Bradford by any other name....

[Ampico-kid]

Here's one you don't see every day, a Bradford Color TV. I guess that was W.T. Grant's house brand. Who was the manufacturer? I don't recognize the control layout. I see a slight cataract starting to show at the edge of the crt. Is it worth $75? Bob

[ohohyodafarted]

YES! Boy, WT Grant, now that brings back memories. In Milwaukee we only had on Grants store. It was on the south side in the Southgate shopping center. My father had a beauty salon in Southgate. Southgate was the first Shopping center in the country.

Grants had a nice low end furniture department. I think you could say it was sort of a Wall Mart of that era. When I got married in 1971 we went over to Grants and ended up purchasing two small end tables. Excellent quality, all solid woods. I still have them today and we use them up at our lake cottage. Grants was a wonderful store. I even remember the soda fountain.

I think you have found a very nice piece of rare TV Bob. Contrats!

[Sandy G]

Go For It !

[sampson159]

we had a wt grants in downtown columbus.they did sell the bradford line.there was another knockoff store in the great southern shopping center.i cant recall the name at this moment and they also sold bradford electronics.during my shop days,i never saw one of these sets!either they were very,very good or none were sold!

[kx250rider]

It's probably either a Warwick (Sears Silvertone) or RCA CTC-16 clone. I had a Bradford combo with the 23" rectangular tube, and it was an RCA clone (CTC-17). All was RCA except the tuner.

Charles

[bgadow]

I've seen several 70s Bradfords that were GE and that control panel does have a strong GE look. I'm thinking late in the roundie era, after the clones were done. I think I'd have to grab it.

[mstaton]

Yes, worth the $75. I'd buy it!

[sampson159]

sorry,i must correct.the store in downtown columbus was h.l.greens.it was w.t. grants in the shopping center.i saw plenty of rutherford sets but not one bradford.were they any good?the rutherfords were not so good.

[hi_volt]

What are you waiting for?? If that set was near me, it would already be in my workshop! The $75 price is an excellent deal.

[Ampico-kid]

Originally Posted by hi_volt

What are you waiting for?? If that set was near me, it would already be in my workshop! The $75 price is an excellent deal.

Didn't your mother ever tell you that good things come to he who waits? I've been in contact with the seller and made arrangements to pick up the set one day this coming week for $50. An even better deal than $75.

Will post additional information and pictures when I pick it up. Bob

[ctc17]

This is one of those you see in the sams set but never in real life. Id be all over that.

[sampson159]

congrats on this find!post lots of pics while in the process

[Eric H]

Nice find!
I had a 19" Bradford B&W portable back in the 70's (TV was probably early 60's era) it was good working set and way better than the RCA Portable it replaced.

[holmesuser01]

When my shop was running, I saw a few Bradfords.

Back story: When Grants closed, I was at the store here in Asheville one day, and they had a pet department... fish, etc. I wanted to buy some tropical fish for my aquarium, and the lady handed me the net and told me to get what I wanted, as they were closing. She told me she had worked for Grants for nearly 30 years, and was crying.

Before it was over and done, I wound up with all of the tropical fish the store had, and got fire-sale prices on several big aquariums and stands that were going to be trashed. I've got decendants of the guppies and zebra fish that I got in 1973 today.

I've been sitting here trying to remember who built the Bradford sets I worked on, and am drawing a big blank.

The Grant store here had a fairly large entertainment center department with lots of TV's and console stereos, etc. I liked going there.

[dieseljeep]

Their TV sets were sourced from Wells-Gardner, Westinghouse, GE and Panasonic. Their radios and stereos were made by many different suppliers. Most of their products were better than Sears products.