuse set owners. IIRC, I can quote him out of his 1969 The Practical Handbook of TV repairs that "you should just set the control to neutral and forget it".

The added control makes the control panel look more sophisticated. Thats about it.

As for the control panel, it does not tilt out like the admiral, but rather slides out on a track. There is an upper door that automatically flips open when you pull the bottom section out. So this method was most likely "slivertones" as opposed to Admrials that tilted out. The neat thing about the silvertone is that the channel indicator lights up on both the top of the control panel and also on front, so with the panel closed, channel numbers are always visible. Its a unique and different design, which I like.

Very nice Sears TV! Wasn't '72 the last year that Sears used the Silvertone name? I think I remember reading somewhere that the Silvertone name was phased out on most products in '68-'69; but, remained on high end products until '72.

That is a way cool Sears, It does remind me of a '67 Admiral, I think you have one with a cabinet similar to this. This is the first time I've seen a Sears like that. Can we see the inside? How reliable were the Wells Gardener chassis? I don't see a lot of high hour Sears sets usually. Too bad about the Chevy huh? I was droolin' over that right away.:yes:
So far, it looks like Sears is the theme of your new estate sales thread :)

wells garners were reasonably good sets.i owned a few and they were simple designs,very easy to work on and really good rauland crts.the hybrid chassis with three modules was my favorite.early solid states were good performers too.parts werent readily available but overall i would rate them high on the list.the crts were very sought after her in columbus.they looked good in anything you put them in.we would all try to buy or trade someone out of a sears with a 25v tube back in the day.somewhere if have pictures of me dismantling a beautiful sears set.i bought it at an estate sale.slept all night in a van with my two year old.......................sorry,that issue is closed.

Looks like the TV did see a repair back on March 19, 1979. The card has the date written on the back side and also a tag on the chassis itself, so it did get pulled to go to the shop. The tech was a pro, he put all the screws back and didn't hack anything up when he replaced a resistor on the chroma board. This one has an RCA tube, you can tell right off the bat with the design of the tag (and also the EIA 274). Its a nice clean chassis. WG made a very good TV and they always put out a top notch picture, you can put them up with RCA and Zenith as far as I'm concerned.

Here are some pictures of the inside. My back is still soar from sleeping in my van last night so I could be the first one at this sale. Fortunately my 2 year old didn't keep me up. The real reason I bought this TV is because of the beautiful cabinet. Since vintage video will never be worth that of vintage audio, I was really in a position of not knowing what to do with this TV. Its obvious that the cabinet alone is worth more than the complete TV, however, I seeked reasonable offers from many antique dealers. All of them told me this TV will never be worth anything, so I was left no choice but to part it out. I have always conducted by business very professionally so here are some photos for you....

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S1xuxS-GczI/AAAAAAAABFk/Up85D47sauQ/s800/DSCF1173.JPG

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S1xupyU-EUI/AAAAAAAABFg/Ozh6M8BtmpU/s800/DSCF1174.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S1xu9ivRTMI/AAAAAAAABGA/kW4TI0Lr-iQ/s800/DSCF1175.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S1xvJjhp-QI/AAAAAAAABGE/WAoUBTZ9TKE/s800/DSCF1176.JPG

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http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S1xvy6ncV6I/AAAAAAAABHI/dZh0EjXqHaY/s800/DSCF1180.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S1xwISiGQoI/AAAAAAAABHo/3Rt_Ea92Y2o/s800/DSCF1187.JPG

somewhere if have pictures of me dismantling a beautiful sears set.i bought it at an estate sale.slept all night in a van with my two year old.......................sorry,that issue is closed.
Good one Ron!:yes::D:smoke:

Here are some pictures of the inside. My back is still soar from sleeping in my van last night so I could be the first one at this sale. Fortunately my 2 year old didn't keep me up. The real reason I bought this TV is because of the beautiful cabinet. Since vintage video will never be worth that of vintage audio, I was really in a position of not knowing what to do with this TV. Its obvious that the cabinet alone is worth more than the complete TV, however, I seeked reasonable offers from many antique dealers. All of them told me this TV will never be worth anything, so I was left no choice but to part it out. I have always conducted by business very professionally so here are some photos for you....

LMFAO!:lmao::lmao::lmao::D
You wouldn't believe the stuff I started typing over there:naughty: She really got under my skin, I hope since they pulled the listing (or it ended with no bid) they smashed it like they "threatened" to do. That way, the one I might be getting and the ones some of you have will be that much more valuable.:thmbsp: And we will never have to hear the whining about "that one" again. A sad end but good riddance I say.

Anyways, those frickin' pictures have me rolling! I started scrolling down and the ones of your hand in there are priceless.:D And the screwdriver, and the knob, :DHA I'm still laughing damnit!
But that IS a nice tv:yes: It looks really well made, even in '72 it still reminds me of a CTC16 layout as far as looks are concerned. Ya done good this time:thmbsp: Thanks for the pics!:smoke:
P.S. Way to go fixing that turntable, that's the way to be, not enough people are willing to help others anymore. Keeps the karma good too:thmbsp:

Doug, are you sure about the Wells Gardner thing? I was always under the impression that WG made the Airline sets for Wards and that Warwick Electronics made the Silvertones.

veg

I couldn't resist but to make a little light humor joke with those photos. I'm glad someone got a laugh out of it!

Veg, as for the WG or Warwick deal, I may have got my facts screwed up. I always think of WG whenever I see a sears or airline set and I seem to always forget about the warwick name. I was looking up on the internet and it appears that Airline was indeed a WG make. However, I could not find anything about warwick to prove if they were exclusive to sears. Where was warwick based? Warwick, RI? I have no idea. Either Im not looking deep enough, or warwick has been gone so long that nobody cares to write about it or remember it. Even though this link doesn't indicate who made silvertone, it does however give some details as to the history of the silvertone name, so this color set I have would indeed be the end of the line for Silvertone:

http://www.searsarchives.com/brands/silvertone.htm


When I get home, I'll check the model number on the set as the 3 digit number will indicate who made the set. For reference, here's the sears "master list" of manufactuer model codes. Im pretty sure its going to be a 528 as I recall seeing that number on just about all sears sets.



http://acersite.livejournal.com/2131.html



Here is an interesting read. A lawsuit filed against sears, which was my only source about warwick. Still tells me nothing about where they are from.

http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:Mh7xhkd-9_AJ:cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F2/426/1315/71166/+warwick+electronics+delaware&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us


.

I do know that 528 is indeed Warwick.

Doug,the way you removed that tube from the chassis does indeed look very
professional.I am impressed! (LMAO)

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Chicago seems to be 20 years behind the rest of the country as far as finding vintage TVs goes. I go to estate sales every week, but I'm lucky to see a single 70's or older set a year.

Enjoy it while it lasts!

I feel the same way. At one time, my area produced a fair amount of old TV's. For some reason, that all took a drastic turn around 2001 or so.

I remember reading that in the early days of color more color sets were sold in Dallas and Oklahoma City than anywhere else. I wonder if anything turns up there anymore.

I, as Andy, live near Austin. The main problem with Austin(in finding vintage electronics) is that it is a fairly new city. The population was about 60,000 in the mid-1960s and is over 1 million now(in the metropolitan area). Since I have lived here(25 years), Austin has more than tripled in size. San Antonio (60 miles south) seems to be a more fertile area for both older TVs and older radios. It has had a large population for a much longer time.

As to OKC and Dallas, I know AK members in both cities(as well as Tulsa). They continue to find items from time to time.

The real reason I bought this TV is because of the beautiful cabinet. Since vintage video will never be worth that of vintage audio, I was really in a position of not knowing what to do with this TV. Its obvious that the cabinet alone is worth more than the complete TV, however, I seeked reasonable offers from many antique dealers. All of them told me this TV will never be worth anything, so I was left no choice but to part it out. I have always conducted by business very professionally so here are some photos for you....

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S1xvy6ncV6I/AAAAAAAABHI/dZh0EjXqHaY/s800/DSCF1180.JPG




Doug, I think it's very good that you saved that TV set. I don't know much about Wells-Gardener TVs, but I do have a 27" Zenith that I has been in my family since 1990. My parents purchased it new at a store called "Highland Appliance". They are not in business anymore, but they used to have stores located throughout the metro-Detroit area, although I suspect that by 1990 most of the inner-city locations had shut down because of increased crime in the city limits. A lot of people moved out of the city proper. Which reminds me, how are you able to see a picture on that Wells-Gardener TV? When I used my 1990 27" Zenith TV I only get static (also called "white noise") because of the digital transition that occurred last summer. When my parents bought this TV set, I'm pretty sure they were still driving their 1985 Dodge Caravan, which was one of the first minivans. (They bought another in 1992, then a Chrysler Town & Country in 1998. In 2005 they leased another Town and County, before replacing it with yet another Chrysler Town and Country in 2008. This one is a lease too, although they stopped giving good lease deals soon afterwards so now they'll have to purchase one in 2010.) These are all good vehicles for bringing home a fairly large and heavy object like a 27" Zenith TV, although they also have a 2009 Dodge Dakota truck that could also haul home a TV set if there were still anymore Highland Appliance stores in the metro area. They all went out of business when the big box stores (such as Best Buy and Circuit City) came to town, although they never did have any locations in the actual city of Detroit, MI. Although there is one very close to the border located at eastland mall. it's out of business now, not because of any problems, but because of the nationwide shutdown of the chain. I notice you are removing a tube from the TV set in the picture... Be sure to turn off the power because of the high voltages contained inside of the unit.

I live in a very small town about 35 miles east of Cleveland. The town was founded in 1812, and now has a population of 3211 (up from 3180 in 1999; my first landlord grew up here and could remember when the population was just 1500 or thereabouts).

In the time I've lived here (ten years), I have only seen four old TVs on the curbs, and two of those weren't vintage--my best guess would be 1980s-'90s, and were gotten rid of just after the digital transition. Of the other two, only one was anywhere near vintage (1978 RCA 25" console). The other was an RCA portable from 1980 or so. I did see a couple of stereo consoles on the curb across the street from here a couple of years ago, but again, those were the only examples of vintage audio I've seen here; haven't seen another stereo console since.

I guess small towns aren't the best place on Earth to find vintage electronics--at least the one I live in isn't. By contrast, in my hometown of Wickliffe, Ohio (an eastern suburb of Cleveland), one could see vintage TVs and radios being put out on the curbs just about every week from the '60s through the end of the eighties. (I had a sizable collection of old TVs in my basement back in the '70s that were almost all trash finds.)

These days, however, if there are any vintage TVs or radios to be found in that suburb, I bet they are few and far between. The televisions that show up on curbs nowadays are probably, even likely, cheap Pacific Rim CRT-based imports that give up the ghost after a couple of years or after the warranty expires--whichever comes first. I can't help wondering how much longer it will be before I start seeing cheap flat-panel sets on the curbs here. :scratch2:

I can't help wondering how much longer it will be before I start seeing cheap flat-panel sets on the curbs here. :scratch2:

I already see a lot of them here, mostly because someone tipped the stupid junk over and broke the screen. There was a 50" or so on the curb a few weeks ago. Of course there is the usual BPC everywhere. I really hate it when people smash those all over the street for the copper. Someone did it to me when I threw one out, luckily it was a small set. I hope for the next guy's sake that I'm not home when they do it. Damn "copper smashers" I call 'em:thumbsdn:

Yeah, just about every TV that I see at the dump has been smashed to pieces. The one that really pissed me off was the '50's Zenith B&W console that was basically a pile of broken glass and woodchips by the time I got there.

Speaking of broken LCD sets, someone brought me a 32" Sylvania (Funai) from the dump with a smashed screen. I just used the speakers out of it to replace the blown ones in a flatscreen that I'm repairing for someone and I'll save the boards because I've got a feeling I'll be seeing plenty of these cheapies in the future. As you probably know, those flatscreens will crack and break if you look at them funny. They're not nearly as durable as a CRT face.

...

those flatscreens will crack and break if you look at them funny. They're not nearly as durable as a CRT face.

Yes, indeed. I bet a lot of flat-panels get smashed during football season when fans disagree with a referee's call, or one of the fan's favorite (or not so favorite) players makes a dumb or downright stupid move during a play. At least if something is thrown at a CRT set, the tube is almost always spared any damage, because of the safety glass in front of it. However, with a FP, as has been noted, it is all too easy to smash the screen if anything is thrown against it. As zenithfan1 noted, many FPs are ruined when they are tipped over, by accident or otherwise. My RCA CTC185 XL-100 set fell off its stand last year; the only damage to it, if you could call it that, was a slight bend of the shadow mask in the CRT, which I repaired with a couple of sweeps across the tube with an old speaker magnet. Had this TV been a FP, however, it would have been ruined the second it hit the floor, despite the fact that the floors in my apartment are carpeted.

I went over to my friend's shop Saturday-all closed up, but still loaded with stuff. Lots of late model junkers that need to be hauled away and since I had a little space left in the truck I took 4 of them-all LCD. 2 they said were pure junk (and Emerson and a Sanyo, somewhat smaller) and so I just dropped them off at the dump. The other 2 I brought home to play with. #1 is a pretty decent 32" Sharp; the audio amp doesn't work-hook it up to your stereo and it your in business. This might end up in my living room, we'll see what the boss says. The other set is a 32" Toshiba, the screen works but the backlight only comes up for a second at turn-on then back off. I tinkered with it last night for about an hour but couldn't see anything obvious. Stuck it on freecycle and it's gone already.

Andy is correct, for some reason, basements are not common in Texas or Oklahoma(where I grew up). My aunt in Wichita, Kansas has one though.

Being in tornado alley, you would think basements would be common, but storm cellers(essentially small outside basements) are used instead.

One thing that is common in newer homes in Texas(much to one of my friends recent pain) is putting water pipes in attics. Not good when freezing weather arrives.

Of course, you may get lucky(or unlucky according to my wife) and find a TV shop in a small town where the owner has just about every TV left at his shop since 1946(+broken TVs from other shops). This happened to me several years ago and I am still recovering. I wish AudioKarma was around then-possibly I could have saved a few more sets.

And don't forget that many people move every year so that rare set in Chicago may be in Portland, WA.

We have a different problem down here in NE Tennessee...We were POOR around here...Still are, in a lot of instances...And so folks didn't/couldn't lay out the dinero a color set cost. Another thing was the typically lousy TV reception we got out here in the Tuilies, at least until the mid/late '60s when the initial cable TV systems came along. We went from getting 2, maybe 3 stations rather badly to having 6 or 7 perfectly overnite...That's when color really started taking off here, was when we got cable TV. In those days, of course, it was more of a "Super antenna" than anything else., there wasn't any Fox, CNN, ESPN, any of that.

Dave A. is correct. I have gotten a couple of sets, both early-mid 1950s B&W sets, here in the Austin area that were originally somewhere else. One is a 1950 GE console that orginally came from Pennsylvania. Al the repair documentation is still with the set. I have restored it(except for the phono turntable). It was to be a wine bar until I saved it.

The other is a Stromberg Carlson set with the curved ends on the top. It was originally in Utah. It was originally owned by the person who I bought it from's grandmother. After she passed away, they moved to Austin and brought the set with them and then decided to sell it. I have not yet restored this ones electronics.

The cabinets on both sets are in extremely good original condition.

I bet a lot of flat-panels get smashed during football season when fans disagree with a referee's call, or one of the fan's favorite (or not so favorite) players makes a dumb or downright stupid move during a play. At least if something is thrown at a CRT set, the tube is almost always spared any damage, because of the safety glass in front of it. However, with a FP, as has been noted, it is all too easy to smash the screen if anything is thrown against it.

The Superb owl is in a week and a half. And some people will discover that FPs don't like footballs thrown at them... :no:

The Superb owl is in a week and a half. And some people will discover that FPs don't like footballs thrown at them... :no:

Who is the "Superb Owl"? Some kind of all-knowing carnivous giant bird that can swoop down and eat you up? That sounds scary!

That's the Great Bird of the Galaxy, who swoops down on unfeeling idjits who would turn fine old TVs into bars, or stick modern TVs in 'em...

That's the Great Bird of the Galaxy, who swoops down on unfeeling idjits who would turn fine old TVs into bars, or stick modern TVs in 'em...

If only such a magnificent creature existed...:sigh:

No kiddin', Carmine. Just reinforces my deeply-held prejudice that only a few should be allowed to even HAVE vintage electronics....

No kiddin', Carmine. Just reinforces my deeply-held prejudice that only a few should be allowed to even HAVE vintage electronics....

I'm afraid that you're right Sandy. But, I wish there were more. I've already run out of space. That's assuming I'm one of the few. I might not qualify. Once I get my Sylvania 1-128 cabinet in shape and the chassis ready I'll probably change the 1-076 cabinet into a linen cabinet like the 1-128 had been. I doubt that I'll ever find a donor chassis for it.

John

Aw jeez Doug, find another - and soon! I'm snow-bound (10 inches) and have nothing to do! Even a tall tale of the one that got away would be welcome!

Seriously, didya find anything this weekend? If so, your fans are hungry.....

Cheers,

Found this on Saturday at a sale in Lexington, MI. It was still hooked up and was being used by the sale people (It had a Henry Mancini record playing!)
I believe it's a CTC-25, (never took the back off as everything still works)
Model HH 852 L and heavy as heck!

That thing is great! Very sharp. Looks like things went your way on that one, as its the colonial cabinet. I didn't know a ctc-25 chassis used that control panel. I've had a few 25's and they always had the typical concentric UHF/VHF tuner. No cataracts either, which is a big plus too. Figures its not a remote model though. Is this one a vitim of the deformed pot metal control door from excessive spring pressure?

That is sharp, great find! I really like that cabinet and color.

Thanks Doug and Mark, I am glad someone other than me likes that cabinet style as well!
I hooked it up to the rabbit ears for some old style reception today,
(1 channel!) it works great still. Oh, I got the Mancini album with it too! Somehow, the stereo in this thing actually sounds good..

Ugh! I meant to say earlier that it's most likely a CTC-21 not a 25. Looks like I am showing early signs of CRS..

Wow! I just took the back off, and found that at some time someone did the pva removal job on the crt! They did a nice job and used black silicone to seal the lens on. (BTW, Doug I checked, it is a CTC-21 chassis.)

(Back to the Silvertone set with the CHROMIX® control...)

Quoting the Fall and winter 1969 Sears catalog:

"Other features: color-improving CHROMIX® . . twist it and see how colors pop out with extra realism on a Sears set. Or, use to tint black-and-white for more pleasurable viewing. 25,000 volt brightness . . for reception even out on far edge of a station's range"

Of particular interest is their (seemingly ridiculous) equating of high ultor voltage with range of distant reception! They do this throughout the TV section of the catalog, and do the same on the Fall and winter 1963 catalog as well! (correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't imagine the HV being related to the tuner or IF sections, which are usually lower B+ than most of the circuits in a tube TV).

Also noted in the 1969 catalog was the fact that these sets were still luxury items. Sets similar (not quite identical) to the one in DRH's photos were $629.95 without remote, $729.95 with remote (nearly three months' mortgage on my parent's two-story brick house!). In contrast, the most expensive B&W 22" console was $199.95 (and a metal cabinet consolette was yours for $149.95).

LOL, I can remember Sears catalogs equating HV with Picture Quality.
i.e. 25,000 volts of picture power, 22,000 volts of picture power and so on.
The higher the voltage the higher the price usually.

Then there was the "Sears Best" logo they used for their top of the line stuff.

Another good weekend at the estates, I found one TV on my route. The sale was at 4061 Boudeaux Dr in Northbrook, which is a higher end north suburb. I was lucky and found a higher end TV. Once I spotted the cabinet with the doors closed, I knew right what it was but I was fearful of opening the doors to see an empty gutted cabinet.....I opened the doors and was pleased to see a fully intact 1967 Zenith "Florentine" priced perfectly at $25. Equipped with Space Command 600 remote control and has the "hi-fi" option (bass and treble controls) so that made it even better. The sound on these blow you away. Many of these were power tuning only, so its nice to find the "fully loaded" model. Zenith really put out a top notch TV with this model, the cabinet is very high quality and its also a back breaker compared to other sets of its size. I also have the '65 model of the Florentine too, that one is slightly different and uses the 25MC46 chassis, but this one being a '67 (the last year for this model series) uses the 20X1C38. I found it in the garage of all places, but the good news is, it was only moved out to the garage for the sale so it never saw the problems associated with being kept in a garage for many years. It wasn't intended to go in the junk pile fortunately, they just wanted more walking room in the bedrooms which is where this set orginally was from what I was told. Not sure why they wanted more room, the house was huge including the bedrooms. It shows, its a sharp set and clean as a pin. Once I got it loaded up, I had to take the back off and check it out. Looks like just one tube got replaced (the 6JU8), all others are originals even the 6Z10 which amazes me. It looks like the chassis never got pulled as the wire ties are still on all the cables that go up to the tuner assembly and original CRT as well. The cardboard cover for the space command chassis is still intact including the elastic band which is another good sign that the TV never saw significant repairs (hence hack repairs which drive me nuts). Its very clean inside as the house had baseboard heat. If you guys know CB radios, theres a Courier 23 on the right side of the TV you can see in the pics. I didn't buy it, they wanted an insane $150 for it. That happens to be my favorite tube type base station CB. I have a collection of those too. I've had my Courier 23 base station since I was about 10 years old that my friends mom bought for us at a resale shop to play around with. As for the TV, I never plugged it in so I have no idea if it even works but then again, its a Zenith...


http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2009-3/1337386/DSCF1452.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2009-3/1337386/DSCF1444.JPG

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http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2009-3/1337386/DSCF1449.JPG

WOW that is one nice looking TV and tha chassis is super clean, great find :thmbsp:

You gotta love that!Did you get a remote with it?

...

That's one very nice set. I'll bet it will fire up just fine.

Great set Doug.
I noticed all the fins on the power transformer are bent over but I don't see any way that could happen in normal service or repair, are they usually like that on the Zeniths?

I've owned several Zenith TVs with power transformers, and this is the first one I've ever seen with the fins bent like that. It's nearly impossible to tell at this distance what could have done it, unless it was the result of some sort of accident. I can't imagine any TV technician worth his salt deliberately bending these fins; techs are supposed to realize that they are there for a reason, and not to be messed with under any circumstances.

Bent over fins like this is not uncommon in the color sets. If you look, there is not a row of fins like you'd see in the roundies and earlier sets. That would be a little more objectionable if that were the case and they were still bent up. These fins may not necessarily be intended for cooling purposes. I highly doubt that this is malicious activity from a technician. I remember as a kid I would try to bend them back straight as it bothered me but seeing it on TV after TV proved to me it was a factory deal and I left it alone.

Actually, you can somewhat figure out the process how the transformer gets the black coating. You can see the outline of the diamond grating on top of the trans. Most likely there is a pool of the substance and the transformers get dropped down into it and brought back up leaving residual coating material stuck to the transformer off the grating when they get pulled off.

As for estate sales, I only go on saturdays and the average for me is usually 6 or 7 sales for any given weekend. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

...

Hey... That TV looks familiar...

Ghost of a TV (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=245993)

I see those stupid-asses put a gooey sticker right on the top of yours too!

Yes, it makes too much sense to put the sticker on the glass. There used to be a resale shop where I grew up called "Marklund Resale" and they priced everything with a grease crayon. Those idiots would write the price right on the cabinet and also on the screen. WD-40 would always take it off without harm but still.

Andy, the most estate sales I could practically go to would be about 13 in one day. Sales normally start at 9am, some at 10 and usually go to 3pm on average. I wish the hours were longer as it wouldn't make things so crazy to try to hit them. That 6 hours flys by so fast. If I have my route planned just right, I can go from north to south and just hit them all without back tracking. However, I usally end up wanting to start my first sale at the one that unfortunately starts at 10 and the one I want to hit last is usally the one that ends first, which is like 2pm. That screws up my whole schedule and have to compromise usually by give up a sale or two, but thats normally if there are more than 8 sales or so. Sometimes I get stuck at a sale that has the annoying outside line which they let 3 people in the house every 15 minutes. Im also lucky because I get to hear everyone whine and complain because its so cold out and they start bickering at the sale people to let more in and "whats with the wait, come on" etc. etc.. I just keep my mouth shut and wait quietly to get in. Im sure those of you from the midwest know exactly what Im talking about.

I am usually in and out of the house in minutes, Im not one of those people who while you wait in line for 40 minutes to get in, you see people inside the house who you didn't see in line. You wonder what the hell they could be looking at all this time, but these are usually the same people who buy all the knick knack junk and hold up the check out line for another 20 minutes while they get every little peice of crap priced out. All you want to do is give them the 10 bucks for the TV, say thanks and get out the door.

I was always stunned how many people have the freedom to go to estate sales on a friday, which apparently are the best days for estate sales. Very rarely do I get to do a friday sale due to work, but there are times I was able to fit one in that happened to be close to work on my lunch break. They were always jammed and the mornings were always jammed to with 40 foot lines of people waiting to get in. There are usually many estate sales advertized, about 20+ around chicagoland each weekend, but I only go the ones that advertize things that you can tell would be an old house that never changed (those are the houses with the old TV's of course). If I see ads like "Tons of womens clothes, glass figurines, book cases, leather recliner, wicker patio furniture, CD's, computers, Sanyo big screen TV, 2004 Honda CRV with 24000 miles flowed by the typical annoying one liners that still fail to get me to the sale: "everything from A to Z" or "something for everyone". When you see those one liners, it basically means "we have nothing but crap, but we think this might lure you out here anyway". Back when I was into garage sales, which was long long ago, the big words to look out for in the ads were "baby toys" or anything related to that. This eliminated about 98% of all the garage sales advertized. I eventually gave up on garage sales because they proved to be a useless waist of time. I started estate sales almost as soon as I got my drivers license. It opened to door to freedom for me to go anywhere I wanted, where as a kid, I was restricted to garage sales by bike. I used to make incredible long trips on my bike though. I really learned my local geography pretty darn good at an early age though, it was alot of fun. When I was 16 back in '99, I bought my first car for $3500 which I still have today, a '68 Buick electra. When I was 16, going to estate sales in that car was an absolute blast, I have great memories of going places in that car in my early days of driving. I was so proud of that car and that my parents also liked it. (I thank my dad for getting me into old cars). I really never changed now that I think about it, I just changed how I do things. I have however, found vintage TV's that somehow were in one of those "new" estate sales but thats only happened maybe once or twice in the last 10 years.

...

We don't have many estate sales in my area; but, the ones I've been to in the past usually had something of interest. Church rummage sales are a mixed bag. The older churches with an older congregation often have stuff of interest. The garage sales in the newer neighborhoods that advertise "baby clothes" usually mean that the people running them have never even seen a knob tuned TV, let alone owned one. The biggest problem around here are the dealers (aka, vulchers) who always show up at sales two hours early or even the day before and buy up all the good stuff so they can put it on ebay or take it to the flea market with a price tag that's 14 times higher than it should be. I can't tell you how many sales I've been to (when they opened) where something of interest was advertised and I was told, "yeah, we had an old radio; but, we sold it yesterday." The whole time I'm thinking, "What the hell do you mean you sold it yesterday, the sale wasn't supposed to start until this morning". A friend of mine, who used to live in TX, said it was illegal to sell anything at a garage or estate sale before the posted start time. I can actually see both sides of the coin on this issue. As a seller, you have to sell an item whenever the opportunity presents itself. As a buyer, it's real irritating when you show up at a sale that is advertised to start at 7 AM and find out that the very thing you wanted was sold the day before.

Recently I have been able to find a pretty good amount of tube type radios and radio phonographs at estate sales along with lots of electric motors, fan blades and fans.
I haven't seen very many tube-type TV's at all over the last 5 years or so. Mostly the ones I do see are the small black and white sets.
Old radios seem to have a lot much more sentimental value to people that old TV's and seem to be held on to a lot more...I have seen this in both buying them to own, and in what people bring in to get repaired at our repair shop.

I actually found a CTC-25 or CTC-17 this year at the thrift shop (haven't opened it up yet) but this is very rare.

Several of the estate sale companies here send out emails with links to photo galleries and this has been very helpful at spotting things I'd like to get.
I sure wish more sales would operate in the evening, at least one day so people working regular hour jobs could go easier. On the rare occasion I have gone to an estate sale on a weekday if I have taken some time off work I am amazed how many people are there at say 2:00 in the afternoon or 10:00 AM on a Thursday or Friday.

When I was a kid I often would find good stuff at garage sales but unless the ad mentions old radios or a jukebox or something like that I don't patronize garage sales. It takes 1/2 hour just to drive to town and it's too much wasted effort if the sale doesn't have any thing good.

Up until maybe 5 years ago I had never seen a true estate sale locally, and they are still extremely rare. Sometimes months will go by between listings; once this past summer there were 2 in a weekend-whoopee! I've yet to find anything decent at one. Around here there are tons of auction companies and they get most of the estates; not worth my time, usually. I did hit a couple of good estate sales one time on vacation in Kentucky; picked up some nice bw tube portables, too.

Well I decided to power it up last night. The darn thing works great with bright color picture. The remote works too, but the channel down doesn't respond. Most likely needs a touch up on the detector coil. Has good color and good sound. This one survived quite well. I really hate DTV though. I wish analog was still alive on VHF, it really made testing out and watching these old sets so much more fun and enjoyable.
Currently on the bench is the '64 RCA roundie table set I picked up in December, so it will be a while before I get this zenith set up just right.

I had a feeling it would work!

I went to a sale in the northwest side of Chicago, at 6224 W. Fletcher Ave, which is Zenith country, but somehow this 1968 RCA Victor CTC-35 showed up! The plant is up on the northwest side just down the road from this sale, so its safe to say these people were not part of the Zenith family like so many were at one time. In Chicago, if you were part of the huge electronics industry that was once here, you either worked at Zenith, Motorola, Admiral or Western Electric, and think about all the smaller ones like well gardner, hallicrafters, Seeburg, Rockola, etc. So much was here and its all gone now.
As for the sale it was a very nice home on the outside, but completely untouched on the inside. Untouched to the point of plaster and paint chips falling off the walls. Most likely the resident Mrs. Mueller was a widower since 1972 and just lived in the house and nothing was ever touched to keep up with it. I've seen some homes that are unreal how untouched they've gone. Some look like they were untouched since world war II, including the contents of the home. Its amazing how some people live for 50-60 years in the same location and things never change in that time period. I think its neat, its a great way to look at history and see how things really were.
Got the set for $5.00. They said they said it was working but when I tried it, nothing happened. Totally dead, not even tube filaments lighting up. could have had a dead outlet though as I think they moved the tv to the location that the pic was taken. Now that I think about it, its probably a switched outlet since it was next to the door.
The set saw some hard use thats for sure. The cabinet has some rough scratches. Its been in use untill atleast 1983 as there is a repair tag from November 11, 83 in there from an RCA service tech. Typical hack tech though, just slid the chassis back in, no screws or anything of the kind to keep it in place. Its all complete though. Original CRT with no cataracts but has a slight case of green halo. Interesting.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2009-3/1337386/DSCF1874.JPG

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http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2009-3/1337386/DSCF1871.JPG

That's a nice looking set...the knobs seem to be the style like are on my Mural TV's. I hate it when the chassis isn't fastened back to the cabinet....one time I went to tip a set up on its side I bought at an estate sale to put it on a dolly and the chassis wasn't fastened and fell over, luckily it didn't damage the CRT.
Also I notice there looks like an "auxiliary" 6AQ5 tube near the power transformer...I know some of this style of chassis had a transistorized audio output but then they went back to a tube due to problems with it.

Todays sale was at 245 Elgin Ave in Forest Park. It was an early 1900's two flat. The upper level did not look like it was lived in since the late 60's. I like these old two flats as the upper living level is most always the untouched and "forgotten" portion where time just stays still.

The lower level looked like it was updated last around 1970, all avocado appliances and even avocado woodgrained kitchen cabinets. Nice clean house.

Sure enough, a nice clean Zenith 4 tuber made its appearance as I walked upstairs. It was just sitting on the floor under a table of christmas decorations. This set is in great shape, it was well taken care of. Fortunately, it didn't suffer from identity theft either, all the stickers and tags are still attached to the back cover. Its model F4001W, built in November, 1974 for the '75 line. This is a special Zenith, this is the very last of the 4 tube hybrids. Its also the last of tube type Zenith TV's all together. This was the cheapest set you could get from Zenith next to a 16" model, however, being the end of an era, this set has no frills like AFC, dial lights etc. Its just a basic TV with a detended UHF tuner. It even had a sticker on back that I never saw before, a Zenith QC inspection tag.

Its not your typical zenith though, I can't say this one "works like a Zenith" because it doesn't. Its got no high voltage. You can hear the horizontal oscillator ringing though. Im sure the trippler died out on it. Fortunately, it survived all these years hidden away upstairs knowing I would save it one day.

I never get bored of these sets, ever since I was a kid I loved 4 tube hybrids. Especially broken ones because that gives me a reason to take them apart and bring them back to life.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S5vjhnTe3II/AAAAAAAABKQ/WGap395bHqg/s800/DSCF1934.JPG

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http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ta1B_ryr8bE/S5vkCr0UYwI/AAAAAAAABKc/8psKiwaCcAk/s800/DSCF1961.JPG

Nice! That makes two 4 tube hybrids saved by VK members today. I have one just like this that was missing the knobs and was full of problems. It was actually one that had been given up for dead. I've done a good bit to mine; but, need to do more - including replacing the focus divider. One day, I hope to find one of the fancier older versions.

Nice find Doug, I have faith that a nice, clear picture will be on that set very soon:yes:

what a great set.the picture on a hybrid zenith is as good as any ever made.we had very few of those in the shop days.when we did get them,the picture was unbelievable.i remember once we had a fairly new sylvania 19 with an inline black matrix crt.along side it was a hybrid zenith.the zenith blew away the sylvania.much brighter and sharper.everyone who came in the shop made the same comment.gave me the idea for the 70s showdown in my shop over a year ago.love to find me a zenith hybrid!

Considering these are zenith's economy set at the time, the picture was fenominal. Lots of TV shops used to hate me calling asking for tubes parts etc. when I was a kid when I would mess around with these. There was only one shop and its gone now "Kens TV" in Lombard. I specifically remember him telling me how many of these 4 tubers he sold and how great they were. He said people would walk in the shop and see one going and it was sold right now, nothing could compete "and to this day, you can't beat the picture on one of those" he said. I agree.
I imagine these outsold much of the competition at the time hence why I used to find so many of them. Great sets they are. Ironically, I was just telling mark the other day that if I let go any of my parts 4 tube hybrid sets, I'll need something right away. Sure enough, it almost happened. I've got one of these in complete junk condition but working. It'll be the new parts set to get this one going. I guess I better keep my 4 tuber parts sets, you never know what you need. I've been working on so many RCA sets lately, it'll be nice to be "back home" working on a Zenith again.

The "Steen?" Where did they get that name? I wonder what the other model names were that year, too.

Edit - Wickipedia says "Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried February 3, 1679) was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century " - wonder if other models that year were named after painters?

I've seen talk before on AK/VK about the Zenith 4-tube hybrids. I'm just really curious what functions the "last" 4 tubes did (guess: HO, damper, HV and focus?).

It's also interesting that they would get so close to solid state and not reach it.

How 'bout that! Two hybrids saved in one weekend. :)

I've seen talk before on AK/VK about the Zenith 4-tube hybrids. I'm just really curious what functions the "last" 4 tubes did (guess: HO, damper, HV and focus?).

It's also interesting that they would get so close to solid state and not reach it.

HOT, damper, H-osc, vertical output.

The "Steen?" Where did they get that name? I wonder what the other model names were that year, too.

Edit - Wickipedia says "Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried February 3, 1679) was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century " - wonder if other models that year were named after painters?


You're search on the name "Steen" led me to investigate the other names in the Zenith catalog. For the longest time, I couldn't understand the meanings of all these names for the TV's. They were always European surnames though.

The mystery has finally been solved. I checked many of the names from the Zenith catalogs and all of the names are indeed well known european painters and artists from about the 17th century. It makes sense why they chose those names considering TV's also produce an image. If I knew anything about european art, perhaps I could have saw a pattern in this long ago...

I noticed that some of the names in the 60's brochures are named after chicago suburbs like "The Lombard", "The Lisle", "The Glen Ellyn" and "The Berwyn" for example. I always thought that was interesting too as that was one obvious pattern I picked up on.

Thanks wayne.

The mystery has finally been solved. I checked many of the names from the Zenith catalogs and all of the names are indeed well known european painters and artists from about the 17th century. It makes sense why they chose those names considering TV's also produce an image. If I knew anything about european art, perhaps I could have saw a pattern in this long ago...

I noticed that some of the names in the 60's brochures are named after chicago suburbs like "The Lombard", "The Lisle", "The Glen Ellyn" and "The Berwyn" for example. I always thought that was interesting too as that was one obvious pattern I picked up on.

Thanks wayne.

So are there also sets named "President", "Prime Minister", "il duce", "Der Fehure", etc. to go along with my "emperor"?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAwNDguanBn-1.jpg

So are there also sets named "President", "Prime Minister", "il duce", "Der Fehure", etc. to go along with my "emperor"?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAwNDguanBn-1.jpg


Thats correct. I have a president and a prime minister, both of which are smaller but higher end consoles.

Yours being the highest end model was in a class all of its own. Apparently the emperor outranks the rest.

Thats correct. I have a president and a prime minister, both of which are smaller but higher end consoles.

Yours being the highest end model was in a class all of its own. Apparently the emperor outranks the rest.

I've asked this several times before Doug, but were there other styles of cabinets offered besides the (I think) Italian Provincial style of my Emperor? If so, could I persuade you to post a photo from the catalog?

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---

I wonder just how common those last gasp 4-tube hybrids really are? Since a 19" color TV was still expensive back then, I'm sure many people bought the hybrid models to save money. I have one of these last gasp sets, you found one in an old house, and Doug has the one he recently found and I seem to remember him finding another one a year or two ago that was more beat up. So, they are out there.

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???

+1
???

My guess is that it was just a thread-bump...not a bad idea since he's found some amazing stuff lately!!:thmbsp:

Actually it was me trying to load up a pdf of some combos from the '67 zenith brochure. It was a failed attempt, so I deleted it in place of "---". I should be able to set up a link with adobe but its not working right now.

You might want to try and find a third-party free PDF host. I Googled and found this one:

http://freepdfhosting.com/ :thmbsp:

You might want to try and find a third-party free PDF host. I Googled and found this one:

http://freepdfhosting.com/ :thmbsp:

Yes, I found that one too. I tried it out and it seems to work quite well. Expect to see some brochure scans in the very near future. I have tons of Zenith literature to share.

Excellent Doug!

There were only a couple sales today, after a very nice week that showed signs of spring, we got hit with a decent snowfall today.
Todays sale was at 508 W. Campbell St, in Arlington Heights, IL. This was a very well kept home, everything in it was excellent. Another home of those in the Greatest Generation, many WWII items and photos, all of which sell quickly to war buffs. Its sad to keep going to sales like this.

The line was a long wait, so I decided to check out what was all in the garage while waiting. Interstingly enough, I find yet another Zenith 4 tube hybrid. This one is a 1972 model C4030W and it was still on the Zenith optional gusdorf cart, all in tact and in excellent condition with both antennas. This is an example of a high end 4 tube hybrid models. Kind of ironic I find a cheapie last week and the high end one this week. This has all the features like backlight tuning, AFC, Tint Gaurd. It still had clean "house dust" on it, so it must have been brought in the garage prior to the sale. No way it was in the garage for any long period of time. It looked like the TV was in the pile of things to be thrown out, so I figured it didn't work. I asked the lady outside, she had no idea where in the house it was. I asked how much and she says $10.00 for it and I paid outside. When I got in, I asked about the TV and the guy running the show claimed it was in the bedroom with the small bed. He said I could have it....too late, I already paid outside! I didn't ask for my money back, Im not that cheap! The house was small, tons of stuff and way too many people inside. They needed all the room they could get so that explains why the TV got put in the garage including many other contents of the home.

Lastly, I found one of my favorite Zenith console stereos. Its a lowboy danish modern unit from 1967. It was not their highest end, but its right in the middle. I always liked the tuning controls on the mid priced units. This one had the manuals and papers, bought new from Central Service (as usual in chicago) and set up on 6-1-67. Still in their dining room playing and sounding great. The phono needs work, its jammed up but the cartridge is good. The brushing of the finger under the tone arm to see how much output came from the speaker verified this. Im sure its the usual dried out grease that turns into "adhesive".

Once I get home, I got the stereo unloaded safely and then brought the TV in the house to try it out.
As I turned it on for the first time, I waited for the warm up and then the HV crackle with nice bright snow. I tuned in my UHF transmitter on channel 18 and it has the typical razor sharp picture like these are supposed to. Its 38 years old, looks like it was never serviced and it still works perfect. We'll never see this quality in consumer electronics ever again.


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Supposedly, the Zenith 4 tuber was somewhere in this upstairs bedroom.

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My great uncle had that exact same tv in on a stand in his kitchen. It quit working about 10 years ago and got tossed. I have a heavy portable Zenith record player from 67 with that exact same changer. It works but not great.
John

Nice finds! I especially like that stereo console. I'm not much for SS stereo consoles; but, if I ever found one of these '60's handwired Zenith's, I'd bring it home. An older lady at my old church had one like that. She never used it; but, wouldn't consider getting rid of it (I tried many times). She passed away a few years ago and God only knows what her son did with it.

V-M changer should be an easy fix. I know that Zenith used V-M at least through the early 70's - when I was in college I had one of V-M's last designs badged "Zenith" in (of all things) a '65 GE console stereo.

Great finds, Doug...But that pic of y'all standin' outside in the blizzard made me shudder...72 & GORGEOUS here ystrday...

Nice finds Doug! You saved that hybrid from the jaws of death!

Oh yeah, I would have had to buy the sofa behind the TV :)

when i worked for billy back in the day,we sold tons of those hybrid zeniths.they were customers choice over the solid state rcas,maggies,etc.the picture quality was superb.i remember once when a gentleman came in and asked for a 19 inch set for his bedroom.must be solid state!dont want any tube junk!walks into a used tv shop and asks for the latest set.we had several 1-2 year old sets on display.in the corner was a zenith hybrid.he glanced at the newer stuff and then meandered over to the zenith.this is a good picture,he said.no,this is the best picture.how old?billy told him and he couldnt believe it.it has tubes.so he walked away.looked at something,but kept going back to the zenith.he left the store.one hour later he comes rushing in.did you sell that tv?is it too late?he bought the tube junk zenith.picture quality alone was the selling point.we got another one in and he bought that one too plus a zenith flat chassis for the living room.that was in 1979-80.but,alas,these zeniths are gone here in central ohio.

Hey Doug.That looks like a "microtouch" turntable.They used to have a tv commercial where they showed the arm being pushed across and dropped on the record without
scratching it.

Eight estate sales on todays route, two of them turned up good stuff. First sale was at 1100 N 15th ave in Melrose Park, IL. In the living room was a nice clean 1966 RCA Victor CTC-25 combo unit. As soon as I walked in the lady at the door said that prices were negotiable on EVERYTHING and when I asked about the price of the combo a few minutes later, I was told its half priced so $50.00. I asked if they'd take $40 and I get jumped on: "we just told you it was $50.00, and thats a good deal". Apparently they forgot that they told me ALL PRICES WERE NEGOTIABLE so I to remind them of what they told me as soon as I walked in the door. So they decided to let it go for no less than $45.00. Now Im not that much of a cheap skate, but when you tell someone prices are negotiable and then you don't honor your word, thats pretty unprofessional considering an estate sale company was running the sale. The TV didn't work and the radio phono didn't work either. Typical solid state RCA radio chassis, it has that 60hz hum with the worst filter cap in electronics history in there. I've never seen a good one. Its a cardboard cap with the wax in the end and the leads coming out of it. Very high values like 2000uF@35v.

TV has no HV. Who knows, the fly could be toast or perhaps an open rectifier.

Yay, the model number tag got ripped off too. At least there is slight evidence of what it once was.

The fun wasn't over yet....I had to have someone help me move the TV and I normally give the person who helps me a few dollars. Well this guy at the sale offered to help me. I offered him a few bucks to do so. Ironically, he also bought a TV too and he asked if I could help him out. His was an early 90's zenith (and yes it still worked!). I helped him load it in his van and then he helped me load the combo in my truck. It was an easy move, just out the front door, down the steps and into the truck.
I told him I'd "Give him a few bucks for helping me out as I really appriciated the help otherwise I would have been SOL" so I gave him $5 as thats all I had left in cash. The guy gets all pissed off "hey, c'mon man, whats this? I just saved your ass moving this thing, c'mon five bucks thats it?" I couldn't believe he said that, I never had anyone complain about a tip. I threw it back at him "Didn't I just help you out?" Another idiot who doesn't remember...I helped move his TV ALSO! But I guess because mine was so big and heavy that me helping him move a smaller 25" TV doesn't count. What a jerk.

The next sale was at 815 N Elmhurst Rd in Mount Prospect. I found a 1969 Zenith console stereo. A very nice danish modern cabinet. It only works with one dead channel which seems to be so common on these. It seems like 75% of the Zenith stereos I find have a dead channel of some sort. That was an easy move though, people that are running the sale are there to help you move stuff most of the time and it goes really well.

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Nice finds! I really like that RCA combo! I wonder if that Zenith is old enough to still be handwired. I've ran into a lot of SS stereo's from the '60's with a dead/weak channel and it's almost always those horrible electrolytic caps that they used back then. It just so happens that I took in a '66 SS RCA console stereo for repair just today and it had a defective filter cap. After that was replaced, one channel was very weak. Upon looking at the main chassis, it is full of those horrible black cased and silver cased electrolytic caps.

Concerning the jerk, the actions of some people never cease to amaze me. One day, people like this guy are going to need a helping hand and no one is going to be there for them. I was brought up to help others in need and not expect anything for it.

WHo made that changer in the '65 combo? I know I've seen them before.

what a day you had ,doug.all prices are negotiable and then wouldnt honor it?
and the guy who helped with the combo scoffing at a 5 dollar tip?wasnt your day.i dont know how many times me and my son had helped someone carry a big item and not expect anything.josh would never take money for it.i wouldnt either.what a jerk!i dont think i would have wanted that combo that bad.she could have sat on it for awhile.sorry you had to go through that.zenith stereo is nice though!

...

Maybe they thought they had negotiated the price down on the combo, as the original price was $100. Were they trying to sell it as "vintage", because at that price that is a might bit steep considering that none of it was being sold in working condition.

I was surprised by the asking price for the Zenith combo, too. Around here, when they have auctions for estates, this stuff usually is pushed out to the junk pile before they even start the sale.

Love that combo Doug! That cabinet style is really neat! It's got one of my favorite changers as well. AUdubon5425, I think that is an RCA built changer. I could be wrong, but I think there was a few models they made that were't farmed out to BSR or another company.
As for the 25 chassis in that set, pretty good except for that damn tuner which I think was a 1 chassis design for RCA. Probably wouldn't be an issue now that one would use a VCR or converter box, but in the day of 3 or 4 local stations, you were always having to fine-tune them. The design on it is that you have to push in the channel selector knob to fine tune.

As usual, let me know if you are interested. I can't keep these and they will be parted-out if there are no takers! It was me or the dumpster boys, so don't hate! :no:

Cabinets are in good shape, just dusty. Non-smoker, no-kid house.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAzMTguanBn.jpg

Surprise, surprise... it's a Zenith B&W set that hasn't been powered on in decades and it works fine. (No antenna) They were in a very nice, dry garage covered with an insane amount of dust.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAzMTkuanBn.jpg

Here we have a very similar cabinet (all the furniture was this style!)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAzMTcuanBn.jpg

and, no surprise here... It more/less worked. I was really surprised at the sharpness (just a low-power Canadian station using a UHF loop)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAzMjMuanBn.jpg

Grey scale needs touch up, but green gun does work, drive control is dirty.


As usual, let me know if you are interested. I can't keep these and they will be parted-out if there are no takers! It was me or the dumpster boys, so don't hate! :no:

Nice finds Chris,

Save the color console please. Its a 12A12C52 chassis, my favorite one. I have a good VHF knob for it too. I'll have tons and tons of room soon......

WHo made that changer in the '65 combo? I know I've seen them before.

I don't know about that particular changer, but in the '80s the smaller integrated Zenith stereo systems (I had one for 17 years that was built like a tank, much better than my current Aiwa system) had BSR three-speed ones. I knew someone back then who had a very low opinion of BSR record changers. I won't repeat his comment here. :nono:

BSR was a respected British manufacturer of record changers, so why my acquaintance's opinion of them was so disparaging I don't know. Maybe he had problems with such a changer in his own stereo system, maybe he was trying to make a (very bad) joke....who knows?

I wonder if BSR is still in business. If they are, I'll bet they are making CD players and changers these days.

I'd be interested in the B&W set if no-one else has snapped it up, but can't pick it up until late April. Any chance of it finding its way to the ETF convention for pickup?

<snip>

and, no surprise here... It more/less worked. I was really surprised at the sharpness (just a low-power Canadian station using a UHF loop)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAzMjMuanBn.jpg

Grey scale needs touch up, but green gun does work, drive control is dirty.



Your "Canadian" station with Ion is actually a low-powered American station, W48AV, which was not required to go digital because it is low power (they have a CP to switch to digital, however).

All the way from Shore Club Apartments (9 Mile/Lake St. Clair waterfront)!

Nice saves, BTW.

This was a rather unexpected find. I didn't have a chance to go to any estates today but I made a rare visit to a local resale store. I pretty much gave up on resale shops for TV's as most of them won't sell TV's anymore for obvious reasons. As soon as I walked it, sitting on the shelf was a GE Portacolor! It was priced at $18.00. Its the later production so I turned it around to check the build date. This one is January, 1976. By far the newest I've ever seen of any portacolor. Does anyone have a newer one out there?
Its a clean little set. Works pretty good too. I need to repair the UHF tuner as it won't receive any UHF stations.

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Nice! I would have jumped all over that one, too.

Back in the mid '90's, I had a couple of these sets from October and November, '76. Some folks, I think on this site, mention that they've worked on some from '77 and '78. I think I remember reading on the portacolor website that there are reports of a tube type portacolor being made as late as 1980, although there have not been any confirmed sightings. I think it would be safe to say that there are actually examples out there from '77-'78.

On late GE tube sets, I think Mark has a 19" GE from '75 and I've seen some 12" GE B&W's with click stop UHF tuners from '75-'76.

I have one dated to 1977. I am not sure there are any tube type ones with later dates.

This G.E. ad from March 1978 implies that '78 was the first year for the 100% solid state models: GE Porta Color Ad (http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DGQiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BawFAAAAIBAJ&dq=ge%20portacolor&pg=2380%2C2162887)

I have a 1975 GE Portacolor I got here in North Bay in about 2006 approx that pretty much is very identical to this January, 1976 portacolor shown here. Mine works quite well for being an 11-tube set plus the 9-inch inline color CRT also used in GE Portacolors in the mid-1970's. I also have a JC Penny(Rare!) Portacolor rebrand in a slightly different cabinet made for JC Penny in 1975. It also works pretty good. Same 11-tube chassis and 9-inch inline color CRT. Both have a stop-click UHF tuner as well. The Portacolor was made as late as 1980-this has to be verified with that same 11-tube chassis. I have seen a 1978 Portacolor once here on the internet. The Portacolor was introduced in 1966 as a low-cost color TV for those on a budget who now can get color TV at a price that suits their budget and is easy on their wallet. Yep, the Portacolor was truly the first real portable color TV as well unlike that 1968 14-inch Zenith color "portable" that left a 5-inch bruise on my leg as I bright it home-ohhh:-(

That 17-inch 100% solid-state GE color is not a true Portacolor in the sense seen in this March, 1978 advertisement. It uses the Portacolor trademark, which was owned and registered by GE in 1965-66. A true Portacolor uses a 9-inch color CRT, an 11-tube chassis and this will not have a black-matrix or black-stripe CRT as well. Also, another error in that March, 1978 ad is that it states the Portacolor being introduced in 1965, that's not the case. The Portacolor was introduced in 1966.

As usual, let me know if you are interested. I can't keep these and they will be parted-out if there are no takers! It was me or the dumpster boys, so don't hate! :no:

Cabinets are in good shape, just dusty. Non-smoker, no-kid house.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAzMTguanBn.jpg

Surprise, surprise... it's a Zenith B&W set that hasn't been powered on in decades and it works fine. (No antenna) They were in a very nice, dry garage covered with an insane amount of dust.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAzMTkuanBn.jpg

Here we have a very similar cabinet (all the furniture was this style!)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAzMTcuanBn.jpg

and, no surprise here... It more/less worked. I was really surprised at the sharpness (just a low-power Canadian station using a UHF loop)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/Chromacolor2/SU1HMDAzMjMuanBn.jpg

Grey scale needs touch up, but green gun does work, drive control is dirty.


As usual, let me know if you are interested. I can't keep these and they will be parted-out if there are no takers! It was me or the dumpster boys, so don't hate! :no:

I have that same Chromocolor set.

That 17-inch 100% solid-state GE color is not a true Portacolor in the sense seen in this March, 1978 advertisement. It uses the Portacolor trademark, which was owned and registered by GE in 1965-66. A true Portacolor uses a 9-inch color CRT, an 11-tube chassis and this will not have a black-matrix or black-stripe CRT as well. Also, another error in that March, 1978 ad is that it states the Portacolor being introduced in 1965, that's not the case. The Portacolor was introduced in 1966.

My point in posting the link to that ad was its statement that the Porta Color was revised for 1978, all solid state and an inline CRT. Also, the Porta Color was available in time for Christmas 1965.

Anyone know what's happening with Carmine? He asked for interest in those 2 sets and then disappeared - not answering PMs either.

Thanks on the info-will update my notes on regarding when the Portacolor was introduced on the market-I will then note the date being approx. late November or early December, 1965-Thanks once more on the precise date and correct info.
Also, Thanks on the correct info regarding the Portacolor changes for 1978 from tubes to solid-state devices and a black-matrix inline CRT as well for 1978 and later GE Portacolor TVs. Will make note here and Thanks:-)

This G.E. ad from March 1978 implies that '78 was the first year for the 100% solid state models: GE Porta Color Ad
Interesting, that ad says the 12" B&W sets had DC restoration (which it also mentions for the Portacolor set). I have never seen a small-screen B&W set that had it.

Anyone know what's happening with Carmine? He asked for interest in those 2 sets and then disappeared - not answering PMs either.

You have a PM. The TVs are safe and being made comfortable. I have just been busy lately.

You have a PM. The TVs are safe and being made comfortable. I have just been busy lately.

replied

drh4683, your message space is full!

Please send me an email at drh4683@gmail.com. Im having issues with PMs on VK.
Thanks-

This G.E. ad from March 1978 implies that '78 was the first year for the 100% solid state models:

It seems to me that GE started making the solid-state 10" ("10 AA" (also AB and AC) chassis) color sets before they discontinued the last of the tube-type 10" Portacolors ("10 HE" chassis), as I've seen 10AA's dated starting around 1976, but 10HE's from late 1977 and '78.

Yesterdays find came from 448 Chicago Ave, Clarendon Hills, IL. I found the most unusual of console stereos. I saw the very low cabinet which seems to be common with Motorola and GE. As I opened the door, I was surprized with what I saw. It was indeed a Motorola, but the control center was mounted underneath the flip open door! I've never seen anything like it. I powered it up and it has bad filter hum. Being motorola, its all solid state. Its a little older than I expected, its a 1966 model per the sams index. Built at the Franklin Park plant. This must have been one of their highest end models of the period. Very well made. The tuners both have flywheels for smooth easy tuning. Its all complete, but the phono is all gummed up as usual. On the back, it appears that a peice of the back cover is missing, but its not. When you open the door, that space is needed to clear the door when its lifted open.

As for the purchase of this unit, that was another interesting story. The sale was run by the family. I found out there were four sisters and a brother all of them were in their 50's Id say, this was the home they grew up in and their parents both passed on.
Many of the things in the house were price tagged, the Motorola was priced at $25.00. Good deal I thought. As I'm waiting in line, people have a bunch of things with out price tags and they were getting prices at the check out. This is OK as sometimes its impractical to price out everything as the house was jam packed, you could hardly move. What was annoying me is that the lady at the check out had her daughter with her and they were looking up prices on every little thing on ebay with her iphone. Basically they were using ebay as the final price guide as the customers stand and wait so they could get top dollar for every little thing. Well of course, ebay prices are way high on so many things so they were pricing things out of control for all these shoppers. People were getting into arguments saying the prices are rediculous which ended up having the lady at the checkout make them put stuff back where they found it "no sale, put it back then". She was the older sister was the one really making the final decisions, but the other sisters were like "lets just get the stuff out of here who cares" and they'd be arguing amoung themselves. Remember, the house was packed, the idea is to clean it out give people a good deal and move on. Then there was this old man who had this rusty old gas can at the check out, you know, those old timers who like to putz at the sales looking at all the tools....
He offered them $1.00 for this gas can and they refused: "We'd get more money in scrap value, put it back". The old guy was so po'd, he just left it there by the check out and walked out. I couldn't help it, I laughed quitely to myself as it was getting so rediculous.

So now its my turn. I tell them I'm buying the big console in the living room. She asked how much. I said $25. Right away, she blows up: "No way, no way we had that priced that low". I said I never changed any price tags, thats what it was marked since I first saw it. She starts getting all worked up "no, that was priced at $65, no less". I was ready to speak my mind after seeing what she was doing with everyone else but I held back, one of her sisters over hears all of this and jumps in "Bev, that thing was priced at $25, thats what we're selling it for" then they started to all yell at each other again, the other sister jumps in and starts defending me for the $25 it was priced at "I remember you putting the $25 tag on it even" and of course the older sister refuses she did any such thing and claims if she did, it was a mistake and there is no way she's selling it for any less than $65. The other sisters just screamed out loud at her and she finally gave in. However, it got even more interesting. The sign outside the front door "1/2 price day" and then there was this "lets make a deal day" sign all around the house. I didn't say a word, but one of the sisters goes "Bev, its also half price so its $12.50". This lady starts almost sceaming at her for saying this outloud. "What the hell are you doing here, do you just want to give the thing away on me". Here sister replys something to the effect of "It doesn't even work, Bev!!" I had to bite my lip, I wanted to laugh but this lady was totally out of line, yet all the other siblings were really cool. Bottom line, I got it for $15.00 when it was all said and done the older sister at the check out goes in this bitter angered tone: "You got one hell of a deal". I told her thanks and moved on. As I started to move the stereo out of the house, I hear more arguing with buyers and prices. I guess one of the sisters sold a sewing machine for $40.00 and "It was supposed to be $90" and there was more shouting going on amoung them.
People that act like this really annoy me. I've been to one other sale and that was about 5 years ago when the sellers were using ebay as the price guide and holding up the line. It was the same thing, people had piles of stuff to buy then they ended up putting it all back and leaving the sale cause they wanted $50 for some useless little thing. Be sure to see the sign on that box in the photo with me in it....Kind of ironic to say the least!

It was pretty good though, one of the ladys helped me move the big console, no problems. We just loaded it up in the back of my truck and she was cool about it from the start. That was that, I got it home. What a crazy estate sale though. Its never a dull moment on estate sale saturdays around here!


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Wow is that neat.I have never seen anything like that.The speaker cabinets are even sealed-I'bet it really sounds good.Is the amplifier located remotely,or is it in the lid with
the controls?

The amp is mounted remotely inside the cabinet. Yes, even with the filter hum (which was pretty bad) I could tell it will have a really powerful sound. I like the wording on tuner "Advanced Engineered / Audio Master Control Center"

Motorola must have been proud of this one, thats why I figured it must be one of the top notch models for '66.

That's a good story Doug, I can only imagine the chaos of a sale like that

:D

Doug, I'd be interested to know if this is one of the designs with a single woofer for both channels. Motorola was sort of headed for the idea of a subwoofer, but never really got there because the crossover was too high.

That cabinet sure is a piece of work.

edit - BTW, when you get the TT running, you should test it with a Tijuana Brass record. The Moto engineers preferred to use that because, they said, it had instruments in every frequency range.

...

That's a good story Doug, I can only imagine the chaos of a sale like that

:D

The people who ran the sale Doug attended need to learn some manners. The person who got in a lather over the price of the stereo Doug eventually purchased is a case in point, and it was ironic that they would post a sign proclaiming "Let's Make a Deal Day!" if they had that sort of attitude ($65, take it or leave it). I would think she would be happy someone was willing to take the stereo off her hands at any price. Most people who host these sales do not know anything about the true value of antiques or vintage items, so they will take any reasonable amount just to get the things out of their way; however, this person was an exception--boy, was she ever.

Neat looking console stereo-- I've never seen one like that either! It's really a pretty smart idea if you think about it, since the controls and displays end up near eye-level.

Strange buying experience too. Really odd that they would be so obvious (and *blatant*) in their use of eBay for trying to determine values for things. ...And why they would refuse perfectly reasonable offers for penny-ante items like the gas can I have no idea. I wonder if these are the sort of people watch _Antiques Roadshow_ all the time and figure that everything they own must be valuable too...

Some people are just J-E-R-K-S...Pure 'n' simple. Anyhow, you gotta GREAT lookin' console, that w/a little TLC & caps, oughta sound great, too !

Off topic, but sometimes when trying to settle an estate, all the siblings do not agree on everything and chaos can ensue. There are a lot of things involved in estate settlement, not to mention a death or decision to put a family member in a home or assisted living...I've done it and it is tough on everybody.

Thanks for the great story Doug, those people seem like a riot. I would have been laughing like crazy at them. Nice Moto console, can we see some pics of the amp and speakers? It looks like a regular 2 channel one without the center "bass" channel. I'll bet that thing rocks when you get it done. Are you going to put it in your new house? If it's anywhere near as loud as the '62 Moto console model that we both have, it'll be fun for your neighbors lol.

Wow Doug, that's an interesting console. Did you see what that other console was next to it...maybe an Admiral?

That would really annoy me if they did prices like that. I think the professional estate sale people are better because they have an idea of what things actually sell for in that venue and they know there is not much interest overall in old console TV's or stereos.

The best though are absolute auctions held on site because you can usually get console stereos/TV's for $1.00-$5.00 as there is usually no one else bidding on them.
Also these estate sales and auctions are really the "wholesale" market for a lot of the people that deal on ebay and at antique stores. They can't expect that people will pay "retail" what they would pay on ebay.

Nice stereo! I think I've seen a picture of one of those "works in the lid" models; but, never in person.

Regarding the behavior of those people running the sale. Even though their behavior was uncalled for, it's still funny even though I can't stand these greedy money hungry folks like what you were dealing with. And, when they start their ebay crap with me, I usually tell them to sell the thing on ebay if you think it's worth so much.

Great looking console I have to say, real cool how the amp/tuner section flips up! :yes:
I had to chuckle at your story about those sellers.... Oh to be a fly on the wall watching them all squabble and fight...Pretty ridculous really especially if they start thinking 'ebay' prices.... Its an estate sale not an auction house :rolleyes:

G.

That is a neat stereo. I have seen magazine adds on Ebay advertising those. I have never seen one in person. They must not have made very many of them. The turntable is almost the same as the one in my 1963 console. I also have a portable stereo record player from 1969 with that turntable. It looks futuristic for the period. I think Motorolas from thet period have the best styling.
John

Regarding the details of the last estate sale:

Family...the other white meat.

I can visualize the siblings saying "We'll run the sale ourselves & not pay a professional. think of the extra $$$ we'll get!!" Riiiiight. I'll bet they netted 20% less than they would've with a pro pricing & running things. Ya meet 'em all out there, dontcha?

BTW: What...no TVs???

Interesting, that ad says the 12" B&W sets had DC restoration (which it also mentions for the Portacolor set). I have never seen a small-screen B&W set that had it.

I have one of those GE B&W portables and I can say from using it that it does have DC restoration. I had a 1987 Zenith 12" B&W that had full DC restoration. When the screen went blank it looked like the set was off. Those GE B&W sets are great. I currently have a yellow one and they are well made, stylish and good performers. I would like to find one in a less flashy color such as white or grey.

Some 1960s/1970s era B&W sets from GE had the tiniest CRT cathode known to mankind(unlike the Portacolors). It is very rare to find one of these with a good CRT.

Some 1960s/1970s era B&W sets from GE had the tiniest CRT cathode known to mankind(unlike the Portacolors). It is very rare to find one of these with a good CRT.

The tube type 12" sets in the briefcase cabinet style often have weak CRTs but all the solid state GE sets I have found from the Seventies have strong long lived tubes in them. The ones labeled Performance Television are actually quite good. I have a soft spot for 12" B&W sets anyway, always have.

I had a Zenith 12" solid-state b&w portable TV that lasted 22 years (I bought it new in 1978), and was still going strong with a bright, sharp picture when I got rid of it ten years ago. I don't know who made the CRT but it must have been a good brand, to last that long. This TV was not American-made, either, the Zenith branding on the front panel notwithstanding; the set was made in Mexico. The TV this portable replaced was also a Zenith (trash find), a 1969 SC300, "The Ventura". That set also had a very strong CRT which was still making a great picture when I got rid of it in late '78. Again, I don't know who made the CRT in this set; obviously, however, it wasn't some offshore entity since the tube was still going strong after nine years, and Zenith had not yet started installing short-lived tubes in their TVs at this time. My best guess is that the CRT in my set was probably made by a reputable American manufacturer such as Rauland.

BTW, my RCA CTC185 XL100 color set was bought new in 1999 and still has its original CRT, which still makes an excellent, bright, sharp picture. My Zenith Sentry 2 has 14 years on it; it has its original tube as well, which still gives an excellent picture. This pleases and amazes me at the same time, because 1995 was within the time frame during which Zenith was having the devil of a time with defective CRTs in its televisions; the tubes would short within a year or two and destroy the video amplifiers (or worse) in no time flat.

I must have gotten a good tube (by the luck of the draw, no doubt) in my set, as it has given me no trouble whatsoever in the 14 years I've had the TV. Of course, the fact that this set doesn't get much use anymore probably has a lot to do with the long life of the tube; I only used the TV as a daily watcher for four years in the late '90s, then put it in my bedroom and more or less forgot about it. The set is used nowadays only as a backup to the RCA and for cross-checking in the event of cable trouble; however, I do turn it on occasionally to test it, and the last time I did so it was still going as strong as when the set was new.

I have a '78 19" Zenith B&W and it's CRT is labeled "Zenith"; but, was actually built by Sylvania. I think Sylvania made a lot of B&W CRT's for Zenith back then.

This was another good weekend at the estates. A TV was found at an Oak Lawn, IL estate sale at 9529 S. Kolmar Ave. It was a late 60's raised ranch, some of my favorite types of homes and all original inside with the avocado appliances.
In the back room I found a nice end of an era Zenith Chromacolor II console in the plain jane cabinet with the peg legs. Its a 1978 model with the 25KC45 chassis. Of course it worked just fine like any chorma II. It looked nice in that huge back room that backed up to the kitchen. When I first spotted it, I thought it would be an early production 25FC45 from '75 but it was just as nice to find a late model instead. This one has a chassis built in February, '78 and the set was assembled in March. Its also built at the Springfield, MO plant. Not sure when they opened that, but I think it was around 1975 or so. During the production of the CCII, zenith started to phase out some of their TV production in Chicago and built new plants in Missouri and they also opened their big plant in Reynosa, Mexico back around 1974 I believe.
You started to see modules etc. made in Mexico and eventually some TV's. I have a Reynosa assembled Zenith CCII table set from '78 and its just as nice as the others but I would always prefer the US built sets. Not sure when zenith phased out TV production all together in Chicago though. I think the CCII was the end and Springfield, MO became the number one plant starting at the beginning of the system 3 which also was introduced in 1978. Seems like 1978 was the beginning of the end for Zenith as the company it was in all the years prior.

I don't think this Particular set was ever serviced though, but there was a TV shop tag on back probably from where it was bought new. I got it for $45. Its also nice to find this model that doesnt have a broken off volume slider pot. Obviously not one of zeniths better designs as I've seen these snapped off on so many sets in the past. Zenith used this plain peg leg cabinet like this for their low end economy sets from the late 60's all the way up until the mid 80's. I like the plain simple clean cut cabinets though, so this is a keeper. Consider its a '78 when most of the nicer "high end cabinets" of that time period were not so attractive in my opinion.

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Doug -

Nice find! That cabinet does seem to be used in a lot of sets; I've got one that's similar, but with a single tuner knob (VHF and presets for UHF channels). The chassis in mine (also a 25KC45) was assembled in Dec. 1978 in Reynosa.

-Jim

Nice find! That control layout does look older than what it is.

In SC, I had to pass up (due to limited space) a "last gasp" 23V CCII console from '79. All it said was "Zenith" on the front. No "solid state chromacolor II" printing like what's on the older sets. I've had 2 or 3 of these "last gasp" sets from October and November of '79. I think these "late" sets were just an effort to use up the remaining CCII inventory, as I've seen the exact same cabinets with a system 3 chassis inside.

...

That's a cool looking CCII. I too like the simple cabinet versus the "high end" cabinets of the late seventies. Those things make me wanna :puke:

"Here's the Story, of a Lovely Lady..." (grin)

That 1978 Zeith Chromacolor II from Februrary, 1978-that's the very month and year I was born on Sunday February 12, 1978:-) My parents had a 1976 Zenith Chromacolor II which I now have in storage with this same delta-gun CRT and solid-state chassis.
Also got a 1978 Zenith Chromacolor 19-inch table top color set w/delta-gun CRT and the original cart I got here in North Bay in about 2007-one of a few left here then I managed to get at the local SA.

We have that Avocado/lime green lazy susan chip and dip. I got it for Laura as an anniversary present, or something.

Looks like a nice clean set. Didn't know Zenith used this cabinet for chromacolor IIs. Looks just like my grandma's chromacolor from '73. Luckily it is still in by folks basement. Only thing wrong with it is the broken volume slider. I guess that was the weak point with these.

I didn't find a TV today but I always keep an eye open for nice portable stereo phonographs as I have a nice little collection of those going too. The sale was at 4515 Florence Ave, in Downers Grove, IL. I found a 1968 Magnavox portable. Its a solid state unit, but Magnavox is a rare find around here, especially in a portable stereo phono. This thing is very high end and built solid. When I saw it, a guy was trying it out looking serious like he was going to buy it as he moved it over by an outlet to plug it in etc. Initially, I was bummed out as I though for sure he was going to buy it and I didn't have a Magnavox portable phono in my collection on top of it. So I continued to watch him fiddle with it......He didn't realize that you need to have the stabilzer arm lifted UP in order for the tone arm to automatically drop down on the record. instead, each time he turned it on, he moved the knob to "rej" and the tone arm just cycled lifting up, then dropped back down on the support and then shut off each time. I could tell he was getting frustrated as he really wanted it to "work" but then again, I could tell there was nothing wrong in the first place. It was operator error. He finally gave up and I asked if he was going to buy it. He goes: "ah.... the darn mechanisem is screwed up, otherwise I would buy it" so he closes it up and puts it back where he found it and moved on. That little voice inside my head says "YES!!!!!" with excitement and as soon as he walked away I grabbed it! What a lucky break.

And of course, it works just fine. You just need to know how to use a phono changer and if you don't stack records, the tone arm doesn't set by itself on the record unless you keep the stabilizer arm in the "up" position like I mentioned.
I walked out the door with it for $15. The thing is like brand new and still has the 45 adapter on the clip. Once I got it home, I tried a record out on it, the sound is outstanding, nice deep bass with crisp high tones. Magnavox had a top notch product with this little phono. It'll see lots of use playing my 50's/60's instrumental records like Ray Conniff, Nelson Riddle, Bert Kaempfert etc.

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Many of these portable stereo phonos were found in college/university dormitories in the 1960's and 1970's in the days before cassette players which those college kids had to play their favourite rock albums on:-) These portable stereo phonos were also in smaller apartments as well or w/people who moved a lot in the 1960's and 1970's with their LPs and 45s. You can say this was the forerunner to the boombox we came to know and love in the 1980's:-)

Nice unit! Those Magnavox portables are rare around here, too. I've got one very similar to yours, with a built in radio. It needs to be restored and I paid too much for it; but, I figured I'd better get it, since portable Maggies are hard to find.

How strange! A few weeks ago what appeared to be the exact same model (including color) Magnavox portable stereo phono showed up at a local "junk store." I didn't buy it though, as it was in rather poor condition and had some significant water damage. I do have a Magnavox portable stereo phono from about the same era with a built-in AM/FM stereo tuner though.

Like you, I don't generally see a lot of Mangavox portable stereo phonos, but older (tube-era) monophonic ones seem to be more common for some reason.

Anyway, it's a good find, especially with the Collaro changer. [Magnavox usually used Collaro changers in their consoles, but it seems like their portables often had V-M changers instead.]

I noticed that some of the names in the 60's brochures are named after chicago suburbs like "The Lombard", "The Lisle", "The Glen Ellyn" and "The Berwyn" for example.


That've made "The Woodridge" a crappy little B&W table set.

At least that's what I thought of the place when I was forced to live there. TWICE....:thumbsdn::D

Bill


BTW--great little portable phono--I remember those kind vividly when I was a kid. My sister had a Silvertone made up similarly to that one.

I had today off of work so I was able to hit one estate sale. Todays sale was in Elmwook Park, IL at 2527 74th Ct.
I found a nice 23" table model chormacolor II in the vinal clad metal cabinet. RARE, these hardly ever pop up. Its the 2nd metal cabinet chorma II table model I ever found. As I pulled the set away from the wall, I noticed it was still attached to the outdoor antenna lead and the set was not plugged in. I plugged it in and fired it up to see what happened. Well, it works, I picked up a few analog stations that are still going out here but the horizontal hold was off freq and it couldn't come back with the adjustment. I could tell the picture was going to be fine though, it was sharp and bright. Thats an easy fix.
Its a 1976 model G4541W and it uses the 23GC45 chassis. This was still one of the earlier production runs for the vertical chassis, so it used the infamous white safety cap. It was replaced though. Notice it still has the yellow sticker on back indicating that the safety cap was replaced.
One thing happend that really irritated me though. At the sale, a guy was offering to help me move the TV. I told him I'd get it ready by moving the things off the top. However, the first thing I noticed is that the set was sitting on a table too small for the set. I feared that the plastic feet were broken off like they are so many times. Before I even started, I felt underneath and to my surprise, all of the plastic snap in feet were present. It made my day as those are always brittle and break easily if not being careful. Sure enough, as I take the last thing off the top, the guy just jumps in gets ready to grab the set and he turns it 90 degrees on the small table so he could get his grip ready. Right as he was getting ready to turn I said "Wait, don't do that let me help.........." and sure enough it was too late "snap snap snap snap". All of the plastic feet sheered off the bottom of the set when he turned it and I heard all the plastic peices fall to the floor and roll away. The edge of that table was like the sheer and just clipped them all off. I was so po'd at the guy but I didn't say a word, he was only trying to help. I was even more upset because I told him I wanted to do all the prep work from the start as I feared those feet would get damaged if someone was being careless, but he still just jumped in anyway before I could stop him. Well, I looked around the floor to find all of the feet and fortunately I did. The good news is, they're salvagable. Those particular plastic feet with the spreader locking pin are impossible to find so I'll have to silicone them back under the cabinet now or something. Its one thing if something has damage or a flaw that was present before i found it, but when something gets damaged in front of my own eyes, it drives me nuts.

Either way, Its a nice set and it should clean up really well and once I get the horizontal issue fixed. It'll have the razor sharp zenith picture very soon.

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Nice find :thmbsp: Sorry to heard about the feet. I've had similar issues before too (gouge on the front of my GE 802). They're just try to help so what can you do :dunno:
That set looks really, really clean I'm sure you'll get it running perfectly in no time.

Yes, it seems that those metal cabinet solid state sets are somewhat hard to find, no matter the brand. Over the years, I've had 2 or 3 metal cabinet CCII's and one or two metal cabinet system 3's. The metal cabinet tube sets seem to be more common.

Anyway, that's a nice set and I know it will work as good as new when you're finished with it.

Very nice find, Doug! Those metal cabinet Zeniths were quite common around here - they used them in the Navy Barracks. When they replaced them in the mid-80's with System-3 sets, they were sold at the DOD-auctions here. Interestingly, they used a three-prong power cord and three pin interlock, whick was red plastic. The ground went only to the cabinet via a green wire and rivet. Other than that, they were identical to your set. Sad to say, I junked a few for my Dad - the CRT's were shot, as barracks sets were on 12-16 hours a day.

Cheers,

Very nice find, Doug! Those metal cabinet Zeniths were quite common around here - they used them in the Navy Barracks.

That's interesting, since here in Canada, Zenith sets were usually about the most expensive around. There were a number of dealers back in the '70s, mostly small TV/stereo shops as opposed to department stores (at least that was the case locally) but I don't recall knowing anyone that had a Zenith set when I was growing up. I do remember that they did advertise on TV and in the newspapers though. Recently an interesting newspaper archive was put online with a local weekly from the 1970s being part of the mix. Last night I caught a couple of Zenith print ads from 1974: one, for their series of Allegro stereos (from $219 to $469 IIRC) and one for a couple of color sets. The most expensive of those was in a fancy cabinet and was over $1000.

Here's the Allegro ad:

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/newspapers/archives.asp?ID=621&Page=200916435

Here's the TV ad (with a few Allegros too):

http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/newspapers/archives.asp?ID=617&Page=200916251

Those particular plastic feet with the spreader locking pin are impossible to find so I'll have to silicone them back under the cabinet now or something.


Doug,

Can you post an image of the feet? I have tons of feet from junked sets (thanks Dad!) and may have some undamaged ones I can send you.

Cheers,

I got a 1950 Zenith 23G22/23 and a cool Radio'la-Victrola I think was purchased as a set. The record player has the cartridge/needle still there and in good shape, only 78 RPM records, automatic with 10" or 12" select size on the automatic changer. The TV has really nice wood grain and looks to be in pretty good shape, Has a Radio'la plug in the back. But the tv is missing the front little door over the controls So if any one of you knows of one, or can help me locate one, I'll appreciate any help there. The hinge is there, just not the door. This was on CL after the estate sale, I got both for $75. There was no interest in these items, and the seller said he listed it a few times with me as the only serious person interested in either one. The seller had this in his office since they moved in in '67. The set belonged to his grandfather, and it sat in his house unused since before 1970. Both power cords are wrapped up, and as you move them the rubber cracks, so it most likely really was unused for a long time.

Wow...Those a NICE scores !! Ya done GOOD....

I did go to the sale in Naperville that was discussed in the other thread. There was indeed a Motorola Quasar there. It was one of the very few TV's on display that was actually for sale. They wanted $25 for it and it was half off day on Sunday. Its the hybrid Quasar II. Its a 1971 model and its in really nice shape. The thing works too, bright picture so the instant on must have been disabled or else it was never plugged in.

I also found a promotional Zenith coffee mug that showed some pictures of some of their mile stone TV's up through 1982.

There were also about 300+ vintage books on television, radio and computers. Nothing was newer than about 1975, even the computer books, and there were many of them were all based on the old main frame networks, punch cards, relay logic etc. It was a nice array of both servicing/repair and engineering. What made this such a good lot was the fact that it appears that practially every book ever published on color TV from the 50's-70's was in this lot. Tons of good books there, I liked every one of them and nobody was buying them. The shelf had a tag "all books $2.00 each" Under that there was a little note "ask about bulk purchasing for a better deal" There were like 6 shelves like the one you see with all these books.

Considering that I was so impressed with all those books, I wanted all of them to add to my technical library of obsolete technology, but I wasn't prepaired to pay $1.00 at half price per book as that would have still gone way over my budget. So I asked the guy at the sale if they would give me a deal if I buy all the books. He goes "make us an offer if you want them all, we gotta get this stuff out of here". So I said how about $50 for all of them? "Sure no problem, take them, get them out of here, they're yours" Then he goes "the guy we're selling this for will be pissed Im letting them go for this cheap, but he told us to clear everything out by the last day and do what it takes" So I loaded up about 7 decent sized boxes with these books and had a nice load on my truck.

I come to find out that the guy was still alive and he had a family owned lumber company in Chicago that has been in business since 1895. The guy was 63, he inherited the company after his father died and according to one of the people running the sale "he just pissed away the family fortune on this old electronic crap and now the company is out of business and the guy has to sell everything off and he is moving to Michigan"

This house in naperville was huge. You could tell he HAD money thats for sure, but he was not into the family business at all.

As for the CTC-16 roundie, I got to see his "private stash" that one of the sales people showed me in the back room that was off limits. It was nothing special, just a '64 model CTC-16 and it was beat to hell, tons of scratches and gouges on top of the cabinet.

Other than the 16 and this quasar, everything else was black and white and the only other TV that was forsale was about a 1957 RCA B+W console. He had a predicta and some DuMonts but none were for sale.


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Nice! I'm glad you got it, that's a nice looker too. The books will be more than handy, I'm sure. Too bad about the roundie but at least it wasn't a great one. Although, with a cabinet refinishing and recap, I'm sure it could have been a nice set, too bad it wasn't for sale. I'm resurrecting my "parts" Zenith roundie from '65 right now. THAT is going to be a project......

Glad you got to the sale and got the Quasar. I was tempted, but had space, timing and transportation issues. It's great that it has a strong pix tube. I had a hard time going through the books. I picked up a half dozen on color TV, including "Color Television Engineering". The author, John Wentworth, explains in the introduction that the book is a compilation of his lecture notes that he used for lectures to RCA engineers in the early to mid 50's. It has a lot of explanations without a lot of math. It also has chapters on typical camera circuits (TK-41) and receiver circuits (CT-100). When I was there, there were two DuMonts at the foot of the stairs for sale at $50 each. Maybe he changed his mind.

Here is one my buddy found. I am fixing if for him, incomplete vert and lack of solid color sync, low contrast.

CTC 21 combo with the worst looking CRT I have seen big time mold (brown gunk). CRT test weak on two guns, but have not tried zapping it yet.

has power tuning that works, UHF tuner is gunked up, stereo sounds find has 4 big output transistors. Needs controls cleaned.

I think the vert problem was a corroded B+ line that was feeding the vert output tranny the electrolytic bypass cap was fine (as were most of the caps).

I did notice a green corroded filament wire that was on top of a pcb on the chroma board. I dont know if that could be an issue but I will go ahead and replace it. I suppose it could cause enough of a voltage drop that the tubes may have lower then normal emisson.

I found one set on May 15th that I didn't post till now. It was in Morton Grove at 5847 Reba St. Typical untouched suburban 50's home. I found a nice 19" steel cabinet zenith luggable on the cart in the basement. It was $10 so I bought that. Then they wanted $5.00 for the cart! I hate it when they price them seperate and the cart is always disproprotionally priced with respect to the TV if you know what I mean. It was all half off so the whole deal cost me $7.50. I brought the TV home plugged it in and is it a typical Zenith? NO! This one actually doesn't work! I guess its to be expected that some fall through the cracks....No picture but good sound. Should be an easy fix, it doesn't look like the TV saw any hack work and everything is still intact.

This past Saturday I went to a sale in Westchester at 1942 Balmoral Ave. I picked up a 1966 Admiral color console. It was one of those rare TV's that happened to live its life in the front room since day one. Its decent, has a few vacuum cleaner gouges under the cabinet and some bubbling cateracts going on, but its a low hour set and the thing works. They must not have been TV people as all of the original admiral tubes are still in the chassis. It should clean up well, very dusty inside.

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very nice find, both of them.

I agree with DaveWM -- those are two excellent finds, especially the '66 Admiral. I don't see too many Admiral TVs these days -- I wonder how popular they were when they were new.

I didn't notice, either, whether that particular set has a remote. Looking at the front panel of that console, however, I couldn't help but notice the resemblance between it and the 25" portable TV in Oscar Madison's apartment in the '70s TV sitcom The Odd Couple. I have VHS tapes and DVDs of most of those shows and can't make up my mind whether the TV in the apartment is an Admiral or a Zenith -- but after seeing your Admiral console, I'm thinking the set in that show was an Admiral but I am by no means certain. The set had a remote that clicked, so it may well have had Admiral's Son-R (pronounced "sonar") full-function wireless remote control system.

With all the TVs you're finding, I bet you'll have your work cut out for you for some time, and I don't mean maybe. Besides the sets you've shown us here the last couple of weeks and these two, I think you may also have that bunch of sets you had back at your parents' place in Batavia, unless you put some or most of them on eBay or CL before you moved.

I hope you have enough room in your new place for all those TVs, plus the ones you found last week and showed here today. This all reminds me of when I was collecting old, cast-off TVs in suburban Cleveland, back in the late 1960s-'70s. My basement was full of old sets, some working, some barely working and some I just kept around for parts and tubes. My pride and joy in those days was a 1963 model 23" Zenith model K2739 b&w console in one of the nicest wood cabinets I'd seen in a long while. Found it on a curb in my old neighborhood in 1969. No tubes left in it, except the 1J3 HV rectifier and CRT--someone must have filched them all before putting the set out for the trash.

I got the set home, put all new tubes in it, and was rewarded with an excellent picture when I turned it on about a month later (that's how long it took me to get all the tubes). This set had a 6HA5 RF amplifier tube in the tuner, three video IF stages and a sound system I have not seen in any TV set since. The sound channel in this set was a 6BN6 gated-beam discriminator, 6BQ5 audio output, a tone control, and a 6x9 oval speaker with a rather large magnet. The sound was so good I patched an old FM tuner across the volume control and used the set as a hi-fi FM radio as well; I am amazed that Zenith didn't put a phono jack with input selector on the rear apron of the chassis, or a TV/phono switch on the tone control. Maybe they (and probably all other TV manufacturers of the period) had done away with the phonograph input by the '60s. :scratch2:

I may have gone for that jukebox in the basement.

How come you have a Minnesota plate on the back of that Dodge?

I may have gone for that jukebox in the basement.

How come you have a Minnesota plate on the back of that Dodge?

They wanted $950 for the juke which was insane.

As for those '71 plates, its cause I had the car at a car show that weekend and I wanted plates that represented the year of the car and minnesotas were all I had....

They wanted $950 for the juke which was insane.

As for those '71 plates, its cause I had the car at a car show that weekend and I wanted plates that represented the year of the car and minnesotas were all I had....

I was wondering about that '71 Minnesota license plate as well; I didn't realize the car was yours. I thought the car was in a garage at the house where you got the Admiral TV, and the owner had moved to the Chicago area in 1971; then, he or she put the car in the garage and forgot about it for the next 39 years.

My dad had a 1959 Thunderbird which he restored and drove until 1967; I remember that because the car sat in our garage in suburban Cleveland for years afterwards with 1967 plates, next to his 1963 Chevrolet BelAir. I still remember the license numbers on both cars, even now, over 45 years later: the BelAir had DE 5613, while the T-bird had RM 3165. I probably wouldn't have remembered those numbers so well after all these years were it not for the fact that the numbers were mirror images of each other.

BTW, as to the $950 price tag on the jukebox, I agree -- it is waaaay too high, even for a vintage machine. Depending on its condition, I don't think it's worth more than $200 at most; if it is in poor shape and/or is not working, I'd lower that figure to $150. I don't know of any vintage jukebox collectors except perhaps for Chad Hauris, and I haven't seen his posts here lately. In any event, I'm surprised he didn't go after the $950 jukebox, high price and all. If it's a machine he doesn't already have, I would think he would find some way to get it, the distance between West Texas and Chicago notwithstanding.

Nice! I like the style of the Zenith, I haven't seen that exact control and speaker layout before. The speaker grille is different than what I'm used to seeing. The Danish Modern cabinet on that Admiral puts a smile on my face as well.

...Depending on its condition, I don't think it's worth more than $200 at most; if it is in poor shape and/or is not working, I'd lower that figure to $150. I don't know of any vintage jukebox collectors except perhaps for Chad Hauris...

Depending on what it is, jukeboxes go for more than you'd think Jeff. There are plenty of jukebox collectors out there - and a whole little industry of used and reproduction parts too. It may not be worth $950 to you or I, but if it lived in that clean basement its whole life (not on a route in a barroom somewhere) and works they might just get that much or close to it. Heck, I gave $200 for my Seeburg DS160 in fully non-operational condition. Of course, I'd bet the economy affected the jukebox market like everything else.

As for those '71 plates, its cause I had the car at a car show that weekend and I wanted plates that represented the year of the car and minnesotas were all I had....

I have a '67 Illinois plate, but it's not nearly as nice as that '71 Minn. plate.

Louisiana passed a law allowing "year of manufacture" plates to be legally registered on antique vehicles. One day I'll find a nice 70/71 "B" plate for my Cutlass.

Jukeboxes certainly don't go for much around here, typically a working one for 200. Just recently I was at an auction where some early 78 rpm jukeboxes went for less than 100 dollars apiece. Although that doesn't stop every antique mall and Craigslister from pricing their late 70's junker as pure gold. I guess I have seen plenty of them FOR sale, but never SOLD.

Since I don't venture out to estate sales much, just what do they do with the overpriced stuff that certainly won't sell? Do they just wind up taking offers in the 11th hour? Or do they have a buyer lined up (ie take it all to auction, etc.).

Sale in Northfield at 267 Wagner Rd. For the first time in going to estate sales, I found a 20" Zenith "mini console" color set. Its a 1967 model with the 20X1C38 chassis. It was being used as the support stand for the BPC set. Under these circumstances I would have assumed the Zenith didn't work, however I was wrong. I turned it on and it worked fine with a good color picture on channel 23! I would assume the bubbling cateracts is what made this TV go out of service. The CRT is a February 1977 RCA and its strong as new.
In the same room I also found an early Micro 2G stereo Zenith portable phono from 1964. This is one of my favorite models with the green and blue speaker cloth. I had one 10+ years ago and sold it on ebay back around the same time and never found another nice one since. It has the typical rock hard idler tire. This is a tube type unit too.

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I always look forward to this estate sale thread!

I managed to pick up a 57' Zenith Z300E chassis 17Z22Q with the "Space Commander 200" (with remote!) that I had been interested in for the last few weeks. It's a faux blond wood finish metal cabinet that sits on a wooden pedastal. Has a water mark on the top that's down to the metal..ugh.

Nice folks to talk with and they let me pop off the back. Brightner present but with my checker just being turned on the emission showed signs of increasing, but tracking was down still, but potential! Had not been used in years.. They wanted $125.00 for it! I honestly and politely told them I would give them half but no more and they declined.

So after they were "stuck" with it they emailed me with a counter offer of $75.00....well, I bit. I like the TV and it will be a fun project, I'll have to repaint the cabinet... just match it up as close as possible..It'll look good!

I figured it was you that got these when I was there on Friday, the description the guy gave me fit you to a tee. I asked if they were still there because he said it was a half hour wait, I didn't want to wait for nothing. Glad they were saved.

Love that zenith.

Those LPs look extremely clean - hope there was something worthwhile in there too.

how about a screen shot when you get a chance Doug.

My zenith with that chassis has just been chugging along. The pin cushion adj is a tad off, and out of range to correct. I am going to check the caps in that circuit as it has all the orig caps still in it.

I always look forward to this estate sale thread!

I managed to pick up a 57' Zenith Z300E chassis 17Z22Q with the "Space Commander 200" (with remote!) that I had been interested in for the last few weeks. It's a faux blond wood finish metal cabinet that sits on a wooden pedastal. Has a water mark on the top that's down to the metal..ugh.

Nice folks to talk with and they let me pop off the back. Brightner present but with my checker just being turned on the emission showed signs of increasing, but tracking was down still, but potential! Had not been used in years.. They wanted $125.00 for it! I honestly and politely told them I would give them half but no more and they declined.

So after they were "stuck" with it they emailed me with a counter offer of $75.00....well, I bit. I like the TV and it will be a fun project, I'll have to repaint the cabinet... just match it up as close as possible..It'll look good!

You had me going for a while with the first sentence of your reply: "I managed to pick up a 57' Zenith ..." The first thing that came to mind was that you had bagged a 57' flat-panel HDTV, but then I saw the chassis number and knew that couldn't possibly be right. The 17Z22Q chassis was designed for the 4:3 aspect ratio and to operate with a standard CRT, decades before there was any such thing as high-definition television in this country. I then looked up the chassis number on Google and found that this chassis had been manufactured by Zenith in the year 1957--as mentioned, several decades before really large-screen televisions (over 30 inches) were even thought of here. The problem was that the apostrophe was placed after the number (57') rather than ahead of it ('57). The former would be used to describe a huge HDTV flat-panel (I've seen them advertised in flyers in my Sunday paper for Best Buy; you'd need a living room the size of Texas to accomodate anything that big--sheeesh....and I thought Montgomery-Ward's "The Montgomery" 3-way console TV/stereo/phono was huge at nine feet long); the latter is used to abbreviate calendar years to two digits.

I also wondered about your statement that you had to repaint the Zenith's cabinet. I had thought the set was in a solid-wood cabinet and couldn't imagine why anyone would want to repaint a blonde (or any other shade) wooden cabinet, although I know it has been done in the past--often with hideous-looking results. Then I read the item description and saw exactly what you were referring to: a Zenith TV in a metal, faux-woodgrain cabinet--the woodgrain having been, yup, you guessed it, painted on. First time I ever saw anything like that. Oh well. The set was resting on a real wood pedestal, so at least part of the cabinet (the lower half) was actual wood. The other thing that should have tipped me off that the finish was painted on was your statement that there was a stain of some sort on top which had gone through to the metal; I could tell you didn't care for that when I saw your comment "ugh" in your post when you were describing the damage to the finish.

Gee, Jeffhs...

I don't know if I should laugh or apologize...but now that I quit laughing I'll try to remember where to put that apostrophe next time! And I do mean that in the nicest way!! :D

Thanks for catching my error...

Great finds Doug! I'd love to have that mini-console here in my office. Perfect size, and a Zenith to boot! Like another poster said, I always look forward to the new additions to the estate sale thread. I can live vicariously through you guys! lol

Regarding Doug's newest estate sale find (the Zenith 20" mini-console), the set looks great for its age and should perform in typical Zenith fashion after the usual overhaul. However, I'm wondering if the remote receiver is still in the set. Looks like the manual channel selector knob and the remote/manual switch on the back of the set are missing unless, as I suspect, they just aren't showing up well in the picture.

BTW, what is the difference between the SC-100 and SC-200 remotes? I know the SC-100 was channel up and on/off (the latter accomplished by setting a remote trip tab on an unused channel to shut the set off). Does the SC200 add the on/off (and/or volume step and mute) functions to the basic SC100? :scratch2:

Thanks in advance.

It's not a remote set, the backs all have the holes and provisions whether they are remote are not.

I like that record player. I see those on ebay from time to time. It looks like the left speaker is removable. Once you get it going it will be great for playing 45s. It has the tall spindle that uses the round 45 adaptor. They are much better than the later short flat 45 adaptors. You can stack about 10-12 45s on the tall ones but only 5-6 on the short ones.
John

...

It's not a remote set, the backs all have the holes and provisions whether they are remote are not.

Ooops! I must have been thinking about marty59's Zenith 17Z20Q remote TV. I looked at the picture of Doug's set a few minutes ago, however, and realized there is no way that TV could have been a SC one, given the control layout and so on; not to mention that there is no remote sensor anywhere on the front of the set.

You are correct as to the same back covers being used on SC and non-SC equipped Zenith televisions; I've seen this before in other makes as well. A manufacturer may have an overstock of a certain type of cabinet at the end of a model year, for example, so he will put several different chassis in them to make room for next year's sets; this often results in cabinets housing non-SC chassis and, as a result, having empty holes or covered knockouts on the back covers for manual channel selectors, remote on/off switches, etc. (My RCA XL100 CTC185 table color set, which has mono sound, has an empty speaker grille on one side; I think the same basic cabinet may have been used for RCA TVs with stereo sound as well, such as their F19281.)

If they are not covered already I would cover those holes, however, if there is no remote chassis, manual selector knob, etc. if I had a set like Doug's. The reason is that these open holes could be an invitation to trouble, such as insects flying into them, foreign objects being dropped or pushed through them and winding up on the chassis (creating shorts and/or shock or fire hazards if such object is metal), and other problems.

Doug if you get a chance would you pls get a close up pic of the convergence board of that zenith console. I am looking to see how the wiring is done right at the junction of a 82 ohm resistor, to a 220 ohm resistor, a Green and white wire, and a .082uf cap. It should be on a term strip just under the adj coil with the connector (its center tapped).

The reason I ask is I "think" I may have goofed up mine and just curious how it should look.

I'm not a big fan of estate sales (too many people fighting over pots and pans), but couldn't pass this one up. Not after seeing what was in the pictures. Plus it was only a 20 minute drive. Even better there were only about 25 people total and they were all older and not remotely interested in vintage electronics.

I forgot my camera, but here are the pics they posted and here's the listing page: http://www.estatesales.net/estate-sales/113265.aspx

There is a nice Philco 50T-1402 in mahogany for $30 I passed on because I already have one in blonde. All the knobs are present and the cabinet is in good condition. Someone should really go get it :yes:

There is also a mid 50s Admiral console and a couple portables. Plus the big set behind the tiger picture I think is calling Doug :D
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/4668857869_af6509c921_b.jpg


Also a bunch of radios. I think everything was under $50.

So what did I get ? The Stromberg-Carlson TC-10 "Manhattan" :banana:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4669484674_aa526082d9.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4668859609_bcd489695a.jpg

The sale will be going tomorrow too so I hope the rest of the sets can be saved.

Nice Saves Bob!

I'll need to stop out out pick up the Zenith console you pointed out. I want to save it so it doesn't get junked. Might be power tune only. I can save it on my lunch break, I'm not too far away.

Doug, I really like that mini-console and that record player. The micro touch 2G system was probably one of the best ceramic cartridge based systems out there.

Wow! Looks like they are trying to sell everything in the house so they can sell the place in a hurry or soon. I bet a lot of stuff will either be given away or (gasp!) trashed if it doesn't sell; after seeing the pictures, I think there is much too much in that house to sell in just a few days. Seems like the home's former or present owner was or is a hoarder; that or else they grew up or lived as adults in a time (notably the Great Depression era of the 1930s) when people simply did not throw anything away.

I've noticed (I can't help but notice) that most if not all of the estate sales mentioned here are in states other than Ohio, and those which are here are nowhere near where I live, in the northeastern corner of the state near Cleveland; if it weren't for that, I'd at least look at some of the sales. One problem I have is that I don't drive, and so cannot leave this area (let alone the county or the state) easily. Another is that there just aren't that many estate sales around here, at least I haven't noticed any lately -- and I've lived here over ten years. I can't believe that in a small town like this (population 3215 and dropping, according to my barber, who lives not far from me) there aren't more sales, as there are quite a few older people here, many of whom grew up and raised families in this area and are likely (almost certainly) up in years now; some of them have undoubtedly passed on, leaving homes that need to be emptied so they can be sold. I see yard sales and garage sales every now and then, but I have yet to see an estate sale here, unless they are advertised in the local newspaper and I miss the ads (I often do not even look at the classified ads, so I probably don't see 99 percent of the sale advertisements).

Oh well. It's probably just as well that there aren't many estate sales here, as I wouldn't have the room to collect old radios or TVs, particularly the latter (my apartment is very small). People such as Doug (drh4683) in Chicago are lucky to have enough room in their houses to accomodate their collections (and I bet, now that Doug is in his own place, he has plenty of room to store at least part of his vast collection of vintage Zenith TVs); I would say I wish I were in his situation, but, skipping the details, I moved to an apartment over ten years ago from a three-bedroom house out of necessity (it's a very long story and OT), and I'm glad to be rid of the responsibilities that are attendant to owning a home, which I would have had had I decided to stay there. I don't have the space here that I had in the house I left, but that's one of the tradeoffs one makes when one moves from a house to an apartment. Doug won't have to worry about that for some time, depending on how long he stays where he is, but if he should move to an apartment or a condominium some time in the future (when he is my age or older--I'm 53), he will have the dickens of a time, I'll bet, getting rid of all those sets, unless he has some or most of them in storage.

BTW, I looked high and low in the picture gallery for the estate sale in Chicago being discussed here, but I did not see the Zenith console TV which was mentioned. I did see the picture of the Admiral round-screen set bandersen (Bob) picked up, however, and I do hope he won't have too much trouble restoring it to past glory. I saw the dial drive arrangement for the tuner (looks like a slug-tuned affair resembling DuMont's Inputuner) and it looks like a nightmare to service if the dial cords break or otherwise need to be replaced. :eek:

Banderson, looks like you stumbled on quite a sale. It's not everyday that sales like this turn up. Nice Stromberg-Carlson! I hope you can get it going!

Banderson, looks like you stumbled on quite a sale. It's not everyday that sales like this turn up. Nice Stromberg-Carlson! I hope you can get it going!

Thanks. Stumbled on is right! I'm not even sure what I search on CL to find it. It seemed that all the other buyers were neighbors and they filled me in on the situation. The elderly owner just passed away (his wife had a few years earlier). He did have a son but they didn't get along well so they think the grandson inherited it. I met him while he was mowing the lawn. He's young and has no interest in any of this stuff so is motivated to get rid of it. There was some crazy stuff out in the garage like giant heating oil tanks, ancient washing machine with squeeze rollers and loads of tools.

Of course they all though I was nuts for buying an old TV while passing up on the china, flatware, appliances etc ;)

I don't care if people think I'm nuts. Sometimes, I get off on it. Most of the people who think I'm crazy are the type who don't have a hobby and think they have to replace everything they own every two years in favor of the latest gadget.

I would have got that little grey or light blue portable for sure. Heck, probably the orange portable and the radios too. And the Admiral....and why am I out of room??? :)

Is that a record player in that closet?

I would have got that little grey or light blue portable for sure. Heck, probably the orange portable and the radios too. And the Admiral....and why am I out of room??? :)

Is that a record player in that closet?

I think it is. I almost went for the orange portable, but I'm already drowning in sets. I'll probably be clearing some out soon. I really hope someone saves that Philco. It's well worth it just for the 12LP4 picture tube let alone the nice cabinet it's in.

I was able to get to that sale over at 5532 Natzchez Ave on my lunch break yesterday to grab that '67 Zenith. The house was indeed congested. I didn't get to meet any of the relatives, but the people running the sale were nice. In fact, I got rather unusual treatment, not only did someone help me move the sets, but for the first time, more than one person at the sale actually thought it was cool that I collect and repair old TV's. I didn't get the strange looks or "what are you going to do with it" comments.
I did pick up that Blue metal cabinet Zenith portable. Its a '63 model in pretty nice shape. Still sitting in the corner of the bedroom like where it was originally pictured.
Then to the basement to check out the '67 Zenith. It isn't a bad set, it just needs a good cleaning. Its a power tune only which is OK. It has a 20X1C36 chassis.
However, there was a surprise of a find as Bob did not mention it. It could have easily been missed though considering the basement was packed. I had intentions on going to this sale either way when I was checking out the sale list earlier this week as whenever I see an old B+W set, I normally have hopes that older color set exists.
In the back corner of the basement there was another wood paneled room... I saw what appeared to be the top corner of some kind of console TV, all kinds of stuff on top of the cabinet, and stuff in front of it so it was completly blocked. I moved the chair and box out of the way to see what it was and I was shocked to see it was a Zenith roundie! And its not a 25MC33 as I would have expected. Its the 24MC32! I have no idea if either sets work but both are totally complete and have their original CRT's. Its nice to go to an estate sale and be surprised by seeing something unexected! Estatesales.net is great, but it takes the fun out of things to a certain extent.

All the sets were $10.00 each. Nobody running the sale was capable of helping me out as usual, but there was a guy in the basement who looked like he was capable of helping me out without giving me the usual "Can't help you, I have a bad back" routine. He was looking through the tools, he could hardly speak english with a heavy Polish accent, so I tried to communicate with him if he could help me move the TV's and I would buy his tools for my appriciation. He was all for it. His tools only cost $5.00 and he was more than happy with the trade off. So it was a good experince all around.

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Wow, all those look great, nice finds.

Good finds Doug! Glad you spotted the buried round screen zenith, it may have gotten tossed! I'm surprised the other fellow missed it.

Good finds Doug! Glad you spotted the buried round screen zenith, it may have gotten tossed! I'm surprised the other fellow missed it.

Wow - they did a nice job of hiding it! Plus I was totally focused on the Strom :D Glad you got it.

There's another sale this weekend with a cool white Zenith: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/atq/1776038825.html

Nice finds, Doug!

Wow! Those are nice finds for all of you!!

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I'll throw on my puke-green leisure suit, jump in the Gremlin, & be right over...

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nice basement.really clean and well maintained.i sold basement waterproofing for years and have seen many.that one is primo!

My kind of house!! Congrats Andy!

Congratulations!

It looks like the lot slopes down toward the rear - that's probably one reason they did it. I'd imagine whoever had the house built specified it that way.

They built some houses in N.O. with shallow basements in the 20's-40's - not a good idea with all the street flooding we regularly experience.

It's not a TV (I never find TVs at estate sales), but I did see something I liked at an estate sale that I finally bought....the entire house. I went to this house about a year ago for an estate sale. I didn't end up buying much from the sale, other than an large image orthicon tube, but I loved the unique house.

The house needs a LOT of work, but it has one killer feature that's almost unheard of in this part of the country, a basement. It has a huge partially finished basement that will be ideal for both TV collecting, and my home business. The basement was redone about 10 years ago, and is pretty much ready to use, but upstairs is still 1973 (and I'm not talking mid century modern). It's got everything we try to forget form the 70s (popcorn ceilings, orange counters, brown vinyl tile floors, yellow shag carpet, fake wood paneling, and brown appliances), but I think it could be great with enough work.

The house I grew up in was built in the 1950s, and until the '70s it looked the part. When I moved in 1999 after my dad passed away, and his third wife sold the place, the house still had the original carpeting in the living room and in a hallway that ran to the back -- salt and pepper, not much to look at, and wearing out (there was a very long area rug over the part of the carpet that had worn through to the padding underneath). I can only hope the folks who bought the house and now own it have updated everything, including the carpeting and even the kitchen cabinets, which also date the house because they are the same ones in the place when my folks bought it in 1955 or so.

I haven't been back in my old neighborhood literally in years, but the last time I walked down the street I grew up on, I almost missed the house -- how do you like that! I lived in that house 40 years out of my life (I'm 53, almost 54), and didn't even recognize it; I would have missed it entirely if I hadn't seen the address on the new mailbox outside the front door--that's how much the new owners have changed things with remodeling and all. And that's just the outside of the house. I have no idea what the inside of the place looks like today, but if I were a betting man (I'm not) I would bet that I wouldn't recognize anything in there anymore.

Oh well. It's the 21st century, and that house, let's face it, needed every bit of work it had done on it and in it -- and I'm not just talking about remodeling. I don't have pictures, but trust me, the house was a mess by the time I left there for the last time. Not only did the place need a facelift inside and out to bring it into this century, it needed a lot of work to repair cracks in the concrete garage apron, a crack in a basement wall near the clothes dryer (which, if not repaired, would have caused that entire wall to cave in), and other things too numerous to mention. My dad's third wife offered to sign the house over to me, but since I live on a fixed income (disability) and couldn't hope to keep the place livable, I turned her offer down, left town shortly thereafter, and moved to the apartment where I live today. That turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made in my life to date, as I have no worries about utility bills in my apartment (except for the telephone and cable); the utilities are included in my rent.

I wouldn't want to own a home even if I could afford to -- too much work and responsibility, and at nearly 54 years of age, I don't think I'd be up to it anymore; remember the warnings regarding shoveling snow after one turns 40? I certainly remember those, but I was still shoveling when I was that age, and until I left the house in '99. Now doctors are warning people in their fifties against shoveling snow or any kind of physical exertion. What on earth is next, I'm afraid? :scratch2:


However, Andy, I'm happy for you. I hope you have many good years in your new place. I saw the pictures of your living room, kitchen, basement, and I agree with you -- the house definitely needs a facelift to bring it into the 21st century. I haven't seen shag carpeting in a house since the '70s, so the pic of your living room brought back memories (I grew up in that decade).

"Fake" wood paneling isn't out of date yet--I don't think. I have dark oak cabinets and cupboards in my apartment, and all of my furniture matches it almost perfectly. My walls are off white, without much hanging on them except a weather station (thermometer, barometer, hygrometer) hanging on the wall near my desk, a wall calendar, and a picture of a white kitten above my dining room table. My landlord has given me the green light to put up more pictures, but I haven't gotten around to that yet -- oh well, one of these days.

Or people around here think of basements as a tornado shelter or a fruit cellar!

Andy, that basement alone has wonderful potential as well as the house..

I sure miss my childhood one when I lived in the Detroit area..

Congrats Andy! That house looks great! Looks like both you and Doug have lots of collecting room now!

Congrats Andy! Awesome house! Nothing beats wood paneled rooms. Thats a cool kitchen too. I'm a big fan of rooms with wood paneling. Luckily, my back room or "den" is wood paneled with the original stuff from '64 when my house was built.

We should start a new thread about the houses. I need to post some pics of mine one of these days. Look forward to hearing on your progress with it.

Don't be afraid to slap a coat of paint on paneling...it can look surprisingly good. Did that to a couple paneled walls in my house...turned out fine. The paneling has actual "grooves" rather than printed "grooves" so there's a bit of texture as well. Enjoy your new abode!

BTW...paint adheres best to paneling if it's been well-cleaned. Either detergent or TSP.

you are correst!paneling looks great painted.my sister is decorater and she mades lots of money painting wood paneling.inexpensive and very nice finished results.she actually has a technique where she can lighten the wood and its unbelievable.she retired at 40 on her earnings.

you are correst!paneling looks great painted.my sister is decorater and she mades lots of money painting wood paneling.inexpensive and very nice finished results.she actually has a technique where she can lighten the wood and its unbelievable.she retired at 40 on her earnings.

Oh man, painting wood paneling is a major pet peeve of mine! You mentioned she could lighten the wood? In this case, if she could maintain the original wood grain look, then its not so bad, but to actually paint paneling a solid color is something that always drove me nuts. My preference in homes is anything from the late 50's-late 60's, mainly a brick ranch with a full basement. I like the "wide low profile" look in ranches from that era. We all have our own tastes and I respect that, but I personally like wood paneling in its original condition. I guess my most major pet peeve is when someone goes into a decent original 60's home and literally paints everything white, including all the woodwork, replaces all the original (quality made) light fixtures and to finalize the death of the home, they install white particle board kitchen cabinets from Home Depot. Its like walking into a hospital when its all said and done.

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I went to one sale yesterday in Northbrook and found a set that I've wanted to add to my collection for a while. Its a 13" Zenith CCII with space command. This one was manufactured in March, 1978 at the Springfield, MO plant. Model SK3510W with a 13KC10 chassis. This little TV is a tank, it'll pull your arm off! This particular set uses the space command 100 remote control! The remote seemed to have been long gone which is dissapointing, but the good news is, its the TV that survived and not the remote for a change. It'll make a good back patio TV at the new house here as shown. Using the built in rabbit ears on UHF still pulls in a some of the low powered analog stations that are still going over here.

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That's a nice one Doug! I was hoping someone would grab it. Did you see the predicta at one of the other sales? I almost went for that one just to re-sell it. I'm not a predicta fan:no:

That's a nice set Doug...I have this same set but it's a system 3 version. Mine uses the battery powered 6-function ultrasonic remote control. There is a note about setting a channel to turn the set off but I couldn't understand that as my remote has a dedicated power button. Was the chromacolor II version of this set sold with just the single function mechanical control to rotate the channel selector?

Nice little TV! Strangly enough, over the past 20 years, I've owned every screen size in the Zenith CCII line except a 13" CCII. I have had a few 13" system 3's from the late '70's-early '80's. I assume these 13" sets have the fold down power transformer driven chassis with essentially the same circuitry as the larger models.

That's a great looking set, Doug; very good picture, also, on the station you had it tuned to when you snapped the picture. :thmbsp: It will make a very nice addition to your new home.

If you're looking for a replacement for the remote, I'd look on eBay -- the one-button SC-100 remotes show up there every now and then. Do a search for "Zenith SC-100" and I'll bet a few will turn up. These sets are not rare, so you are bound to find a remote for yours if you keep your eyes open. I'll look there myself, just out of sheer curiosity (I don't have an SC100), after I post this.

Good luck. Your SC-100 should serve you well for many years to come. Zenith was still an American TV manufacturer when these sets were new, so you won't have to worry about quality or being able to find parts for it.

NICE! God.. I remember unpacking those when they were new. They ARE heavy.
Beautiful pix. That one uses the 13" tri-focus tube doesn't it?

This weekends estate sale finds came from 1911 S. Prospect Ave in Park Ridge. The sale was quite busy as can be seen from the people standing around in the front yard waiting for their number to be called. I found a 1959 RCA Victor sportabout portable TV and its a remote control set! I think it used the two button clicker, but it was no where to be found. The guy at the sale said he personally went through every room and does not recal ever seeing any type of remote. So I'm looking for a remote for one of these now. Not sure if it works, but its nice and clean, found it in the bedroom on the stand.

I also went to an estate sale in St. Charles, while there were no TV's, I did find a vintage retractable light fixture that I want for in my kitchen. I always liked those and this one is pretty nice as it has a green and blue glass on the top that gives off a cool glow when its on. Now that I have my new (vintage) house, I want to tune it up to get it 100% period correct as its mostly all original with a few "new" things here and there. So estate sales for me mean more than just TV's now. Im looking for good furniture too.

The light fixture shown here is from around 1964-65 and was made by the same manufacturer who made the other original celing lights in my own house, so its a perfect match really. Interestingly enough, this light fixture was for sale but the house was not a demo sale. So I assume whoever bought the house gave permission to sell the light fixtures as they are probably going to gut the house and turn it into a useless pile of crap and paint everything white. I already paid for the light, I was given the new home owners contact info so I can make arrangements with them as to when I can come take it down which will be next week sometime I'd imagine. I've never seen a retractable light like this used in this type of application other than over a kitchen table....Well, I know that once I get it, it will be used over a kitchen table like they're supposed to!


The last sale was today. It was at 5613 S. Natoma Ave in Chicago. Two clean zenith sets turned up in the attic of all places. It was a "finished" attic though with the wood paneling and 9x9 tiles. A 1965 Zenith roundie and a 1964 space command 400 console were just sitting up there at five bucks each. Both are clean as a pin. They were destined to that big dumpster outside if I wasnt there to save them. Do they work? Unknown at this stage. I just brought them in the basement. In fact, that roundie is the first old TV that came into the basement of the new house as shown in the last photo...

Last but not least were two appliances from the same home on Natoma Ave. I've been keeping my eyes open for clean vintage appliances too. Here I found a matched set, washer and dryer for in my laundry room. I have an upstairs laundry in this house even though it has a full basement. That being said, it made it more important to have period correct appliances as they seen by anyone who comes in the house too. Even though my house was built in '64, I still would go for appliances from 1970 such as these. These are Frigidaire's 1-18 washer and dryer in AVOCADO GREEN! The good Frigidaire, when GM owned them! I wanted avocado appliances so when I found these and saw how clean they were, it was a must have. I need to fix the timer switch for the washer, otherwise everything works. Just a good wipe down with warm soapy water is all these really need when its all said and done.

I had alot of fun this weekends at the estates, lots of great stuff turned up. Now I just need to find some avocado kitchen appliances that are nice and clean and I'll be all set.


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Paneled rec room with a roundie and a potted ficus, plus avocado appliances = mid sixties - seventies for sure.

If you want some mid-sixties decor ideas, try the Formica House at the New York World's Fair:
http://www.nywf64.com/formica01.shtml

That last photo looks straight out of the sales brochure! A very nice trio of sets this weekend-amazing that you are still finding them so often. What I like is the quality-stuff still turns up from time to time around home but much of it has been abused.