I am cleaning out a house and have found a very old black and white Zenith Television - I would venture to guess 1950's. It has a gold colored metal case all the way around and two knobs on the bottom..one on the left, one on the right. There is a speaker at the top of the TV towards the back. There are also rabbit ears to go with it. I do not know much more than this. I am assuming it works but do not know. I have included photos. Could someone tell me how to figure out the value? Thank you so much.

The value would be around $50 in my book if the picture tube is not a dud.

That's a cool TV, but too new to be super interesting to serious TV collectors.

With every tube TV that old, you will need to replace a number of parts (mainly, capacitors) before it's safe and reliable to play. That is not a job for a beginner, since high voltage is involved and TVs are complex.

Meanwhile, I would not turn it on, which might damage expensive parts.

Hiring someone to restore the electronics would cost more than it's worth, but if you want to investigate that, this page has some advice on finding a repairman:

http://antiqueradio.org/howfix.htm

If you want to sell it, this forum has a Classified section where you could place a FS (for sale) ad.

If you plan to sell it on craigslist or eBay, you should warn shoppers that every old tube TV needs electronic work before you can expect to use it.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

I would agree with Phil on $50, it could bring a bit more if it cleans up well and has a good tube.

It almost certainly does not work, at least not correctly or for long if it's run in it's present state, collectors don't care about that, it's expected they need to be restored, we do care if the transformer has been burned up by plugging it in with old shorted capacitors. :yes:

All 60 year old TV's (and I think that one is a 1953 model) need to have their capacitors replaced, controls cleaned, tubes tested and so on.

I believe the speaker is what they called the "Bandshell" because it pops up and resembles a Bandshell.

I am very appreciative of your information. So I am guessing there is no way to know if it works unless it is turned on, which I should not do. Correct? We are cleaning out the house of an old friend who has Alzheimers. Unfortunately, I am unable to ask him about it. There is also an old Admiral Record Player/Radio with Speakers attached on each end. It does not stand alone, it is made to be on a table top. The record player flips out for playing. Any comments on that? I do have a photo I could show. Not sure where to ask this question in the forums. Thanks guys.

you should NOT turn it on, you should NOT plug it in. You risk fire and or damage that would make it more expensive to fix. there is only a very small chance that it would work, not worth the risk of trying it out. Best bet would be to let us know where its located, perhaps a local collector is near by, he could better assess it (namely test the pic tube to see if any good). Agree with the others 50$ tops even if the pic tube is good as there is no way of knowing if the other hard to find parts are good so its a gamble anyway.

You could of course simply list on ebay, its done all the time, but I would not recommend shipping it unless you really know how to pack as it would prob be destroyed in shipment (again happens all the time) which benefits no one.

The Admiral may be of interest only because they were not very common, like RCA and GE.

That's a cool TV, but too new to be super interesting to serious TV collectors.

1953 is too new?

To some of the hardcore collectors anything that doesn't have a round tube is 'too new'!

This Television is located in Minneapolis. If anyone in that area is interested, I can be contacted at Cinderbug1@msn.com, which is my email address that I use for spam but I do look at it, regularly. Thanks to all for the information. I will not plug in, nor turn on the television.