Hudson television
 

Hello all!

I picked up this set last night from Craigslist, after about a month and a half of on/off correspondence with the seller. I have been a collector of items from Detroit's legendary J.L.Hudson department store for about 15 years, but have never heard of or seen any Hudson branded electronics before. I knew that they had items like shoe polish and re-badged hand held vacuums with the Hudson name, but a television is a great find for me!
I bought the set from the original owner, who recalled buying it 61 years ago, when her son was 2 years old. Even though the 16" crt has a brightener, for $15 I couldn't resist.
The seller said they'd tried the set and the picture tube didn't light up, but after taking a closer look, I noticed a yellow lead that had become detached from the crt base. Hopefully it still has some life in it.
I looked all around the cabinet and can't find any mention of who manufactured the chassis. My thoughts were that this was manufactured by another company and badged with the Hudson's logo. Any info would be great! Do any of you know if other large department stores besides Montgomery Wards and Sears like Macy's, Dayton's, Marshall Fields, had their own line of sets?

Wow! What a wonderful piece of history. Hudson's was sure great in it's day and especially the downtown store. There are Howard Sams listings under the Hudsons name so you may be able to match up a Photofact for it. Thats got to be some rare set...I wish I knew more about it too...sure looks pretty and nice quality.

If you can find a model number or a picture of the chassis we might be able to find year of manufacturer, etc.

I only unloaded the set from the van this afternoon, and haven't yet pulled the chassis. The picture of the tube diagram is pretty poor, as the paper is quite yellowed and dirty. I will take some additional photos when I get to work on it.

A top and bottom picture of the chassis might be handy in determining who made the tv. It looks like it was taken good care of through the years. Nice find!
-Tony

Lucky dog - that's a sweet lookin' set.

I had one... But it wasn't the same Hudson. (The front badge was "HUD-SON"). Mine was a European set, with a German CRT and German tubes. It was early 50s also, but it was a different company "Hudcevic-Laarson Radio". I think it was made in Poland, if I recall.

Charles

I second that:thmbsp:

Make that a Third. We've heard of Hudson's, even down here in Hillbillyland...Didn't know they had house-branded electronics, but it doesn't surprise me.

It could be a Wells-Gardner set labeled for Hudson's. The set looks somewhat like a Wards Airline set, built by Wells-Gardner, that my parents owned many years ago. Wells-Gardner made TVs and radios for a number of different chains including Montgomery Ward and Western Auto.

I remember seeing a Hudson table model set but never a console version. I believe its a WG set also. It should be a decent performer once gone through. Keep us posted.
-Tony

What a great find!!