View Full Version : Help me choose a TV


Carmine
03-26-2005, 07:31 PM
Those of you who've seen pictures of my crib will know that the whole place is pretty retro... Be it my 1930s living room:

Carmine
03-26-2005, 07:44 PM
Or, even the kitchen with it's 1965 coppertone appliances...

To get to the point, I'm wrapping up a huge project where I moved the rear entry door to a different wall. This left me with an extra doorway, which I turned into a window (as seen below). I added some much needed cabinet space, and have just finshed building a countertop.

I'd like to have a small TV for the kitchen, but the question is: What kind of TV would look right? I'm not going to just cop-out and buy a Chinese box... It's gotta be something cool. However, it has to be reasonably sized. (No roundie stereo-theaters in the kitchen) I have the small Admiral portable that you see in the picture.... Not bad, but it's a little beat-up cosmetically.

Ideally, it would be color and Tube. 60's GE Portacolor comes to mind, but I've never really seen one in person, so it's hard to get an idea of size. B&W would be ok, but it needs to have UHF. You all know I like Zeniths, but I don't know if they ever made anything this small.

So here you see the countertop. I've placed the Admiral, and a 2-foot level in the picture for scale. Keep in mind, that I'll need to get at the light switch called out in the picture. What are your suggestions?

polaraman
03-26-2005, 08:13 PM
Maybe another car in the garage would be easier. :D

rca2000
03-26-2005, 08:50 PM
A few of us here have 'em, they are NICELY built, from around '66 to the early '70's. If you could get one, it would go good in your retro kitchen

Carmine
03-26-2005, 09:04 PM
Oh, no way I could do a 19" set! Maybe a 15" B&W or 9" color would be about it. From a functional standpoint, this would be ideal:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3320&item=5763215632&rd=1

But BOOOORRRRING!

bgadow
03-26-2005, 10:16 PM
The Portacolor would fit fine, I think. Maybe a little shorter than the Admiral but wider. There were lots of bw sets from GE & Admiral especially that follow the basic design of what you have; one from earlier in the 60s would fit right in. I think some had all white cabinets and probably all kinds of colors. Nothing to match your appliances, though, I would guess! I used to have a red/white/blue GE that was cool. Admiral had a 9" version that seems to show up a lot. There was a small 60s RCA I've seen that I thought was cool looking. Another set I used to have, hard to find but had a real 'retro' look to it, was an early 60s Sears (not Silvertone) that was maybe 9" or so, made by Toshiba, IIRC. This was about the first they imported. It was small & neat because it had a VERY rounded screen. The small color Zenith might be a little tight?

veg-o-matic
03-29-2005, 12:36 PM
I've always been partial to the RCA "Sweet 16" myself. I don't think they're particularly deep, but my memory could be faulty.