Harry Poster has a Temple-1776 for sale on his web site. At one time there were less then 10 surviving. Now its up to around 12.

http://harryposter.com/vintagetelevision.htm

Available as: COLOR Conversion or Empty Prop :worried:

Maybe it's missng the chassis, I can't believe he'd convert one of these otherwise.

Harry?

Doh! You just beat me to that observation.

I wrote Harry, it is indeed an empty cabinet and magnifier, incorrectly refinished as well.

It's $275 as is, a fraction of what it'd be worth complete so if you have a chassis that needs a home...

About 10 years ago (before I knew how rare these are) I came across one of these at a local flea market. The seller had it sitting on the cab of his flatbed truck that reminded me of the truck in Sanford & Son. I asked the guy how much he wanted for the TV. The reply was eight-seventy-five. I thought surely he didn't mean $8.75 nor did he mean $875. He clarified that he did indeed want $875 for it. I just walked away.

Is one "real" ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-1948-TEMPLE-TV-Built-In-Water-Magnifying-Lens-/320525291171?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa0cbcea3

I am not affiliated with this auction,

jr

The TV's for real, but I'm not so sure about the seller.

Says the magnifier is filled with water...did he do that?

30-40KV power supply. Yeah, right. Good thing he's off by nearly a factor of twenty considering this set has mains-derived EHT! :yikes:

The magnifier is supposed to be oil filled but it looks like it's been drained, probably because it got moldy.
It can be refilled easily enough and looks to be in good condition.

Ooh-la-la. Looks like it once had a back, and the cabinet construction is a little rustic, but you have to look hard to find anything to complain about.

Phil "not bidding" Nelson

For some reason I dislike magnified sets. I'd rather look at a tiny screen.

I could make an exception for this one though... But, I don't think I'll be bidding.

John

Sold for $1,451.76!

The guy says you "can easily fill it with distilled water". Perhaps he's trying to appeal to both the television enthusiasts as well as the "fish bowl in the tele" crowd?

Hmmm. I might actually like to have a working television/fish bowl combo...