what is an early color television - a definition????

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Oldstuff78

I think what people think as early color TV will vary. Having been born in 1978,I tend to think anything made before 1970 as being a classic, but a lot of people will disagree with that.

A lot of homes didn't have color TV until the 70's and even the 80's. I grew up during the 80's and remember going to peoples houses that still had b&w sets.

My parents didn't have a color set until they got married in 1971. My Mom says she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw color TV.

I was recently watching a 1969 episode of Love American Style and there was a segment where a guy talks about inviting a girl up to his apartment to see color TV and that she had never seen it before. He was lying to get her up to his place and only had a B&W set from the early 50's. Even then Color TV was a novelty.

I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder of what designates a Early color set. I think most peoples ideas come from their life experiences and what was happening in technology while they were growing up.

I have a 1969 Sylvania Hybrid and I think of it as a classic, but most would not.

As for me, I was born in '76 and I consider any radio, TV, or stereo with tubes (including tube / transistor hybrids) to be a classic. I also consider the early solid state sets to be classics. I'm starting to place some of the better built TV's from the late '70's to early '80's in the "classic" category. I currently have an '80 RCA XL-100 with rotary tuner in my living room and it plays every day without problems.

It's amazing how far TV's have come just in my lifetime. In my area, if one had a remote control cable ready TV in the '80's, that was a big deal. Heck, I was very excited when my Dad bought our first VCR in the mid '80's. I was probably just as excited over that VCR as kids were in the '50's and '60's when they saw color for the first time. I too remember B&W sets being a common sight in homes up until the late '80's or early '90's. Really, the "fancy" TV's didn't become common here until the prices of new TV's started coming down to the "give away" level. I've known several older people that didn't want any part of a color TV. My 10th grade English teacher had a little Korean built 12" Sears B&W in the mid '90's and she didn't want anything else.

It won't take long looking at the various TV forums on this site to determine that this is a very diverse hobby. This forum is geared towards pre mid-60's color sets and late roundies (as has been mentioned), the B&W forum is geared towards early B&W, and the Rectangular tube and SS forum will reveal collecting interest from the early rectangular sets of the '60's up to the present. Some collectors, like me, are interested in all aspects of this hobby. Others may only focus on a certain era.

BTW, I would consider your hybrid Sylvania a classic. I don't think I've ever had my hands on a tube-type Sylvania. The oldest ones I remember finding were some mid '70's hospital sets.