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Old 11-13-2017, 02:49 AM
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Why even in 1976-1982 color tv where still expensive for people from USA?

Why even in 1976-1982 color tv where still expensive for people from USA?
I've read (even around here) that some people could only afford a color set only after 1976, and some get one only in 1978-1982 + a 2nd color set was expensive for a lot of pepople. Where price so big? Did it count that most people from U.S.A. had to invest in car so there where less money left for an tv set?
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Old 11-13-2017, 05:18 AM
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It was just a more expensive technology than a B&W set.

Realistically, most people bought color at that time, only the very poor, or old people (who didn't want color, for whatever reason). As a 2nd set, B&W was good for the kids or the kitchen, though. Lot of those little tv/radio B&W sets were sold for that purpose.

If I recall, 1976 was the point where color set sales in the US exceeded 50% of all TV sales. But remember that there were already multiple TV households, and also, the US was going through economic headaches at the time too - money was tight in the 70's.

You also had households like my parents, where the main TV was a color set, but the color crapped out on it due to whatever (bad tube? We never did get it fixed), but we kept it till it died anyway.
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Old 11-13-2017, 12:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nasadowsk View Post
It was just a more expensive technology than a B&W set.

Realistically, most people bought color at that time, only the very poor, or old people (who didn't want color, for whatever reason). As a 2nd set, B&W was good for the kids or the kitchen, though. Lot of those little tv/radio B&W sets were sold for that purpose.

If I recall, 1976 was the point where color set sales in the US exceeded 50% of all TV sales. But remember that there were already multiple TV households, and also, the US was going through economic headaches at the time too - money was tight in the 70's.

You also had households like my parents, where the main TV was a color set, but the color crapped out on it due to whatever (bad tube? We never did get it fixed), but we kept it till it died anyway.
According to wikipedia the year color sales exceeded monochrome was in 1972. I thought it was during the color boom of '67, but was wrong too.

One could potentially obtain a used color set cheaper than a comparable new monochrome set by the early to mid 60's, the catch being it probably needed work, and once fixed would cost some money to maintain unless you knew enough to fix it yourself. By the late 60's one could probably find a working used color set cheaper than a comparable new monochrome set.

Tube color sets did tend to have noticeably lower reliability than tube monochrome. Many thrifty TV owners/families avoided color till solid state because they did not want to pay for maintenance....There were adds my several makers trying to convince monochrome buyers that their new chassis was as reliable as monochrome.
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Old 11-14-2017, 06:47 AM
fixmeplease fixmeplease is offline
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You couldn't buy a job into the 1980's and if you did it was minimum wage which I think was a little over $3/hr. Gas was very high compared to wages too. I cant remember for sure what year it got better but I think about 1983.

Also you dont miss what you never had, and those with B&W did not miss color as they never had one. I think we had 3 working B&W's before we got a color, a 1982 RCA.
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Old 11-14-2017, 07:48 PM
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My parents lived paycheck to paycheck in the early 70's; as a baby we lived in an old farmhouse that cost them $40/month rent. They had a new color console TV. Many of their friends & relatives were in the same boat. But my grandfather? Heck, he could have bought not the color TV but the whole store, real estate and all. His set, into the early 80's, was a 15" b/w. One year for Christmas my grandmother received a new electric dryer as a gift from all her children, so she wouldn't have to use the clothesline. He made her return it because it would use too much electric. Some folks, you see, are just plain cheap!
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Old 11-15-2017, 12:45 PM
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In 1981-86, I recall unpacking & delivering RCA XL/Colortrak 19", Magnavox T809's and GE 10AC's to folks in their 70s-80s, who only had BW sets. Of course most were already on cable in the town.

Most of the Sony buyers were the more affluent folks, who specifically bought small-screen color for "the den" never the living room, as they were way too high-brow for thier TV to be so obvious.
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Last edited by DavGoodlin; 11-15-2017 at 12:54 PM. Reason: Sony added
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Old 11-17-2017, 12:51 AM
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Go look thought the old store catalogs at http://www.wishbookweb.com/the-catalogs/ and look at the TVs.They were not cheap then .$495 bucks for a console maybe $350 for a 19 inch set was common then.

Some 19 inch sets out of Sears 1977 Wishbook.

http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1977_Sears_Wishbook/#626

1980 JCP catalog

http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1980_J...s_Catalog/#564


From the money site below : A set valued at $500 bucks in 1978 to todays value is $1,480.00 to $3,950.00. A good size flat screen for that kind of money you could get today.

https://www.measuringworth.com/uscom...ativevalue.php

Alittle off topic but a treat .How many bedrooms had these plastered over the walls.Yours truly did.LOL. OK stop drooling over your keyboards,Smartphones or Ipads.LOL..................................... .

http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1977_Sears_Wishbook/#374
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Old 11-17-2017, 08:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by centralradio View Post
Go look thought the old store catalogs at http://www.wishbookweb.com/the-catalogs/ and look at the TVs.They were not cheap then .$495 bucks for a console maybe $350 for a 19 inch set was common then.

Some 19 inch sets out of Sears 1977 Wishbook.

http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1977_S.../page-626.html

http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1977_S.../page-627.html

1980 JCP catalog

http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1980_J.../page-565.html

From the money site below : A set valued at $500 bucks in 1978 to todays value is $1,480.00 to $3,950.00. A good size flat screen for that kind of money you could get today.

https://www.measuringworth.com/uscom...ativevalue.php

Alittle off topic but a treat .How many bedrooms had these plastered over the walls.Yours truly did.LOL. OK stop drooling over your keyboards,Smartphones or Ipads.LOL..................................... .

http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1977_S.../page-374.html
Something went askew when you tried to copy the catalog links so I fixed 'em up for ya. Hey, my '74 Sanyo has a remote like the one in the '77 catalog.

Quote:
Originally Posted by centralradio View Post
Alittle off topic but a treat .How many bedrooms had these plastered over the walls.Yours truly did.LOL. OK stop drooling over your keyboards,Smartphones or Ipads.LOL..................................... .

http://www.wishbookweb.com/FB/1977_S.../page-374.html
Lol, TRITE! That's nowhere near my ideal, and besides, I'm no Ashton Kutcher. Actually that would be a lot worse, she was born several years before my mom.

Last edited by Jon A.; 11-17-2017 at 09:00 AM.
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Old 11-17-2017, 10:18 AM
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TVs used to be considered expensive, growing up in a middle class family, we only had one TV, and it was nearly 20 years old before it was retired. Also, there was a group of people who had only ever had black and white, and wanted the new one to be the same. I heard the justification that black and white is cheaper to repair, well into the 80s.
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Old 11-17-2017, 04:27 PM
centralradio centralradio is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon A. View Post
Something went askew when you tried to copy the catalog links so I fixed 'em up for ya. Hey, my '74 Sanyo has a remote like the one in the '77 catalog.


Lol, TRITE! That's nowhere near my ideal, and besides, I'm no Ashton Kutcher. Actually that would be a lot worse, she was born several years before my mom.
Thanks Jon for fixing the links.
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Old 11-19-2017, 04:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maxhifi View Post
TVs used to be considered expensive, growing up in a middle class family, we only had one TV, and it was nearly 20 years old before it was retired. Also, there was a group of people who had only ever had black and white, and wanted the new one to be the same. I heard the justification that black and white is cheaper to repair, well into the 80s.
But couldn't you get an black and white set as the 2nd tv in the house?

In Romania in the '90's tv's where expensive (color ones). But you wished you could have more and good ones. No you can have, but most of the programs are unwatcheble (= pice of crap).
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Old 11-19-2017, 04:52 PM
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I remember in early 1983, we were looking for a new color TV console. We went to Kaufmann's in Pittsburgh (A local department store, my grandfather worked for them fixing appliances, they were later bought out by Macy's and then that store was closed a few years ago) and we were looking at a 1983 model Zenith System 3 for $650. It had a keypad for channel changing but a knob for volume. I did spot one for $550 and it had remote control and was able ready, the reason for the $100 discount was it was a 1982 model they wanted to clear out so we bought it. As many know here, I still us it to this very day and in fact, it is on now.
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Last edited by NowhereMan 1966; 11-19-2017 at 05:03 PM.
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Old 11-19-2017, 04:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007 View Post
But couldn't you get an black and white set as the 2nd tv in the house?

In Romania in the '90's tv's where expensive (color ones). But you wished you could have more and good ones. No you can have, but most of the programs are unwatcheble (= pice of crap).
Yes. In mid '70's a cheap 12" B&W could be had for <$80. A Zenith
was about $110.
Color started at $200 for a GE 10/11" portacolor or $270 for an
18/19" GE. Most homes had a console color in the living room &
a B&W bedroom set that got carried around. By the 80's small colors
took over the adult places & the kids had 12" B&W's. Soon most
kids had color too !
B&W sets faded away starting with the big ones leaving only 12" & under.
Most were for battery use etc.

Not only Romania but we suffered with crap TV but since our TV
was not government ( except PBS) there was some very good shows also.

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Old 11-20-2017, 08:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007 View Post
Why even in 1976-1982 color tv where still expensive for people from USA?
I've read (even around here) that some people could only afford a color set only after 1976, and some get one only in 1978-1982 + a 2nd color set was expensive for a lot of pepople. Where price so big? Did it count that most people from U.S.A. had to invest in car so there where less money left for an tv set?
I think the issue isn't about "why were they so expensive back then but why are they so cheap today" Case in point: If you purchase a big box store HDTV today and it fails within the guarantee period, The factory will ship you a new set vs fixing your old set. The only way this can be profitable is if the cost to build a new set is cheaper that the cost of fixing it in the home market. The only way this can happen is through the "dark magic" for foreign currency exchange where 1 hour of labor of a person in China is only worth a small fraction of a hour of labor from someone from the EU or USA.
Just my opinion,
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Old 11-20-2017, 09:43 PM
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I was thinking about the way some prices constantly increase while others remain dormant or drop, with none of this indexed for inflation. Cars have continously risen in cost but then, look at how much you get! A new Chevrolet of the mid-30's might be outdone in options by the average golf cart these days. Meanwhile, Sears is running a radio ad this week for a $269 washing machine. Sure, you can spend a lot more, but at the bottom end washers & dryers have been stagnant for a l-o-n-g time. Continous cost-cutting, & then finding at last that even big, bulky things like major appliances can be shipped around the world cheap enough to build them in China.
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