Arrived today. And is in excellent shape. It is one of the VERY first TV remote controls made in Brazil. It was made in the 60's I believe sometime around 1964. It belonged to the "Philco Directa" TV set. I don't have this set in my collection... now I must get one, since I have the original remote...

As far as I know, in the 60's , starting in 1962, Admiral, Philco and GE made TV sets with wireless remote controls here. Those sets and their remotes are very rare, they were made in really small numbers. They weren't manufactured for a long time either, sales were too small - for the average Brazilian worker in the 1960's having just the most cheap of TV sets was a victory, was a sign that he was starting to improve in life. Those who could afford an expensive TV with wireless remote control were very lucky few.

Many years would pass before the industry started to manufacture TVs with remotes again. It was in the 1980's ( I have one of those sets, complete, with the remote ), but this time those sales would be retarded by another factor: an inescrupulous businessman named Roberto Marinho, who was the owner of Rede Globo ( the largest and most powerful TV network in South America ) didn't want the Brazilian public to have TV sets with remote controls. His reason: he didn't want the public to change channels between commercials. His son, who had a TV with remote control, said: "If even I change channels between the commercials, just imagine the general public!" - now, THAT`S been cynical...

Only in the 1990`s, when it became extremey cheap to manufacture TVs with remotes, the Marinho family were no longer able to prevent those sets to be manufactured in massive scale.

This Philco Directa remote has only two functions: it changes channels and lower or raises the volume. It doesn't even turn the set on or off.

I remember my grandad had a big B&W 24" or 27", I can't remember, Zenith Space Command 300, it had a wireless remote, that was a tuning-fork device. Seemed like it only turned the set on & off, & changed channels one way. It was a mechanical thing that went "KER-CHUNK ! KER-CHUNK !" & sounded like it was moving several pounds of metal around...I LOVED to hear it work, but my dad would always yell at me if I fooled w/it, 'cause I was GONNA TEAR THE DAMN THING UP....(grin)

http://www.historyofthebutton.com/2007/03/26/zenith-space-command-unboxing-a-mystery/

Wireless remote sets were actually in production as early as the mid fifties, perhaps earlier. I think Zenith was sort of the pioneer of the wireless remote. I will let the link provided by Captain Video elaborate...