On a sleepless night recently I found my self searching through eBay and found a Dumont Club 20 with a BIN. I almost hit the BIN button but thought I'll sleep on it and if the set was there in the morning I'd go for it and worry about how to get it home later. Well it was still there in the morning so I went for it. The seller knew nothing about antique television so the 20BP4 was a roll of the dice. I thought for the price I'd take a gamble.

The set came from this house in a town called Croton-On-Hudson, NY.

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w438/vts1134/Dumont%20Club%2020/IShv3blgqa5wm11000000000_zpsnruxvvuq.jpg

The house (which was known as Hudsonview) was owned by the International Ladies Garment Workers Union: Local 91, and was used as a retreat. They owned the house from 1944 until 1966 so they would have been the original owner's of the Club 20. Set set was hidden behind the credenza on the left side of this picture inside a closet with a movable wall. Who knows how long it sat dormant in that hidden closet.

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w438/vts1134/Dumont%20Club%2020/IShbkqkkz2cqlt0000000000_zpsbgv3vfxc.jpg

Here's the same room from the time period. It's too bad the photographer wasn't standing on the other side of the room, maybe the TV would have been in the photo :sigh:.

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w438/vts1134/Dumont%20Club%2020/5279512852_b4c9dde0c3_o_zpsfjryqrqq.jpg

Fellow VK'er "Tim" was gracious enough to pick up the set for me and take the necessary precautions to keep is safe during transport. He has some photographs of the set and can add his story of the pickup to the thread. The set will be delivered to me on or around August 1st. I plan on doing a full restoration.

I remember seeing that set. Glad it was someone from here who got it. Keep us posted on the restoration!

Wow, the exterior of that house looks like stately Wayne Manor, home of millionaire Bruce Wayne!

What a beautiful building. I've got several cabinet TV's that would look great in a setting like this.

Can't wait to see what goes with the DuMont.

Wowzers, what a picturesque home and a nice bit of history. Can't picture anything but a Club 20 in that house :)

Those early 20" Dumonts sure tend to show up in some interesting stately places, don't they.


Right side of the today picture of that room looks to have a stereo console, and judgin by depth it could be a roundy combo...

PS: With inflation Bruce Wayne being a Millionaire ain't that much of a status symbol (heck in most decent neighborhoods a 4 bedroom home will set you back ~1/3 a million).....There are probably many Millionaires with some small mom & pop business, a lower middle class home, still driving average model cars 12+ years old...

Congratulations John. The house was indeed stately. My wife and son went with me on a scenic ride along the Hudson river to pick up the set and see the place. The folks were anxious to talk about the house, the husband grew up there and never remembered seeing the set. He recalled that he did have fun exploring all the hundreds of closets, cubbys and secret hiding places built into the place. The closet under the stairs, where the TV was, had not been opened in recent memory and besides the TV there was a GE console radio and a 40's phonograph. Not nearly as exciting as the TV.

Their teen age daughter asked "where is the remote". I told her that she would have been the remote back when this set was in use.

When I took off the back I saw it had a brightener installed so I figured the CRT was probably well worn. I removed the chassis and HV cage then my son and I carried it up the stairs and out the door to the van. In the mean time my wife was getting to see several of the other rooms.

When we got home, I tested the CRT and surprisingly it slowly came up to just above the "Bad" section and probably will improve with more use. It also had passable cut-off so it probably will produce a watchable picture. Overall the finish should restore nicely but there are a few deep gouges in the top. It is a DEEEEP cabinet. There is very little rust on the chassis.

Here are some photos of the set right after I removed the back and also some of it in my van where it will stay until it gets shipped off to John in a few weeks. Unfortunately either it never had the base with it and it sat on a table or the base was discarded many years ago. I am looking forward to the resoration thread.

BTW - The cabinet to the right was a Harmon Kardon stereo with a Garrard changer, no TV.

Great save, and what a fantastic house! I could really love living there! Looking forward to the TV restoration.

Does any one else out there have one of these beasts with a stand they would be willing to lend out for a time? I am going to need to have the base reproduced for this one and it would be much easier if I had an original for reference.

One of this model was acquired by a member here in the last year or two. If you can find the thread contacting them may prove helpful...Especially considering you may have the second Club 20 known to still exist.

He had the set up on the 'Bay restored, you could've had 2!

He had the set up on the 'Bay restored, you could've had 2!

I'm not even sure where I'm going to fit one! Let alone two. I know Tom did end up selling his in the end, maybe the new owner is a member here and can help with the base.

Quote: Here's the same room from the time period. It's too bad the photographer wasn't standing on the other side of the room, maybe the TV would have been in the photo

Actually, if the photographer was standing on the other side of the room, maybe you would see a prewar set. That photo was likely taken near Christmas of 1944.

DuMont Club 20 RA-106. Some photos. The base is a short platform with angled legs. Hopefully, someone can supply better photos with dimensions.


-Steve D.

I like that"Only" $995...at a time when that would probably buy a cheap CAR...

I like that"Only" $995...at a time when that would probably buy a cheap CAR...

IIRC Crosley Automobiles (yes they made them...They were glorified golf carts IMO) were cheap enough you could have probably bought a Crosley car and Pilot TV-37 for the money...Though the Dumont was probably roomier than the Crosley. :tongue:

Here's the thread on the Club 20 I procured about a year ago. Similar kind of story, although the mansion mine came from is not quite at the same scale as Hudsonview!

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=262402

I restored it and sold it (although I kept the reasonably OK 20BP4 for my RA-101 Westminster, where it is happily residing now). I'll contact the person I sold it to and see if he wants to provide measurements for the base, which the set has. Or he may be willing to post here.

Quote: Here's the same room from the time period. It's too bad the photographer wasn't standing on the other side of the room, maybe the TV would have been in the photo

Actually, if the photographer was standing on the other side of the room, maybe you would see a prewar set. That photo was likely taken near Christmas of 1944.

Anyone else see how I came up with the date estimate on the third photo??

Anyone else see how I came up with the date estimate on the third photo??

I assumed that you had estimated the date from the Life magazine covers, but I could be wrong.

jr

I assumed that you had estimated the date from the Life magazine covers, but I could be wrong.

jr

BINGO!

That's Judy Garland on top, 12/11/44
Other issues are 11/20/44, and 12/4/44
And possibly 12/18/44

Could the missing issue of 11/27/44 be laying open on the davenport??
That would make 5 issues in a row.

Oh, and there's also a wreath hanging outside...

Any one traveling from around NYC west? I had a uShip transport all set for this DuMont, but the shipper went awol and now it's stranded in NY. If any one is making the trip soon and has any room please let me know.

I have think Tim P is, maybe drop a PM?

Unfortunately not going that far north, and won't have a vehicle big enough to get it even if I was. I'll be in DC/VA this weekend....

Where, specifically, is the set? If it's near Grimer, maybe he'd be kind enough to hang on to it for you until an alternative arises.

I currently have the set in Northeast NJ. It is safe where it is until suitable transportation can be arranged. Maybe a Kutztown transfer can be set up?

I have a new uShip auction posted as well. We'll see what comes out of that. Kutztown is also a good suggestion and only a month away. Any one driving back through the Pittsburgh area to get home after the show?

Well the set is finally home. All I can say is WOW is that a deep cabinet. I can see why these sets were targeted towards commercial settings, who in there right mind would want one of these in their house (besides crazy people like me that is :D)?

I am currently doing some construction work in the man cave to make a guest sleeping area so my workshop is not accessible currently, but I can't wait to finish up and get started on the restoration.

I ended up purchasing this set from John, as I have thing for sets that you would find in an industrial or commercial type environment (club, restaurant, hotel lobby, break room, a union hall, etc).

Anyway, it's currently sitting in my basement awaiting a restoration. The CRT initially tested marginally, but now tests well in the good after being put on the Sencore and Beltron a couple of times.

Cutoff is great, and emissions on the Beltron reads at around 0.85 mA to 0.90 mA with 5.9-6.0 volts on the heater. The full 6.3 volts doesn't raise the current any further. It's a bit slow coming up, but I'm not terribly worried about it (the set hasn't had a repair since circa 1954, so it likely hasn't seen use in 60+ years); it should produce a watchable picture. I have a handful of dead looking tubes that produce excellent pictures, and a handful of good testing tubes that are unusable; you just can't put much trust in a tester.

I have a hypothesis regarding the brightener: nosing around in the HV cage shows that one of the 8016s is gassy (with a Tesla coil). It's possible some repairman in the past missed the bad rectifier, and put the brightener on the jug to compensate for drooping HV. Or there could have been an issue on the main signal chassis with the video amplifier, or there could actually be an issue with the jug (non-uniform focus, etc). Brighteners were often used inappropriately as a quick "band-aid" fix for an issue entirely unrelated to the CRT. With good emissions and good cutoff, I'm guessing the brightener was used in such a way.

Note the Club 20 in this commercial:
https://youtu.be/n9525dRYiKM

Just found the same sort of thing going on with a small Arvin set I picked up from the convention, it had a brightner hanging off the CRT but it's nice and bright without it. Chassis was full of nasty capacitors, who knows what the original failure mode was that caused it to be installed.

Another interesting thing is the CRT had a cathode/G1 short that the sencore wasn't able to clear, so I hooked the tube to a microwave oven transformer and cranked up the variac till I heard a snap. Apparently it worked, the tube has great brightness and contrast.

I mentioned when you were trying to test the CRT that there was a distinct possibility the brightener was stuck on the tube due to an unrelated issue. My experience, plus yours with the little Arvin, has taught me a lesson: never, ever assume a CRT with a brightener is shot. Repairmen were probably just as moronic and/or lazy in 1950 as they are today.

One step forward and two back on the big DuMont. I shorted out the time delay relay, brought it up on a variac, and got some basic signs of life. Jug lights up! :thmbsp: It will of course need a complete recapping.

I can not get the bracket that holds the yoke and ion trap unscrewed from the cabinet; I stripped one of the screws :tears:

Does anyone know if there is a way to get the 20BP4 put from the front of the cabinet? It looks awfully similar to the arrangement on the Westminster, which you can remove from the front.