A 1948 Admiral 19A11

[decojoe67]

I just acquired this brown bakelite 7" TV from a friend who got it from the original owners son. His parents bought it originally and when it stopped working they left it right where it was. When they passed, he got the house and again, left the set right where it was up until about a week ago. As can be expected, it was very clean without a speck of rust on the chassis. My friend did an easy restoration of the chassis and it works well! An interesting thing about this example is the heavily swirled knobs and channel plate. I don't recall seeing another example quite like it.

[Gleb]

What a nice television! We lack such bakelite cuties here in the country. But what we have is a plenty of early televisions totally plowed up with a soldering iron and then decayed in sheds. It was non-traditional to just leave a retired television where it was. A "real man" must try to "fix" it or at least "improve" if it still works, and then, after spoiling it, triumphantly throw "that obsolete crap" into a dank barn to rot there...

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Gleb

What a nice television! We lack such bakelite cuties here in the country. But what we have is a plenty of early televisions totally plowed up with a soldering iron and then decayed in sheds. It was non-traditional to just leave a retired television where it was. A "real man" must try to "fix" it or at least "improve" if it still works, and then, after spoiling it, triumphantly throw "that obsolete crap" into a dank barn to rot there...

I so agree. The old-timers did not simply toss old items in the garbage like society does so easily these days. Us collectors should be grateful to them! The interesting thing about this one is it wasn't even stored away from what I understand. It was a fixture in the house since 1948!

[Gleb]

Originally Posted by decojoe67

It was a fixture in the house since 1948!

That's a great luck!

BTW, I really wonder why bakelite cabinets weren't popular here in Russia. There were a few bakelite radios but no televisions. In fact, the first plastic television was produced here in 1965:



'Vecher' (translates as 'Evening'), a 19" semi-solid state B&W television.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Gleb

That's a great luck!

BTW, I really wonder why bakelite cabinets weren't popular here in Russia. There were a few bakelite radios but no televisions. In fact, the first plastic television was produced here in 1965:



'Vecher' (translates as 'Evening'), a 19" semi-solid state B&W television.

That's a unique looking '60's TV. Yes, it's hard to understand why sets in different areas of the world were made with certain styles and materials. It likely was a financial/marketing matter. I personally love the '30's GE bakelite cathedral radios produced in Australia, and wonder why they weren't produced here in the USA.

[M3-SRT8]

I never seem to be able to acquire one of those 7" Admirals for my collection.

Oh, I find them, but they're either not nice enough, been previously restored, not the right price, etc. I guess I'm getting too fussy in my old age.

Anywaaaays...nice TV, Deco Joe. You have chosen...wisely.

[M3-SRT8]

Originally Posted by Gleb

BTW, I really wonder why bakelite cabinets weren't popular here in Russia. There were a few bakelite radios but no televisions. In fact, the first plastic television was produced here in 1965:

That's a good question. The Russians were big into molded plastic reinforced woods, stressed bakelite plywood and phenol formaldehyde resins in the 30's, and used these technologies in aircraft manufacture. The Lavochkin LaGG/La Series of fighter a/c used much of this technology thru the end of 1944 until switching to dural stressed skin construction.

Also, those gigantic 2-story bakelite mold presses that Admiral used for their television cabinets were originally contracted by the USSR during the Second World War, and I'm guessing it was for aircraft component manufacture. With the end of the war the Russians refused the equipment. By that time they had adequate stocks of duralumin to build aircraft (again, much of it from the USA), and drifted away from resins and woods for aircraft.

[Sandy G]

These l'il guys also have the advantage of bring quite "Cute". I've had bunches & bunches of complements over mine, mostly from "Civilians"-, non TV collector types. Most of 'em that I've seen have produced a pretty decent picture.. And if the bakelite case isn't too bad, you can work w/it, & have a finish that you can be extra proud of... Now, if we could just "Bend" the ear of some CRT producer in China... Hey, I can Dream, can't I ?!?

[Gleb]

M3-SRT8, thanks for the information, it seems to be true:



It explains the lack of bakelite televisions whereas small bakelite radios were pretty common. I'm guessing here were some presses back in the time but just not big enough to produce TV cabinets.

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Now, if we could just "Bend" the ear of some CRT producer in China...

I know at least two operating CRT rebuilders here in Russia, and one in Ukraine. I'm going to visit the nearest of them soon, so I can ask about their willingness to rebuild some electrostatically-deflected CRTs.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by M3-SRT8

I never seem to be able to acquire one of those 7" Admirals for my collection.

Oh, I find them, but they're either not nice enough, been previously restored, not the right price, etc. I guess I'm getting too fussy in my old age.

Anywaaaays...nice TV, Deco Joe. You have chosen...wisely.

Thank you. It can be said that these Admiral's are common, but it's so true that it's hard to find a really nice complete example these days. I wasn't going to pass the chance to acquire this one! I love the distinct swirl pattern of the knobs and channel plate on this particular example. It's even more eye-popping in person than in my photo. Very unique.

[M3-SRT8]

A shell-case press...hmmmm! That's a poser. Are they talking about artillery shells? I know bakelite can use various fillers for various strength properties, but it's usually brittle in form. Wonder how it would stand up in the breech of a howitzer...?

[M3-SRT8]

This from the Chicago Tribune in 1959:

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1...olded-products

[Sandy G]

I wonder how big our "Mad Monk" society really is... I think there are quite a few of us who'd jump at the chance to have a brand new7JP4 squirreled away-Especially if the outfit that made 'em didn't try to totally hose us on price. I'd also be interested in a 7DP4 for my 621 RCA.

[decojoe67]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

I wonder how big our "Mad Monk" society really is... I think there are quite a few of us who'd jump at the chance to have a brand new7JP4 squirreled away-Especially if the outfit that made 'em didn't try to totally hose us on price. I'd also be interested in a 7DP4 for my 621 RCA.

Sometimes I almost cringe at even using my RCA 621TS, or my Motorola 9T1 with the 8" CRT. You basically have to buy an entire parts set to get the CRT if you should need one - with the hope that ones' good! Even good 7JP4's which seemed plentiful in the '80'-'90's, are getting harder to find. One good thing though is that if you have a set with a good CRT and use it sparingly, it's likely it'll last for a long time.

[decojoe67]

I just came across this pic of two Admiral VIP's, Dom and Ross Siragusa, proudly displaying their new little 10" bakelite console TV: