RCA color TV box on the front porch, 1964

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My next door neighbor back when I was a kid had the appliance store in town, & wouldevery now & then bring me home a refrigerator or TV box to play in...What fun ! You could make forts out of 'em, play "Robot" in 'em, or roll down the hill in the backyard...Oh, to be able to go back then...

Life doesn't get any better.
Phil

One of my favorite books as a boy was about some kids ending up with washer and dryer boxes and all the different things they made with them. I mostly turned them into little cars, dressed up with all sorts of designs, a grille, I might have even made some with working lights. My youngest sister was usually small enough for me to then push her around on the carpet. Fun, fun, fun!

old_tv_nut, can you make out that model number better than I can?

old_tv_nut, can you make out that model number better than I can?

I'm not old-tv-nut, but with a little gamma and exposure correction, I think it is either:

213516 6M1
or
213515 6M1

It is the middle three digits that are hard to read.

Nowadays you hide the box so thieves don't know what you got!

I'm not old-tv-nut, but with a little gamma and exposure correction, I think it is either:

213516 6M1
or
213515 6M1

It is the middle three digits that are hard to read.

I can't see it any better. Sharpening doesn't help much - just emphasizes the jpg artifacts.

Shit, them was the Days, boys...An old refrigerator or TV box, a "borrowed" kinfe from Mom to cut "Peep-Eye" holes in it, & a Magic Market to write all over it, & a few neighborhood pals, man, you were All Set !

I took the box our 1967 RCA set came in... I carefully cut out the logos on the box with a box cutting knife with the intentions of keeping the RCA COLOR logo forever. I have no idea what happened to it.

I know what happened to the RCA. It attempted to set the wall behind it on fire one afternoon. The service company said they could have it back to us in about 5 days, and my mom replied that it wasn't coming back to OUR house, ever!!!

Then, we got a Motorola 23".

Looks like that tv might have been one of their more valuable possessions.

Oh wao. Back in the day, i helped unbox a jillion RCA console sets (including six-foot-long color combos). We would flatten the boxes and every month or so, load 'em into the service van along with the wood pallets the sets were bolted to, and haul it all to the landfill.

When I was a kid MAD magazine had a great cartoon where a Gladys Kravitz looking character was freaking out to her husband.

"Abner! Those damn kids next door are playing with our Color TV box like its a fort!"
"So? Let them have some fun."
"Abner!!! They drug it over to their house!!!"
"So what? The trash is in their yard now."
"But the neighbors will think they got the new color television and not us!!!"

(Abner rolls eyes) :lmao:

I'm not old-tv-nut, but with a little gamma and exposure correction, I think it is either:

213516 6M1
or
213515 6M1

It is the middle three digits that are hard to read.

All the model #'s that begin with 213 are for CTC-11 & CTC-12 chassis sets. Following the 213 is the letters F, G or H, not a number. This according to the RCA Field-Service Guide. The closest I can find on the list is:

213G156MU "Gaynor"
213G156MV "Gaynor"
231G156RU "Ashland"
213G156RV "Ashland"

-Steve D.

I remember when I was five years old and my grandmother got a new washing machine.

The appropriated box became the studio of "WIS-TV", with a stepladder as the "tower".

When my daughter Rebecca was two years old, the box to our new Zenith 27" TV became her playhouse!

Nice melon...

"But the neighbors will think they got the new color television and not us!!!"

(Abner rolls eyes) :lmao:

If I was Abner, I'd say "No problem, I'll invite the neighbors over to watch the Superb owl on our new set"....

I know what happened to the RCA. It attempted to set the wall behind it on fire one afternoon. The service company said they could have it back to us in about 5 days, and my mom replied that it wasn't coming back to OUR house, ever!!!

Reminds me of a story my dentist told me... when he was a kid, they were living in Whittier, and had a Zenith color set which caught fire one Sunday night. We're talking flames, smoke, mom ready to call the fire department, etc. My dentist, along with one brother and their father unplugged the set and hauled it out into the front yard. It sat there smoking into the next day. That afternoon, my dentist and his brother decided bring the set back into the house "just to see what would happen". Of course they did this before their father came home from work and while their mother was out. They plugged in the set and... it worked fine! By this time, their sister and other brother were home from school. When their parents got home, they saw the TV missing from the front yard and thought it had been stolen! When the parents came in, they first smelled the TV and then heard it! My dentist and his brother first caught hell for bringing the set back in. But, after some thorough cleaning and deodorizing, the set lasted another 10-12 years with no further failures! Oh yes, you're probably wondering what became of my dentist's brother? He's now one of the most renowned M.D.'s in Orange County...

Reminds me of a story my dentist told me... when he was a kid, they were living in Whittier, and had a Zenith color set which caught fire one Sunday night. We're talking flames, smoke, mom ready to call the fire department, etc. My dentist, along with one brother and their father unplugged the set and hauled it out into the front yard. It sat there smoking into the next day. That afternoon, my dentist and his brother decided bring the set back into the house "just to see what would happen". Of course they did this before their father came home from work and while their mother was out. They plugged in the set and... it worked fine! By this time, their sister and other brother were home from school. When their parents got home, they saw the TV missing from the front yard and thought it had been stolen! When the parents came in, they first smelled the TV and then heard it! My dentist and his brother first caught hell for bringing the set back in. But, after some thorough cleaning and deodorizing, the set lasted another 10-12 years with no further failures! Oh yes, you're probably wondering what became of my dentist's brother? He's now one of the most renowned M.D.'s in Orange County...

The automatic degaussing glo-bar resistor fried, and somehow cooked some chassis wiring under it. Fire shot up and around the back of the set and caused black streaks on the wallboard. I didn't blame mom for not wanting it back in the house. The Motorola that replaced it? Well, it had its own interesting history.... 3 CRT's in 5 years.

Reminds me of a story my dentist told me... when he was a kid, they were living in Whittier, and had a Zenith color set which caught fire one Sunday night. We're talking flames, smoke, mom ready to call the fire department, etc. My dentist, along with one brother and their father unplugged the set and hauled it out into the front yard. It sat there smoking into the next day. That afternoon, my dentist and his brother decided bring the set back into the house "just to see what would happen". Of course they did this before their father came home from work and while their mother was out. They plugged in the set and... it worked fine! By this time, their sister and other brother were home from school. When their parents got home, they saw the TV missing from the front yard and thought it had been stolen! When the parents came in, they first smelled the TV and then heard it! My dentist and his brother first caught hell for bringing the set back in. But, after some thorough cleaning and deodorizing, the set lasted another 10-12 years with no further failures! Oh yes, you're probably wondering what became of my dentist's brother? He's now one of the most renowned M.D.'s in Orange County...

We had a similar story when I was 2 years old. We had a 1959 Philco black and white console and while watching the 1968 Democratic Convention, Mom nudged my father and said, "I see a flickering light on the wall." My dad said, "I don't see anything." Well, she checked it out and the Philco had a small fire inside. She unplugged it and had it fixed and it worked after that.