This 1955 ad claimed that Motorola black and white sets were improved by incorporating technology used in their color set.

that seems pretty mean for Motorola to tease people who can't afford color and tell them that their new B & W set has technology used in color television. Why not just buy the rest of the technology and have the real thing.

I think this was partially an attempt to avoid having people who wanted color, but couldn't afford it, buy nothing. There were other more direct attempts to tell people that "now is a good time to buy a black and white TV." Earlier, there was similar concern about television spoiling radio sales every time RCA touted their TV development efforts.

Horizontal Stability? Sounds like they added an horizontal AFC circuit, which yes, a color set would have to have in the chroma circuits. But hey, it works with Horizontal circuits too! I know! Let's have a marketing guy figure this out for us!

Cheers,

Sounds like a pretty sensible marketing ploy. A huge improvement comes along in technology, and even though that technology isn't instantly available to everyone, simply the fact that it's been accomplished is good news towards improving what we've already got. Considering the prices of early color televisions, I don't think they were worried about people becoming disinterested in their black and white sets, but rather just wanted people to feel better knowing that their back and white sets would still be even better and still worth the money!

I can imagine that the folks who initially bought those first few color televisions had some serious disposable income! There were many people who didn't buy their first color television until many, many years after this point in time; perhaps even a decade! But it reminds me of when Ford came out with the Lincoln Continental Mark II in '56. The car itself was priced and marketed on par with a Rolls Royce, and while your average guy wasn't riding around in a Lincoln Continental ( Elvis maybe ), the car was marketed not just for it's own benefit. It was hoped that the mere existence of such a fine car in the Ford Company's lineup would hopefully say something about the company as a whole. But, this is more of a symbolic association than anything else. A standard Ford sedan with a wheezy 6-cylinder and 3-speed on the column couldn't have less in common with a Lincoln Continental!

But, I'm sure that the development of color television really did improve these black and white sets, and I personally think I would have been just fine without color television for quite awhile longer.

Sounds like a pretty sensible marketing ploy. A huge improvement comes along in technology, and even though that technology isn't instantly available to everyone, simply the fact that it's been accomplished is good news towards improving what we've already got. Considering the prices of early color televisions, I don't think they were worried about people becoming disinterested in their black and white sets, but rather just wanted people to feel better knowing that their back and white sets would still be even better and still worth the money!

I can imagine that the folks who initially bought those first few color televisions had some serious disposable income! There were many people who didn't buy their first color television until many, many years after this point in time; perhaps even a decade! But it reminds me of when Ford came out with the Lincoln Continental Mark II in '56. The car itself was priced and marketed on par with a Rolls Royce, and while your average guy wasn't riding around in a Lincoln Continental ( Elvis maybe ), the car was marketed not just for it's own benefit. It was hoped that the mere existence of such a fine car in the Ford Company's lineup would hopefully say something about the company as a whole. But, this is more of a symbolic association than anything else. A standard Ford sedan with a wheezy 6-cylinder and 3-speed on the column couldn't have less in common with a Lincoln Continental!

But, I'm sure that the development of color television really did improve these black and white sets, and I personally think I would have been just fine without color television for quite awhile longer.

If I may chime in, IIRC, I remember Ford comparing the 1976 Ford Granada to a Mercedes Benz.

I remember Ford comparing the 1976 Ford Granada to a Mercedes Benz.

My father saw that commercial, and he said that he'd prefer the Mercedes, thank you...

As for color TV advances finding use in B&W sets, I'd expect that it did happen. A cost reduction say on the tuner or IF strip would certainly also apply to a B&W set. Or other common circuits.

My father saw that commercial, and he said that he'd prefer the Mercedes, thank you...

As for color TV advances finding use in B&W sets, I'd expect that it did happen. A cost reduction say on the tuner or IF strip would certainly also apply to a B&W set. Or other common circuits.

Yeah, Mom was considering a 1977 Granada but it was too overpriced so we bought a 1977 Mercury Cougar at that time. I still have the Cougar, would like to get it back on the road.

For insight see:
Cover story in SERVICE magazine 7/'56 by Motorola design engineer Marlin Kroger
Cover story in SERVICE magazine 11/'56 by Admiral design engineer John Schumacher

Both German, both working in Chicago in the fifties

Late 19th century German immigration that fueled the 20th century American economic tsunami.