tough choices

[oldtvman]

http://img238.imageshack.us/i/4220041124zw1.jpg/

Which set should we choose?

By the way this is a Sears store in the early 60's color tv display
no sets are turned on?

[Sandy G]

Drool, drool. drool....(grin)

[andy]

...

[3Guncolor]

Back in the day we only had a few running. Customers didn't want to buy sets that already had hours on them.

[Steve D.]

Could be that no color shows were being telecast.
I know that this was a publicity picture, but looks like a scene out of "Mad Men".

-Steve D.

[Eric H]

Great picture!
He's pointing to a set and telling her "This one will only cost you six months pay"

Is that one of those early Japanese Color sets that Sears sold in the upper right? There are a couple more rectangular sets to the left so I wonder what year this was?

That does look a little like Don Draper sitting on that set checking out the Lady.

[GeorgeJetson]

Thats a cool picture,I like the "color" sign made of multi-colored diamonds!
Was this a photo from a Sears catalog?

If only there was a way to go back in time.

[GeorgeJetson]

Originally Posted by 3Guncolor

Back in the day we only had a few running. Customers didn't want to buy sets that already had hours on them.

Thats interesting,I had always assumed the floor models were strictly demonstrators and the tvs you bought were brand new in the box out back.

It sure would be a difficult task getting that one set off the wall!

Wonder how customers felt about the salesman sitting on their future tv

[Steve D.]

Originally Posted by Eric H

Great picture!
He's pointing to a set and telling her "This one will only cost you six months pay"

Is that one of those early Japanese Color sets that Sears sold in the upper right? There are a couple more rectangular sets to the left so I wonder what year this was?

That does look a little like Don Draper sitting on that set checking out the Lady.

Good call on the rectangular sets. And the Sears/Toshiba on the wall. Might be around 1966. If I recall, most men gave up wearing hats by the mid '60's.

-Steve D.

[bgadow]

I need to borrow my mother's high school yearbooks one of these days. One of them, from the mid-60s, has a nice shot of the local Sears catalog store. As I recall, it shows a student trying out a Silvertone electric guitar while surrounded by TV sets. They really had them crammed in that small space, unlike the well layed out display here. Great shot-thanks for posting it!

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by oldtvman

By the way this is a Sears store in the early 60's color tv display no sets are turned on?

The photographer dragged in four bright lights, and it would have been impossible to show the sets operating under these conditions. (Look at the reflections!) Typically, "simulated reception" pictures would be stripped in, or if they wanted to claim actual reception, they would black out the screens to get the room, then turned off the lights and doubled exposed the screen images.

[miniman82]

@ roundie on the wall! Imagine how strong that shelf had to be, even the table models were hefty.


Steve: your website is 404'd.

[sampson159]

when my dad bought our first roundie,he insisted on taking the floor model.they started to give him a hard time about but my dad really knew how to deal with people.he explained that he liked "that one" and this is the one he will take.they brought out another set,new in box,removed it and plugged it in.dad adjusted it to his liking and compared pictures.both were great!dad still took the floor model.he wasnr being difficult,just he was paying for it,so he gets what he wants.i remember him telling the manager,"if this was a new car,would i buy the one i test drove or another one?"seeing that picture brought back great memories of tv shopping.

[old_coot88]

Aw man, does that showroom scene bring back memories. 'Cept ours was about 80% RCA and the rest Dumont/Emerson ( and Curtis-Mathes transiently for about a year.Yuk).
Darndest thing, the building that was our store still stands virtually unchanged on the outside, on Google street view. It was surprizing that GSV would visit such an obscure burg as Globe, AZ.
Bill(oc)

[julianburke]

I can remember in about 1965 going into the local Sears store with my dad and in the TV department was a roundie with a color dot/bar generator connected to it with the color bars turned on. On the screen was a black mask over it with the letters "C-O-L-O-R" cutout in it and from a small distance looked very impressive for the time.