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xrhonda91
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Post subject: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Thu 08, 2021 4:25 am |
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Joined: Oct Mon 26, 2009 10:02 pm Posts: 7514 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Hello All,
This is the 1st TV Mom & Dad had in their first house that they bought in 1958. Always thought it was a Motorola, but can't find it on-line or read the model name in picture. Does anyone here know ???
Remember well it had problems in the early '60's even though I was very young. Once the Selenium rectifier went out and remember the repairman pulling the chassis to take it to shop---and that wasn't the only time he worked on it... It was replaced by a 16" Zenith portable in 1967 which then became a spare set a couple years later when we were able to get a color TV...
Thanks ! John
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MAPLE CREST TV 4-7-21.jpg [ 462.9 KiB | Viewed 4618 times ]
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decojoe67
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Thu 08, 2021 12:58 pm |
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Joined: Feb Thu 17, 2011 11:27 pm Posts: 14445 Location: Long Island, N.Y.
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I'm pretty certain it's a 1959 model, but the make is a guess. The name-plate is not recognizable to me.
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xrhonda91
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Fri 09, 2021 2:20 am |
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Joined: Oct Mon 26, 2009 10:02 pm Posts: 7514 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Maybe someone else will recognize it ???
Have never seen another either in person or on-line. Called Dad who is almost 90 and he didn't remember either though he thought they might have bought it at Greggs in Kokomo, IN back then...
John
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SteveT
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Sun 11, 2021 2:28 am |
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Joined: Mar Tue 03, 2009 11:12 pm Posts: 2164 Location: Great Bend KS
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My first thought was maybe a Hoffman? Or maybe an Airline MW?
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decojoe67
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Mon 12, 2021 12:01 am |
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Joined: Feb Thu 17, 2011 11:27 pm Posts: 14445 Location: Long Island, N.Y.
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SteveT wrote: My first thought was maybe a Hoffman? Or maybe an Airline MW? Airline is a good guess looking at the nameplate. Too bad it's not easy to see models from this era. If I had to take a best guess, it would be a 1959 Airline sold by Montgomery Ward.
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xrhonda91
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Mon 12, 2021 12:35 am |
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Joined: Oct Mon 26, 2009 10:02 pm Posts: 7514 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Thanks Guys...
Did search Airline as well as all U.S. brands I could find using Google image---only one that looked somewhat close was a late '50's Trav-Ler. Surprised that there aren't more sites with '50's TV items. Here is another snip out of an old slide scan showing control panel at different angle---even though blurry, badge looks completely different in this view !
John
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MAPLE CREST TV ctl pnl 4-7-21 mod.jpg [ 63.53 KiB | Viewed 4319 times ]
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MAPLE CREST TV BLOWN UP BADGE 4-11-21.jpg [ 29.65 KiB | Viewed 4318 times ]
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decojoe67
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Mon 12, 2021 1:52 am |
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Joined: Feb Thu 17, 2011 11:27 pm Posts: 14445 Location: Long Island, N.Y.
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Now I'm doubtful of it being an Airline. It's likely not one of the more popular brands, and the nameplate could be a model name rather than a manufacturer's. You could also scan the 1959 Radio and TV Retailing magazines here: https://worldradiohistory.com/Radio_Ret ... gazine.htmYou might get lucky. There's tons of sets in these radio/tv dealer magazines although not every brand is covered. You can also look over these manufacturer's and see if you can recognize a name that fits: http://earlytelevision.org/postwar_manufacturers.html
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Mr. Detrola
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Mon 12, 2021 2:28 am |
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Joined: Jan Thu 01, 1970 1:00 am Posts: 29163 Location: Detroit, MI USA
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Only a few sets would have had that specific knob layout, the real issue is finding enough old advertising photos which are clear enough to determine which brands used it in the late 50's.
I could name 20 brands that it's definitely not. That still leaves too many possibilities.
_________________ Dennis
Experience is what you gain when the results aren't what you were expecting.
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xrhonda91
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Mon 12, 2021 5:11 am |
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Joined: Oct Mon 26, 2009 10:02 pm Posts: 7514 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Thanks Guys.
Spent another long period of time searching through on-line resources with no luck.
Also "doctored" the TV image in Photoshop & Paint to remove all background to attempt Google image search.
Need to find some on-line catalogs for '58 & '59 if possible, anyone know of any specific ones I could search for ???
Had no idea this was going to be so difficult !
John
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MAPLE CREST TV snp 4-11-21.jpg [ 58.55 KiB | Viewed 4276 times ]
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xrhonda91
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Tue 13, 2021 6:35 am |
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Joined: Oct Mon 26, 2009 10:02 pm Posts: 7514 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Wow, can't believe how difficult this has become. Have shared pics with several others who have TV connections with no luck. Asked Dad again about it and he said they did buy it new in '58, but might be a '59 model---and he thought it was a Motorola though I did find '58 & '59 Motorola brochures on-line and nothing matched...
Enlarged and greatly brightened the fuzzy script and the first letter appears to be a stylized "F" similar to that used for the Canadian Fleetwood, but it only is engraved onto edge of small polished brash rectangle with the rest of the letters following. May just be the model name as mentioned earlier by Joe.
Thanks for continuing ideas...
John
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decojoe67
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Tue 13, 2021 1:27 pm |
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Joined: Feb Thu 17, 2011 11:27 pm Posts: 14445 Location: Long Island, N.Y.
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I so wish I could locate it for you, but that era is so tough. I've been a TV collector for 30+ plus years and am feeling pretty sure the nameplate is model name rather than manufacturer. They used names like "Suburbanite" at that time. Did you try the Videokarma site? ARF is much more focused on radio, but VK is much more focused on TV. Some serious collectors on there: http://www.videokarma.org/Also you might try to contact Steve McCoy on the Early Television Foundation site. He's the owner of the museum and one of the top TV historians around: https://www.earlytelevision.org/
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xrhonda91
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Tue 13, 2021 4:03 pm |
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Joined: Oct Mon 26, 2009 10:02 pm Posts: 7514 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Thanks much, Joe---will do !
I've visited the VK site for a few radio articles that showed up on on-line search, but have never joined...
Will post what I find !
John
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wiscojim
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Tue 13, 2021 10:29 pm |
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Joined: Sep Fri 07, 2007 2:27 am Posts: 6775 Location: Grand Chute, Wisconsin
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decojoe67
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Tue 13, 2021 10:43 pm |
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Joined: Feb Thu 17, 2011 11:27 pm Posts: 14445 Location: Long Island, N.Y.
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I so want to believe it's a Trav-ler, but I'll be darned if that nameplate spells that out. The only name I see connected with their sets is "Deluxe", but I feel fairly certain they would've put the company name on the front, or "Trav-ler" on the lower mask and a model name on the grill. To leave it off entirely is uncommon.
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xrhonda91
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Wed 14, 2021 2:39 am |
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Joined: Oct Mon 26, 2009 10:02 pm Posts: 7514 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Thanks Guys.
Jim---was that you who posted on VK ?
Joe---no names anywhere else on front and notice that the mask is darker than most which from what I've seen is unusual.
Will send an e-mail to Steve and hope that he'll respond...
John
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Mr. Detrola
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Wed 14, 2021 2:45 am |
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Joined: Jan Thu 01, 1970 1:00 am Posts: 29163 Location: Detroit, MI USA
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One of the better sources for photos is old Sams Photofact folders, which show a representative model on each individual folder. That becomes very tedious, but there are literally thousands of TV photofacts to look at on eBay. If you could find a way to limit them by year, it would be easier.
_________________ Dennis
Experience is what you gain when the results aren't what you were expecting.
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wiscojim
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Wed 14, 2021 2:50 am |
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Joined: Sep Fri 07, 2007 2:27 am Posts: 6775 Location: Grand Chute, Wisconsin
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xrhonda91 wrote: Thanks Guys.
Jim---was that you who posted on VK ?
John No, dieseljeep is Dave Nash from Cedar Grove, Wisconsin. I know him from our Wisconsin Antique Radio Club (warci.org). He has a long history of repairing old TVs. I use the same alias (wiscojim) over on VK that I use here. .
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xrhonda91
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Wed 14, 2021 5:02 am |
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Joined: Oct Mon 26, 2009 10:02 pm Posts: 7514 Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Jim---looked at all I could find on-line concerning Trav-Ler again with no luck. Maybe he'll remember more later...
Dennis---have been doing that very thing on-line for all U.S manufacturers using Google Images, Ebay (and other market sites), Radiomuseum, TV collector sites, etc... Many hours so far.
Did send message to Steve McCoy and hope to hear from him soon...
Here is the highly magnified and brightened script from control panel. Notice the rectangular brightwork with stylized first letter. Does this look at all familiar to anyone ???
John
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MAPLE CREST TV BLOWN UP BADGE3 4-11-21.jpg [ 337.15 KiB | Viewed 4072 times ]
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Mr. Detrola
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Wed 14, 2021 2:13 pm |
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Joined: Jan Thu 01, 1970 1:00 am Posts: 29163 Location: Detroit, MI USA
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It looks a lot like Magnavox, minus the tail on the lower case "g" and the dark colored mask also looks like something they could have used. Magnavox was always very selective about which dealers could sell their products though. However, a search of table model and consolette 1959 Magnavox models shows the controls were at the lower right rather than the top right. Many Magnavox sets around that time had the controls on the top of the cabinet and not on the front at all. They also usually had the Magnavox name at the lower center of the mask. http://www.hifi-archiv.info/Radio-Werbu ... %201-2.jpgSo based upon the differences, I think it's probably not a 1959 Magnavox.
_________________ Dennis
Experience is what you gain when the results aren't what you were expecting.
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madlabs
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Post subject: Re: Identify this late '50's TV (My family's 1st) Posted: Apr Wed 14, 2021 7:18 pm |
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Joined: Aug Thu 20, 2015 3:09 pm Posts: 1740 Location: Albion, CA, USA, 95410
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Looks like you already saw the post on VK, but just in case here is what DJ had to say: Quote: Originally Posted by madlabs View Post Do you mean this one: vie...p?f=3&t=395183If so, what makes you say it is a Traveler, what year, model, any other information? Around a 1956 or 57 model. It had a low B+chassis, one selenium rectifier. The one I worked on had UHF. Hard to remember from 1964 or so.
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