1967 DuMont color TV estate sale find

[drh4683]

Here is one of those "other brand" TV's, one that you might only see on the front cover of a Photofact and wonder if any of them were ever sold.

It's a 1967 "DuMont". This TV is an early example of American brand name identity loss due to acquisitions of other companies. The consumer division of DuMont was purchased by Emerson in 1958, then in 1965, Emerson was purchased by the National Union Electric Corp, a diversified manufacturer (particularly, air conditioners) and of course along with the Emerson acquisition came DuMont.

So I found this set last weekend at a local estate sale which happened to be an apartment of all places. Fortunately, I was able to speak to some of the family members at the sale and the original owners lived in this building since 1967 and that's when it was last decorated. It was a unique situation because the building contained three units and the family occupied the entire building. As you can imagine, that's a lot of room for just a husband and wife. The 3rd floor unit was basically never used. That's where the TV was located. That being said, it's obvious why the TV survived with such low hours.

What was also interesting is that this set was still plugged in and the 300 ohm twin lead was still wired to the antenna terminals. I still see this every so often. I turned it on, and to my amazement, the set worked. Not only did it work, but it worked almost perfectly without needing to adjust the vertical. To see this out of DuMont, let alone any tube type set is impressive. The only evidence I see of it being serviced were the replacement of only two tubes out of the entire 25 within the set. The CRT is original.

I have attached many pictures of the chassis as it's one we don't always get to see. The cabinet is built quite well out of solid hardwoods, so the quality for this particular brand is good for what was considered the "junk of the industry" back in it's day...

[mstaton]

Wow, I bet that was exciting to find! Very nice! Probably wont see another anytime soon.

[DaveWM]

thanks for sharing Doug. looks pristine. I am hoping you do a video of in in operation.

[mstaton]

Am I correct that there is 3 console stereo's in there?

[Jeffhs]

I think I saw a Zenith color set, and several others, in one of the photos as well.

When you say the "DuMont" set "worked", was it just to the extent that it produced a raster and white noise on the CRT and in the speaker, respectively? I don't see how you can be sure the set actually worked, well or at all (from a reception standpoint), without a DTV converter box ahead of the tuner. I don't see one on that set, or on any other TV shown in the photos; I did, however, see a small white box with the modern block RCA logo connected to the VHF antenna terminals of the "DuMont" TV. I think this must have been a signal splitter for an antenna, although again I don't see how the set worked with just an antenna connected. There would have had to be a converter box somewhere, unless Chicago still has one or more NTSC analog TV stations.

I did not realize Emerson, and later National Union, had the rights to the DuMont name by the mid-1960s. When I saw the title of this thread, in fact, I almost did a double take, since the original DuMont has been out of business since (or shortly after) the TV network of the same name went off the air.

The only TV I ever remember the original DuMont company manufacturing was the 19" console with the continuous VHF tuner. I don't think the company made sets with turret VHF tuning; the large console may have been the only big seller DuMont had. I would imagine the 19" set sold very well in the New York City area, as DuMont operated a television station there (WABD-TV channel 5, now WNYW-TV Fox 5) in the 1950s.

The 19" console is very likely a collector's item today, as there may be very few of them left; most of these sets were likely scrapped by the '60s. I think only one other TV manufacturer besides DuMont (Capehart-Farnsworth) made a TV with a continuous VHF tuner. I owned one of these sets in the early '60s; it was given to me by relatives who had gotten a new (for the time) B&W set.

[zeno]

During the color TV shortage ( before my time) the bosses
best friends brother was an Emerson rep. He always tried
get the line in the store but common sense prevailed.
But when he couldnt get Zeniths & Admirals he bought Emersons & Motorolas
to have something to sell.
Fortunately they were rare back then, probably almost no survivers.
We DID NOT like them.......
They were tube hungry & always seemed to have crappy IF stages.
Yours is cleaner than any I saw at 4 yrs old, even the DGS
thermistor looks new ! A nice catch.

BTW there is a Zenith 19" hybrid remote that should be saved.
Abt D line.
Others are tin can RCA abt CTC38 & a tin can Zenith abt Y line,
both all tube & circa 1968.

73 Zeno

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

The only TV I ever remember the original DuMont company manufacturing was the 19" console with the continuous VHF tuner. I don't think the company made sets with turret VHF tuning; the large console may have been the only big seller DuMont had.

A little "refresher" on early DuMont models, including the famous rare 30 inch round tube model the "Royal Sovereign". The mid 50s rectangular CRT sets all had turret tuners:

http://tvhistory.tv/1950-59-DUMONT.htm

http://tvhistory.tv/1946-49-DUMONT.htm

I have a RA-113 as well as the little portable from 1957 (last year of *real* DuMont production) in my collection.

jr

[Tim]

Interesting find. I found a Magnavox roundie in a similar situation a few years ago with a nice bright original CRT. That Dumont CRT mask looks very familiar. Now I know where Heathkit sourced the mask for their GR-295 sets. I built one in 1970 with the remote option and it lasted to 1984. It is all gone now except for the manuals and the remote. There is a GR-295 photo in this thread (not mine): http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=255398

[Electronic M]

Jeff, and Zeno: I'm fairly sure all the pictures taken after the one with a "TV free" sign on the CRT are of the set after Doug brought it home...Those sets after that look like parts of Doug's collection that I've seen in his youtube videos.

If there were not so many PCBs there, then a part of me that would wonder if it was a packard bell chassis...Sure looks a lot like one theirs.

IIRC: Chicago still has channel 6 transmitting in analog.

It is an awesome treat to acquire a set from it's original home, one I'd probably come to take for granted if I still lived in Chicagoland.

[zeno]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Jeff, and Zeno: I'm fairly sure all the pictures taken after the one with a "TV free" sign on the CRT are of the set after Doug brought it home...Those sets after that look like parts of Doug's collection that I've seen in his youtube videos.

If there were not so many PCBs there, then a part of me that would wonder if it was a packard bell chassis...Sure looks a lot like one theirs.

IIRC: Chicago still has channel 6 transmitting in analog.

It is an awesome treat to acquire a set from it's original home, one I'd probably come to take for granted if I still lived in Chicagoland.

I bet you a right ! Good the Zenith is safe.
It does resemble a PB chassis, another rarity in our area but a
much better set.

73 Zeno

[truetone36]

Nice set! The newest Dumont I've ever seen was from the mid 50's. These color sets from the mid to late 60's must be pretty scarce by now, aren't they?

[drh4683]

Electronic M is correct. The pics of the TV on the tile floor were taken at my home, thus the background TV's are part of my collection already.

Indeed there were three console stereos at the sale. All of them had already sold which I was pleased to see.

Regarding the working condition of the set, when I said it works, I meant just that; it works with a good picture receiving that of a LPTV signal. Since the set was still wired to the outdoor antenna, I was able to pull in channel 48 on UHF and channel 6 as Electronic M had indicated.

I never did hear much good about this particular chassis. I can see how it would be problematic after a few years of normal use. The large PC boards are like that of a GE and are a lower grade material that probably wouldn't handle heat very well. This is indeed a nice example of this particular brand due to it's low hours and originality. I agree that this chassis is similar in layout to a Packard Bell with that vertical board on the left, however, I don't see any other similarities such as tube types or physical construction. I think this chassis was an exclusive development by NUE/Emerson making it more special and unique.

It was fun to find this one, a nice contrast to the more familiar Zenith and RCA products. I had one other DuMont color set about 10 years ago, it was a 1971 model and it used basically this same chassis. The cabinet construction on the '71 was not as good as this '67. I think this particular set I have here was one of the "higher end" models that DuMont offered at the time.

[marty59]

This is the later chassis style other than the common flat clone used on the earlier rectangle as well as round tube sets. During this time period the cabinets were still generally well made.

I've seen Emerson's from this time period that looked similar but had different trim/bezel colors to differentiate from the DuMont's.

Doug you'd be right about that vertical board being problematic especially back in the day.

[old_coot88]

Wowie zowie, that's a really nice time capsuled cream puff.

We were an RCA/DuMont/Emerson dealer back in the day. The DuMont color sets, though not 'real' DuMonts, were no worse reliability-wise than the RCAs or any other line.

[rca2000]

When I saw that picture--at first I thought the same thing...there are a LOT of tv's that need saving !! Then I noticed the tile floor and realized it was doug's basement.

NICE find Doug !! Not a normal rca or Zenith either--which is a plus !! I know we all love those 2 brands--but it is nice to get one of the "lesser" brands here and there too.

BTW--I saw an early- to mid 60's Dumont roundie color set sell some time back at the ETF convention.