I got call last night made my heart skip a beat
Gent told me ,he had a 1947'Automatic Radio Corp.
Television set that he would love for me to look at
We talk about an hour and I'll go and check this old girl
Out!,he has the entire history of this TV set
He told me the original owner was great friend of his family,and was their insurance
Agent for a LibertyLife ,that he purchase the set brand new after the war
When returning from serving overseas
He told me the original owner was a great guy but a bit show off
No one yet had a tv set or seen one!,and was a new technology in entertainment
That he bought for his new family
It's table model with a 6 or 7" inch screen in quite large beautiful walnut cabinet
He explain that came up for sale in that Mans estate sale from his son
Had to sell along the other household belongings to settle his parents estate in public auction,so this tv has been inside the house since new it would be the OLDEST TV SET IN LAURENS COUNTY SC TO HAVE SURVIVED!, this man also told that researched this set found another one at the Chicago Sceince Museum that has a 1948'Automatic Tv but the only 2 known to exsist his and the museums in the Whole USA
I'll take pictures of it!,it's only 12 miles from my home and report back to y'all ASAP!

Hurry up! :D

We want to see it.

Great find (and story) and one of the best 7" early post-war TV's in my opinion. Love to see pics of it. I believe the number of existing sets is a bit higher then one or two. I have seen a few on the net from collectors and eBay. It is quite rare though. The console version is the rarest, as I have only seen one existing example. The leatherette portable is the most common, but I still have only seen a handful of them through the years.
Joe

Ok guys and gals I'm back home from our little visit
And have photos to share but don't know how post them on here can somebody give me their email address

An Automatic wood tabletop TV with the built-in bubble magnifier is pretty rare. Maybe it is one of those?

Can anybody tell how to upload new photos here or
An email address quickly y'all post them for me

To attach photos press the "go advanved" versus "quick reply" then scrow down to "Additional Options" and select Manage Attachments button under the Attach Files category.

. . . . . . Gent told me ,he had a 1947'Automatic Radio Corp. Television . . . . so this tv has been inside the house since new it would be the OLDEST TV SET IN LAURENS COUNTY SC TO HAVE SURVIVED!,

I'll bet he had a long wait for a picture, since the first TV station to go on the air that would reach Laurens County, SC, was WSB Atlanta.

It went on the air 29 September, 1948!

Pics also have to be below a certain size, I think 150k, usually 600 Pixels wide is a good size for the Web.

You can send them to me if you like and I'll size and post them for you.

P.M. me and I'll give you my address.

I'm waiting on Eric in responding in to my private message
He said he'll post the photos for me so we wait on his reply

Sent you an E-Mail. :yes:

An Automatic wood tabletop TV with the built-in bubble magnifier is pretty rare. Maybe it is one of those?

Wasn't that the Temple 7" E-stat? :scratch2:

The Temple was the Temple and the Automatic was the Automatic.

The Temple TV had a built in magnifier and the Automatic had a built in magnifier on a portable as well as on a wood tabletop. I heard from another collector that Automatic also offered the build-in magnifier as an option for the 7 inch console. I have seen two of the Automatic wood tabletops with the built-in magnifiers listed on eBay in the last 15 years. I don't know who owns them.

The Temple TV had a built in magnifier and the Automatic had a built in magnifier on a portable as well as on a wood tabletop. I heard from another collector that Automatic also offered the build-in magnifier as an option for the 7 inch console. I have seen two of the Automatic wood tabletops with the built-in magnifiers listed on eBay in the last 15 years. I don't know who owns them.
I've only seen one authentic blonde-wood Automatic Radio 7" console myself. Years back, on the ARF, someone was asking about a 7" console they had with an Automatic Radio chassis and built-in magnifier. It was some kind of rather cheaply made "badge-brand" set though. I have seen one wooden 7" Automatic Radio tabletop with the built-in magnifier like the leatherette portable.

Mr Eric
I've checked my inbox sadly haven't seen yet recheck and
Please get to me

The Temple was the Temple and the Automatic was the Automatic.

As one Dave, to another, don't be a D-Bag!
I'm well aware that Templetone Radio Corp. and Automatic Radio, were two different firms.
There was never that big of a presence, of those products, in the midwest. The only Automatic products, sold around here are the cheapie, aftermarket radios sold by, some of the shady car dealers.
The only Automatic TV I saw in recent years, was one that the Allied Radio store, sold in the mid-60's. It was a 18"color table model, with the long, screw-in legs, similar to the Sears set, of the day.

The only Automatic products, sold around here are the cheapie, aftermarket radios sold by, some of the shady car dealers.
I've seen plenty of those during my eBay searches for automotive 8-track decks, I even had one at one time, an under-dash unit.

Well I just emailed Eric the pics of Automatic Tv I hope gets them up
In time for tonight's forum so enjoy
Jody

And there they are! :yes:

That's nice, Jody. Good for you!

Thanks Eric
I tried to buy the set but failed he thinks it's "A GOLD BRICK"
Doesn't want part with it ain't eating nothing
He thinks it's just pretty and old I even tried to let me recap this set
He said for now he's not Interested in restoring it to at least working order
SAD!,that's all I got to say but if he decides to sell it it won't be for $100 buck
He wouldn't entertain $300

That's a shame. Serial # 310740 - I wonder how many they really made ? Maybe they started at 300000 ?

That's a shame. Serial # 310740 - I wonder how many they really made ? Maybe they started at 300000 ?

That's an interesting question. When I can get to mine, I'll check and see if the serial number is still on it.

Bob
I'll stay after him to revive the TV set
Covered in about quarter inch of nicotine stain all over the chassis
The original OWNERS name was MR HOLMES HOLLAND of Clinton SC
He loved my vintage electronic museum idea/concept he would place the set on display
For the educational and research purposes he would love to be apart of my museum
Concept but finding a big enough building has been a challege
The taxes and utility bills and upkeep would be herendous
What y'all suggest in this matter of a vintage electronic museum in my area of the COUNRTY my collection is getting large enough to start one!

- I wonder how many they really made ?

Since the chassis appears to be made from several riveted or bolted together pieces of steel, this set surely cannot have been massed produced.

His 1947 date seems to be wrong as the tuner has no channel one, so this is a 1948 or later set.

47Plymouth, did you happen to read the model number on the SN decal?

Jas

Update: I screwed up on the photo identification by mistaking the cardboard cover on the back of the chassis for "several riveted or bolted together pieces of steel." Such is the hazard of using photos . . . . .

Jas
There's no model number anywhere not even that label
Is only one to be on there I looked with strong flashlight and magnifing glass
For evidence of a tube layout on the cabinet sadly didn't find one;could they be one
Located on the bottom didn't look there!,I'll call him again to look underneath for a label
This set would probably be in Riders tv # 1 or Beitmans tv 1 someone look this set up for me
It's got to in one of those service manual coz they wouldn't be too many tv sets when those books
We're published

Did you see this set? I don't see a magnifier. The front of the cabinet is slightly different with the magnifier.

That's neat it doesn't have a magnifier on the CRT FACE

Nice.

The chassis looks like a Tele-Tone 149. Knob layout is the same too.

It's a model TV-709 from 1948. The model TV-707 was the blonde version. The back of the chassis had ink stamps for all the controls and the model number was just above the serial number label. Unfortunately the label was lost on my set many years ago so I don't know what serial number it is. You can see my original sales brochure on Tom's site at : http://www.tvhistory.tv/1946-49-AUTOMATIC.htm

Darryl

My non-bubble lens Automatic is serial number 308912.
My bubble lens Automatic is serial number 310?68 (the fourth number was missing on the paper label).

Thanks Kevin
I hope those photos will work of our TV set 310740
Hope got a service manual and parts list
Thanks Jody

Mines 28 units ahead of yours probably left the assembly line the same day

He loved my vintage electronic museum idea/concept he would place the set on display
For the educational and research purposes he would love to be apart of my museum
Concept but finding a big enough building has been a challege
The taxes and utility bills and upkeep would be herendous
What y'all suggest in this matter of a vintage electronic museum in my area of the COUNRTY my collection is getting large enough to start one!

I been looking at something similar. The rental prices run $1.25 /month per foot in my area. I rented a temporary small 200 foot office with electricity and no bathroom for $250 /month. I have 22 Televisions in there out of my approximately 100 TVs. My long term hope is raising a building fund. If you share space with someone else you risk the chance of them moving out or kicking you out. A once a year exhibit may be another way to go or maybe just a couple of TVS in a glass enclosure at a government building, airport or public shopping mall with informational posters.

The chassis looks like a Tele-Tone 149. Knob layout is the same too.

OK, Eric IDed the set as a Tele-Tone TV149 and he is most probably correct.

I'm not too sure of the history of Tele-Tone, but I think they started out as an RCA an/or military subcontractor, and after the war in about 1947 decided to build their own sets instead of just building parts for someone else.

Some of their earlier models were built to look like miniature RCA sets, and I feel they did this for a reason. It helped on mail order sales! In 1947 most people in the region where TV was about to be introduced had seen pictures of the expensive 10BP4 RCA sets, so they then saw the pictures of the similar looking 7JP4 Tele-Tones and did not realize that these less expensive sets were smaller. I know in the small southern town where I lived, the first TV sets in the area were mail order seven inchers that were bought sight unseen.

Tele-Tone made three very similar models:

Tele-Tone TV149 (The set required AC and had one selenium rectifier, one 25Z6 voltage doubler rectifier and one 6X5 tripler rectifier.)

Firestone 13G3 (The set required AC and had one selenium rectifier and one 25Z6 voltage doubler rectifier. The set had cloth panels where the TV149 & TV170 had vertical slots.)

Tele-Tone TV170 (This set was AC or DC and had only one selenium rectifier and was popular in lower Manhattan where they only had DC power. The cabinet was identical to the TV149 and occasionally causes misidentification. This set cost $10 more than the AC TV149 and did not perform as well due to the lower B+.)

The Tele-Tones were sold as both 1948 and 1949 models. I have no idea on the Firestone and Automatic.

The Tele-Tone's have the Serial Number written on the bottom of the cabinet, along with an ink stamp of the date in Year/Month/Day format and the final inspector's initials in black ink. TV149 = 8Jan31. TV170 = 8Nov10.

The Tele-Tone made Firestone does not have the date on the cabinet bottom, but it does have the tube layout pasted on the bottom, along with the serial number and the inspector's initials. All three sets have an unreadable signature that may be the same person.

James

Edit:
. . . . I tried to buy the set but failed he thinks it's "A GOLD BRICK" . . . . I even tried to let me recap this set. He said for now he's not Interested in restoring it to at least working order. . .

Hey, you know he can have it both ways! Keep the set original and get it working. too!

All you have to do is buy a relatively inexpensive Tele-Tone TV-149 and restore that and keep the original Tele-Tone made Automatic-Radio chassis intact and as-found! Which ever chassis is in the Automatic at the moment determines whether it is "original" or "restored."