The huge Zenith sign at the old distribution center

[NowhereMan 1966]

Interesting sign. Shame Zenith is no longer with us. The current set I watch is a 1982 Zenith we got in 1983 and even though it's 24 years old, it still remains in service as the main set. On the back, it says "Zenith Radio Corporation." I also have a 1970 Zenith I'd like to kick back to life that says the same thing on the back.

[Big Dave]

I think the great sign will go the way of the KFC rotating bucket, and the Union 76 ball... the junkyard.

I feel LG should let the Zenith name die with dignity. The Zenith of recent years is not the Zenith that made the sets in our collections. The sets are still out there and we can say what a great product Zenith was.

[Carmine]

I feel LG should let the Zenith name die with dignity. The Zenith of recent years is not the Zenith that made the sets in our collections. The sets are still out there and we can say what a great product Zenith was.

That's the "plus" of the new LG/Zenith stuff being junk... It will be gone in a few years, known only to landfills.

As to disappearing signs, I miss the Union 76 ball too. There was a "mint" condition Union 76 station (with service bays, ball sign and orange/blue tile) in Sun City, AZ until very recently. Looked like 1970, especially since somebody there must have specialized in older car service, and there were always big Chryslers, Buicks & Lincolns in front. Last time I went back, it went "independant" and the cool signs were gone.

[bgadow]

When you put it that way, at less than $13/hour that sign was a pretty cheap employee for the sales department!

Recently I attended an auction where they had a very large sign advertising General Motors Radio. This was from the thirties and was still new in the crate. (the building it was to have been installed on burned down while the sign was in transit) A big, beautiful sign that must have been 10' tall, the type shaped like an arrow pointing down to the storefront. Anyway, it was so big and bulky that nobody knew what to do with it. It sold for only $100. I would have bid on it but I sure don't have the space. I bet if you talked to the right person they would give you that monster Zenith sign but then what would you do with it!?

[Carmine]

I tried to put these on my lawn before they were torn down, but the neighbors objected, so I had to get by with a picture.



You don't really realize how big those signs are until you stand next to them. Still, if I had a few acres in the middle of nowhere with a polebarn for my cars, that Zenith sign would be pretty kickass! I could even get some use out of it for an antenna!

[Carmine]

I wonder if the Chicago Tribune would talk to you about doing a human-interest article on it, and use their massive resources to research the sign a little (or maybe they did already -- check microfilms in a local library?). Might be worth a letter or email to the Tribune, or perhaps even a visit. I would really like to know the history of this sign.

Me too. This is a good idea... Might generate some leads on old TVs too.

[Whirled One]

Originally Posted by Carmine

I think it makes sense to drop the Zenith name, and I've noticed it being phased-out as well.

While personally, I would just as soon see the Zenith name phased out and Rest in Peace, from a business perspective I'm surprised that LG would phase it out, since if nothing else it provides the potential for market/line-specific branding. [Sort of like how Philips has kept the Magnavox and Sylvania brand names around, even though it seems like they've tried to phase them out on at least a few occasions] But, hey, that's just me. I'd be glad to see LG phase out the name anyway.

On a related note, while I agree that most of the LG Zenith-branded stuff I've seen has been mediocre or worse, I gotta say I'm fairly impressed with the Zenith-branded LG portable DVD player I bought a few weeks ago. Previous LG/Zenith portables I've seen in stores seemed pretty cheezy to me (even compared with many other low-cost models), which is why I was surprised that this one was such a winner. Decent, low-flicker LCD screen, controls have reasonable placement/feel, Even the build quality and appearance is decent enough, especially in its price range.

Originally Posted by Carmine

To say it disgusts me to see people buying fully-loaded Korean LG refrigerators for hundreds less then Whirlpool could even build them for in Benton Harbor, MI would be an understatement. And then our politicians bash Whirlpool for moving factories to Mexico!

Yeah, that sort of thing annoys me too. Whirlpool is already closing Maytag's washer/dryer factory in Newton IA, but, sad to say, I can't blame Whirlpool for that.

Originally Posted by Carmine

BTW, you might find it interesting to know that Hyundai is sniffing around Ford Motor Company to buy the Jaguar name.

OTOH, I bet lots of people were pretty upset when Ford was buying Jaguar...
[My parents figured Ford would probably start selling re-badged Ford Tauruses under the Jaguar name..!]

[Whirled One]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

I think the great sign will go the way of the KFC rotating bucket, and the Union 76 ball... the junkyard.

"KFC"..?? Remember when it was still perfectly acceptable to use the word "Fried" to describe fast-food? ...when it was "Kentucky Fried Chicken" and not "KFC"..? [similar to the rather sudden departure of the word "Sugar" from the names of children's breakfast cereals]

Speaking of gas stations, one brand I hated to see go was Amoco. I don't think many people around here had even heard of BP when they suddenly started tearing down the old Amoco and Standard signs and replacing them with BP signage. It just seemed weird to me. Besides, I kinda liked the old red-white-and-blue (and oftentimes oval-shaped) logos of the former Standard Oil Empire in their own little way. I even missed the SOHIO and Boron stations from their respective areas. Exxon, Mobil, and Chevron still bear their red-white-and-blue logos, but even the former two companies have merged.

As for consumer electronics names, it's kinda funny how even the Japanese companies don't even make many of their own products anymore-- or at least not in Japan. Ten or twenty years from now, perhaps we'll start reminicing about the products of those "old/former" Japanese companies like Sony or Hitachi or Matsushita or Akai or Victor/JVC or Toshiba or ...

[Tom_Ryan]

Originally Posted by drh4683

Here's some useless trivia for you:

Perhaps some of you have wondered how much energy is used to illuminate this sign due to the flood bulbs on it. Here you go, I took a count and come up with roughly 609 flood bulbs per side (+/- 10 bulbs) that counts to 1218 total. Lets assume each flood is 150 watt, that means this sign would consume a total of 182700 watts, or 182.7 kW. ComEd charges $.09 per kilowatt hour (kWh). To operate this sign, not including the flourecent bulbs that light up the slogan, it would cost $16.44 per hour. I remember that sign being on all day long. So, for 24 hours it would cost $394.56 per day which counts to $11836.80 in a month of 30 days. Remember, this would be 2006 prices! energy cost in 1998 were about $.07/kWh when this sign was last on. So when the sign was last on, it was costing Zenith $12.79 per hour.

woooow... 182.7 Kw One heck of a weenie roast. If the sign handled that much power it would melt!

I recall lamps used for signs, like the typical marquee above the old theater, used a 5 Watt 130 volt pyrex bulb rated at 5,000 hours. So, that would be 150/30=5, or 182.7/30 = 6KW, that's more like it. Bulbs strung in series pairs to run the sign at 220 volts. Approx 25 Amps to operate sign based on your bulb count...and a more reasonable wattage of bulb! . About 50 cents per hour to operate.

[drh4683]

I know that sounds out of control, but if you check out the the sign in person, those are either 75 or 150 watt edison base flood lamps. that sign used to blare your eyes out when it was on at night.
We just had a job at the O'hare international airport and one of O'hares project managers told me that the Zenith sign was acutally used by pilots as an aid to know where they were durring landing because of the extreme brightness of the sign. I kind of laughed at that but the guy was dead serious and said that many of the pilots familiar with the sign took immediate note when it was shut off. (Northlake borders chicago right by the airport). Id like to get a pic of this sign while it is on. You only believe it when you can see it.

[Pete Deksnis]

I once dated a girl whose father was a Lutheran minister in New York (just over the Whitestone bridge from NYC.) His church had an illuminated cross on the highest part of the building. It was fairly bright; internally illuminated.

One night the cross lost power for some reason. Right away, her father got a call from the LaGuardia control tower telling him to get the thing back on fast! Same reason of course as the Zenith sign.

[kx250rider]

You know what would be REALLY neat, is if someone with a couple of acres and spendable cash, could make a "Sign Farm". All these iconic signs from happier times could be restored & preserved. An outdoor museum! And we could have a section for vintage roof antennae, and even put a pole-mounted air raid siren in there someplace.

Not impossible to do! Just takes money and a few people willing to help.

Charles

[Tom_Ryan]

OMG...I don't want to think of the SDG&E power bill to run them!

[Eric H]

There is something like this in Las Vegas :

http://www.roadsidepeek.com/roadusa/...ign/neongrave/

Originally Posted by Kaye-Halbert TV

You know what would be REALLY neat, is if someone with a couple of acres and spendable cash, could make a "Sign Farm". All these iconic signs from happier times could be restored & preserved. An outdoor museum! And we could have a section for vintage roof antennae, and even put a pole-mounted air raid siren in there someplace.

Not impossible to do! Just takes money and a few people willing to help.

Charles

[stromberg6]

It seems as though Ford IS selling re-branded Tauruses and Sables as Jag-u-ars, the X and S series. We call them "4D-U-R"s.
Kevin G.