This is one I've never seen, and I thought I had seen them all.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Blonde-Zenith-TV-With-Top-Phonograph-1956-Model-/190717621222?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c67a7f3e6

(eBay link for illustration only; no connection/no comment/not mine/not bidding)

I think this either has to be a custom order, or the cabinet design team was given experimental psychiatric drugs that day :scratch2:

Charles

I agree ... that one is so ugly that it is collectible.
But, I pass.

Carl

Being discussed in Curbside (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=255369).

The placement of the speaker is not ideal from an efficiency standpoint at least wrt the bass, but I have to say I think it's cool. But then I like these:

http://www.tvhistory.tv/1951-GE-21C151.JPG

Never mind....

Call me crazy but I can NEVER click an eBay link on this site. :/

I never saw a TV like this either, until now.

At first I thought this was a console that had been assembled entirely upside down, but when I zoomed in on the controls and such I saw they were all in their proper places, the Zenith name and crest were rightside-up and readable, and everything else seemed normal -- except the speaker was at the top of the cabinet, rather than most other console TVs that have the speaker either in the base or on one side of same. Some RCA Victor console TVs of the '50s had one side-firing speaker mounted at the top right-hand corner of the right side of the cabinet; my folks' first TV, an RCA Victor 1954 21" console, had the speaker mounted this way. The space at the base normally occupied by the speaker in their set was replaced by wood panels with two brass bars, perhaps to simulate door pulls. That cabinet was in our basement literally for years after the TV quit and had been replaced with a 1955 Crosley Super "V" 21" console. The latter had a rather large speaker mounted in the base of the cabinet, below the CRT; IIRC, that set sounded great. In 1965 the Crosley was replaced by as Silvertone all-channel 17" portable in which the speaker was mounted, IIRC, directly below the tuner. Typical portable.

Those Zeniths with knobs in the upper corners remind me of a frog or space alien with a giant gaping mouth.

Phil Nelson

P.S. For eBay links, right-click on the link and choose Open.

Call me crazy but I can NEVER click an eBay link on this site. :/

Right click on the link, then left click on "open link in new window"

Oops- didn't read through Phils post.

I believe these Zenith designers moved on to Ford Motor Company and designed the Edsel.

They probably saw it as a cheap way to make a new model.

"Hey Bob, lets just flip this cabinet over, mount the TV in the bottom and add a Phonograph to the top, we won't even have to move the speaker!"

Being discussed in Curbside (http://videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=255369).

The placement of the speaker is not ideal from an efficiency standpoint at least wrt the bass, but I have to say I think it's cool. But then I like these:

http://www.tvhistory.tv/1951-GE-21C151.JPG


My next-door neighbor in my hometown had a Silvertone b&w 21-23" console TV with the controls at the top, above the CRT, like the GE 21C51. Perhaps the company that built the chassis for that particular model of Silvertone TV got the idea from GE? :scratch2: The only difference I can see between these sets (aside from the cabinet design and manufacturer) is that my neighbor's set had an illuminated channel selector, whereas the 21C51 GE seems to have a standard knob with the channel numbers around the rim.

BTW, where is the speaker in the GE 21C51? I don't see it anywhere on the photo of the set. I'm guessing it may be in the back, on the side of the cabinet (like some '50s RCA Victor consoles), or some other unconventional spot.

It is indeed ugly, but cool-ugly. It already has a bid, so I hope the new owner is going to restore it and keep it in its excellent condition. Since it has the original manuals, the owner obviously appreciated it, which cannot be said for many television sets of that age or even newer.

Ye Gods that thing looks rather mental! :yes: Whats up with all those other TV sets in one of the photos?