I was shopping at Construction Junction in Pittsburgh and came across this RCA cabinet. I don't know what it is for but I assumed it was a black and white console.

Anyone in the area, the website for the company is http://www.constructionjunction.org (no affiliation) and they are asking $75 which I thought was a little steep but someone who wanted this for other reasons would definitely pay that. I wouldn't expect it to last long.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5317405070_16d3a64c3f_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5317405142_4b59b7f134_b.jpg

I think that the 21AP4 was a round CRT, which dates the cabinet at least to the early fifties and older. Not that it makes a difference now unless somebody is holding a chassis and tube that has no cabinet. With that being said, I think the price is way too high. I wish that it was all there because the tube lineup is that of a high quality set. There are twin low voltage rectifier AND damper tubes; the twin damper setup is a new one on me. I have seen Dumonts with twin high voltage rectifiers, and I think I have a Sparton with that kind of circuitry. Only the high end stuff had doubled components.

The 21AP4 is listed in my GE tube manual as rectangular, but it is a 70 degree deflection tube with a metal funnel... I'm guessing '53-'54 for the set.
jr

The 21AP4 is listed in my GE tube manual as rectangular, jr

Interesting, I based the assumption on the 21AP4 being a metal cone, round tube on the fact that the 19AP4 was round. Supposedly, a lot of people get let down buying old Dumonts and portholes with 19AP4s gone to air.

Searching through the old GE tube manual it would appear that several monochrome CRT sizes that became popular in the mid 50s were never offered in round versions; 17", 21" and 27".
jr

27" ended up being the true survivor I think. Seems like that was the size to have in the 70s and 80s. If I remember right, most non-portable sets were 19", 25", and 27".

21" was the standard for the better part of a decade, morphing into 23" when the corners got pushed out with the introduction of more sharply rectangular tubes in the early 60s. I think color 27" tubes were similarly the result of making a tube comparable to the 25" that had fully 90 degree corners.