Check this auction on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/FIFTIES-ADMIRAL-TV-TELEVISION-OR-AQUARIUM_W0QQitemZ230100408973QQihZ013QQcategoryZ3 638QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Isn't it great the part in which he wrote " perhaps you could pull the tube out and put in an aquarium. Another stellar idea is to pull the tube out and stick it in a corner as an artistic expression of the futility of watching today's television programs" . Oh man, that is SO sick!

A common theme on eBay, unfortunately.

Last week a guy sent me an email asking if he could buy one of my JVC VideoSphere TVs to hollow out and make into a terrarium. I didn't reply.

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

Here is what frustrates me: I have some sets this age, and I will sell them REALLY cheap or even GIVE them to you. I will load them in your car or truck, you don't even have to lift a finger. But you have to come by here and get them. (heck, I'd even drive a few miles to deliver them) But, supply and demand being what it is, nobody wants them. This past year I have had to part out 4 or 5 fifties TV sets. Yes, several of them (at least) are going to be converted into aquariums. (by someone else) I gave the empty cabinets away. The choice was (a) let someone toss them into a dumpster or (b) me take them, try to find a home for them, then salvage what parts I could.

Sorry, I complain about this too often. I just wish there were more knuckleheads like me around who wanted these sets!

I think there should be a law, on the interest of Historical preservation, forbidding people to do that kind of thing. I know that in Germany there's such a law, regarding vintage automobiles. In Germany if you own a vintage car, you have to keep it original, you cannot modify it. I think it's a great law, because it can prevent stupid people to do the kind of disgusting thing a guy did here in my city: he bought a 1953 VW Beetle, a car that was in mint condition, he wouln't have to do a thing with that car, only regular maintenance. What he did? He completely wrecked that car, changed everything, from the paint to the insides, put modern sound equipment, AND, put a water cooled engine! The car looks horrible now, specially the rear, with a ugly-looking hood fit to acomodate a big water cooled engine. And - bingo! - the guy now regrets what he did with that once fine vintage automobile.

Luckily, it seems that around me people don't seem inclined to do that kind of thing to vintage televisions, at least not that I know of. Well, so many of them were destroyed in stupid ways in the past ( I know of an early 50's bakelite Admiral that was turned into a dog's house ), that now, with so few of them left, they are really valued. But people are still inclined to do that kind of destruction with vintage automobiles.

I would love to have a nice old 50s tv set like that, even if mostly used for decoration. I would not modify it, and it wouldn't be terribly important to me if it worked but it would be cool if it did function. I like the look of vintage electronics, and I find it interesting to have a few bits of electronic history sitting around.

I have the same kind of philosophy about vintage gear. I've got more sets in my collection than I expect to find time to restore any time soon, but I'm getting to them one at a time. My working sets are a hit with visitors. Even the most presentable non-working ones, I display as they are until I can get around to recapping and have the prongs of their plugs covered with shrink tubing so I'll remember not to plug in that set without a metered Variac for troubleshooting or just remove the cords if they're not riveted to the backs or HV cages. My RCA 630TS and Fada 799 both need tuner service, and Quality TV Tuner Repair has both tuners undergoing repair right now. Today was a day of re-forming electrolytics in my Tek 547 scope. Every 2 years, I lift one side of each can cap section and re-form to 1/5(sqrt(C*V) uA leakage current at rated working voltage. Since the actual applied voltages in the circuits they're in are about 2/3 their rated voltage, my 547 runs great and is good for the 2 years before the next go-round plus a year if I forget. After that, it starts getting rough on line fuses after about an hour of run time and reminds me I've neglected it. Re-form all 8 cans and one axial electrolytic and it's good for at least 2 more years.

Incidentally, there's a pet shop in Akron that sells cheap aquariums that are styled after 50s televisions but smaller. I have to admire the maker of those for offering an alternative to gutting authentic antiques.