Zenith Royal "R" sets.
 

I snagged this one from a CL posting the other day. Its in excellent shape, cabinet looks new, speaker cloth is perfect. This set has VHF and UHF...i thought that was a little unusual for 1953-54. This set may be a little out of my league to electronically restore. If there's anyone in the Phoenix area that has experience in restoring these let me know. Gets loud and clear sound, CRT has filament on the neck but no illumination on the screen. Its really a neat little set, looks nice and it has wheels for easy movement.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/8867/001bpd.jpg

That IS Purty...Me likey !

Zeniths that age were real tanks! I drug a beautiful one out of a TV shop attic, had full doors, great cabinet...except it had been beat all to heck over the years and the crt was necked. I think I still have the chassis up in my attic.

Some parts of the US had UHF from day one. My part of Mass. had UHF sign-ons in March and April of 1953 because it was designated as a UHF "island"... too close to Boston, Albany, and New York, and VHF would have interfered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGGB#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWLP#History

Milwaukee was another city that had UHF very early. I don't think Chicago had any until the 60's. There a lot of UHF convertors here. It was, because CBS programing was on channel 25.

Indiana had all-UHF markets from early on as well. I suspect that's where most of my 50s UHF sets lived originally.