:tears
My dad was in the radio/tv business (50's-70's) and saved a number of old radios and one tv in his attic. My dad passed away and I have been trying to catalog these items so that I can eventually find homes for them. I've been able to find at least some online reference to everything except the Motorola tv. My sister thinks she remembers Dad telling her it was the "First _(something)_" There was some reason he was hanging on to it. I am hoping someone on this forum can point me in the right direction as far as identifying the tv. I am a complete idiot, electronically speaking, so please excuse my ignorance:scratch2:
The numbers I have been able to find on the tv are: TS-95 in black ink stamped on back of chassis, 16GP4 on picture tube, on the back in orange ink 9M50, inside the bottom (speaker section) of the cabinet, in my dad's writing 16K2B and 17K4A.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Have photos of front and back if that would help.
Thank you

I believe 16K2B and 17K4A were chassis numbers. Probably a set from around 1950. Other here are way more familiar with stuff like that and can fill in further.

Photographs would be helpful, if possible. Welcome !

Welcome to VK.

The TS-95 chassis was used in the 16K2 model from 1951.

It's pictured in this sales brochure. Does that match your set ? http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950-Motorola-Brochure.JPG

The 16GP4 is a round face metal CRT... 16" was a very large picture for those days...I suspect that the set may have been the first "big screen" set from Motorola.
jr

Probably the last round one too. The 16T1 in that same brochure used a rectangular CRT.

Barbara-

That is a Motorola 17K4A TV from 1951 apparently, as others have said. I have one of the same TVs, with the TS-95 chassis and the 16GP4 picture tube. Mine is a floor-standing TV with a medium-brown cabinet (walnut?) that curves from the front around the sides and has two main sets of knobs below the screen.

You may already know this-DO NOT plug in the TV (or any other items that old) without some service being done to it, primarily the replacement of a number of parts (capacitors) that could cause major damage if it is turned on.

I am happy to hear that you are helping to preserve your father's history by saving those old items. Send another message to let us know what else you find out.

Thank you ALL for answering my post. What a helpful forum! I believe you are right on the money. My set closely resembles the 16" console model on the brochure. Mine has what they called a "blond" finish in the late 40's & early 50's. I guess Dad had written the right model # after all. I am going to try to attach a couple of photos and hope it works.
I am so thankful for the assistance. I had spent hours entering numbers on search engines with no results!
I will be back to this forum, for sure. You see, these old radios and tv's are only the "tip of the iceberg". I have mountains of tubes and all sorts of other parts. I hope to get many of the items catalogued this winter, then will be seeking suggestions as to how to liquidate them. When my dad retired, he just put an ad in the paper and closed his door on a certain day and that was it:) I knew I would probably have a big job some day, but I couldn't seem to bring it up with Dad, and he didn't seem to want to talk about it either. I guess I just couldn't think about him not being here any more. I thought he would probably outlive me! He died suddenly at 93 1/2 years old in March 2009. My dad was also a ham radio operator which adds yet more electronics. Also a special thanks for letting me know not to plug these old things in. I'll remember that! Thank you and God Bless each and every one of you...

Purty set ! Me likey !

Very nice :thmbsp:
Blond sets don't show up nearly as often as mahogany or walnut.

Liquidating something like that can be quite a task. I helped some folks close a shop over the last couple years and it was certainly a lot of work. But, we were able to keep a lot of good stuff out of the landfill. Some things will surprise you for how much they are worth...and many other things will surprise you for how utterly worthless they are! Be glad to offer any advice along the way.

It would also help us to know, roughly, where you are. Not an address but maybe a city name. If you are in a rural location, you will have trouble getting a fair price for your dad's stuff. I can't count the number of really nice, $300 items that got one bid and 15 dollars on eBay because nobody would drive to Timbuktu to pick it up.

For liquidating, consider eBay. Shipping for something like your Motorola TV unfortunately costs more than the TV is worth, so again, if you're rural, it's hard to sell. The people with passion for these old artifacts are few and far between, and carting one halfway across the country is never practical. Your customer will have to live close by. If you're in a bustling metro (Chicago, New York/Jersey, L.A.) you'll do ok with local ads or checking with your local antique shops.

If you live anywhere near Columbus, Ohio, I would also suggest Contacting Steve McVoy at the Early Television Foundation (http://www.earlytelevision.org/). He holds a convention and an auction every spring (late April) and most of us collectors meet up there. If your desire is to see it all well taken care of, he could help you see to it that your dad's items wind up in safe hands.

Like one of the other guys said, a lot of the stuff that seems valuable won't be, but you might have a rare treasure that seems worthless but is priceless. It's hard to say until you catalog it all, but the experts here will know and let you know if you do.

I have volumes 3 through 25 of Rider's Television manuals. Your set may be in there.

kbmuri, thanks for your thoughtful insights. Yes, I have spent enough time on ebay to know that what you say is true. I live about as far from large metro areas as one can get..in west central North Dakota!! (the plus side of that is that old things age well here in the low humidity:) I do have a sister to help me make the final decisions, but she does not have the time to work on doing the research and inventory. As far as the old radios and the tv, we were thinking of starting with inquiries to museums, since Dad would have liked people to be able to see these old things. However, nothing is decided. I guess we are more concerned with what happens to them. However I realize with shipping charges the way they are, it is doubtful that even if the item was donated, nobody would want to pay for the shipping. But the first thing I need to do is put together a list of what I have. I knew when I was bringing these things home that if I were smart I would have taken them to the landfill. But like someone said in a previous post, it is important to cherish these reminants of our history. I feel so much better having met you guys, because at least I have someone to talk to about it. Since I don't have any expertise in this area, I find it a daunting task. Can you believe....I have SIX 2-draw file cabinets packed with Sam's Photofact Sets...123 through 1175, about a dozen boxes of service manuals and training materials and all sorts of things that I can't even identify. I will take all your advice very seriously. I don't know if there is any way to get in touch privately through this forum...without posting my email address. I would be happy to send PDF files as I get inventories completed, to anyone interested in looking at what I have. bob91341, I am unfamilial with those manuals. I think the guys on this site have helped me identify the set, but if I should be collecting more info please tell me. My dad always said, "oh, you can do it!" and I guess he felt sure that I would do the right thing with his treasures:) BTW, my dad's primary occupation was farming. He worked very hard. Thanks everyone.

Barbara, I believe you can contact any member directly by email by clicking on their name at the top of the message. That should set you up to send a private message. Once you do that, you can freely exchange email addresses privately.

Those Sams alone have great value, if only to put them on ebay one at a time. Or help out some poor guy with old gear to get it going.

Thanks for the tip on email. I'll remember that. Thanks also for the comment on the Sam's. It makes me feel slightly vindicated. I was the only one who wanted to save them. (very heavy to move). I so appreciate all the comments. They are valuable to me. I hope to get some serious inventorying done after Jan 1st. Should have a pdf done in a week or so, but will see what the size is. Our IP has limits on email size.:thumbsdn:

A lot of the newer Sams can be real hard to find a home for. The older sets have radios, phonographs, car radios, amplifiers-things that make them more desirable. By the 60s they were seperating a lot of that out into seperate series. What would be best is if you could find a collector who was fairly local who would be willing to take all the Photofacts as a lot.

There is a gentleman who I have sold a lot of odds and ends to, especially test equipment...I think he is in Fargo, which I realize might not be that close. (too lazy to look at a map!) I could put you in touch with him-he has been very good to deal with.

Fargo is as close as anything to west-central No. Dakota. I lived in Fargo for two years. Endless prairie out there - hope to go back for a visit one day.

Yes, Fargo is about 4 1/2 hours, not too bad. And maybe the fellow in Fargo will know someone else who might be interested. I have a lot of other manuals, and I know there are a bunch of Motorola car radio manuals. Dad sold Zenith and Motorola. Lately I hear that the young people in bands are going back to the old tube amps! So they are constantly on the lookout for tubes. If you have not been to ND for a long time, you should visit again. You will notice lots of change...hotbed of energy development.

Note to Dave: private reply wouldn't work. Thanks so much for your kind words and suggestions. I will take them to heart. God Bless.