Which color set came first?

[holmesuser01]

I'm sorry guys. I told her that Westinghouse had the sets in their showrooms but didnt sell any. It was the RCA's that started selling, as you all know.

She agreed. She read everything we've posted here.

I hope I haven't caused any more confusion than normal here.

SandyG: I **think** the Biltmore Dairy Bar is still there, but am not sure. I know that TGI Fridays is over there in that building now. Very expensive and touristy. The locals dont go there, much.

[Sandy G]

Bruce, THAT was where we'd Pester my daddy to take us when we were kids...On the few times we went to Asheville... We DID print the labels for Gerber's Baby Food, & Daddy had to go to Asheville reasonably often...But rarely did we get to go w/him...

[Steve McVoy]

No holmesuser01, that is not correct. Westinghouse did sell sets to the public before RCA, but not as many as RCA.

[holmesuser01]

They did sell sets? I believe you, sir, as you know more about them than I do. I was under the impression that Westinghouse had them in dealer showrooms, but didnt sell any.

I have now lost the bet. It's what I get for thinking I know it all. I grew up with RCA reps telling me that RCA invented and sold the first color televisions, and other stuff like this.

[Steve McVoy]

Yes, they sold sets, though not many. 20 of them exist today.

I remember reading an article (NY Times?) that mentioned that only a few were sold in the first few weeks. Anyone have that article?

Here is a nice summary by Tom Genova. He says that in the first month of sales only one was sold:

http://www.tvhistory.tv/advertising3.htm

[reeferman]

Bruce and Sandy,
The Dairy pops up on the net, so I'm going to do my best to stop by while we are in Asheville next month. If we do I'll file a report.
Phil

[holmesuser01]

I know that years and years ago, Biltmore Dairies, Inc. sold their operations to Pet Dairy, Inc. Before that, we got our milk delivered every week or so, and was left outside the back door in a little metal box. It must have been insulated, somehow, as we never got bad milk.

Hope that the Dairy Bar is still as good as it was when Sandy and I used to go there.

[kx250rider]

I doubt if there is a factual answer. There are so many definitions for "first on the market"... Just as some might call the Saturn EV-1 the "first electric car on the market" in 199-whenever it was, but one could argue that in the early 1920s, Franklin and others produced electric cars sold to the public too. And the EV-1 was never sold; only leased, so that would default the "first electric car" to the Toyota Rav4-e, which was in fact sold and not loaned or leased to the public. But you had to be in the right place at the right time, and pay up front, and go in a lottery. So was the Rav4-e really "available to the public"? Same goes for color TV. If you had the $$$, I'm sure you could walk into some lab someplace, and buy a color set in mid '53, but if you were a householder and wanted to go into a dept. store and have a new color TV delivered that week, you probably had to wait for the CT-100 in 3/54.

Charles

[dieseljeep]

[QUOTE=holmesuser01;3063004]I know that years and years ago, Biltmore Dairies, Inc. sold their operations to Pet Dairy, Inc. Before that, we got our milk delivered every week or so, and was left outside the back door in a little metal box. It must have been insulated, somehow, as we never got bad milk.

When we had milk delivered to the house, it was three time a week. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The milkman also collected the money on Saturday.
Other dairies followed a slightly different schedule.

[Sandy G]

We had one of those little galvanised metal boxes outside our back door. too...Pet Milk Dairy. Seems like that lasted up til at least about '71 or so, when I went off to McCallie...We had the local dry cleaners', but the "Good" one was from Kingsport, the guy came 'round once a week...Funny how you remember this stuff...Biltmore Dairybar was REAL impressive place over in Asheville, sort of colonial style bldg, w/a 2,3 story picture window....Well, it was impressive to a little kid, anyway...And IIRC,it was fairly close to Biltmore estate, hence the name, I guess. If any of you ever get the chance to go to Asheville, you simply MUST see Biltmore House & Gardens...No radio or TV stuff, but it has a "Wow !" factor of about 15 on a 1-10 scale...When Mr Vanderbilt looked off this back portico, EVERYTHING he saw was HIS...They later made most of the Pisgah National Forest out of that part of the estate...The house was built in 1895, yet had electricity, & quite a few of what we'd consider modern conveniences...It takes the better part of a morning-or afternoon-to go thru...If you get the guided tour. They can have 2500 people going thru, & you WON'T feel crowded. It is obviously a major tourist attraction, yet it does NOT feel "Cheap" or "Touristy". It is still owned by the family, & is a fairly major local employer, & is EXQUISITLEY maintained.

[holmesuser01]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

We had one of those little galvanised metal boxes outside our back door. too...Pet Milk Dairy. Seems like that lasted up til at least about '71 or so, when I went off to McCallie...We had the local dry cleaners', but the "Good" one was from Kingsport, the guy came 'round once a week...Funny how you remember this stuff...Biltmore Dairybar was REAL impressive place over in Asheville, sort of colonial style bldg, w/a 2,3 story picture window....Well, it was impressive to a little kid, anyway...And IIRC,it was fairly close to Biltmore estate, hence the name, I guess. If any of you ever get the chance to go to Asheville, you simply MUST see Biltmore House & Gardens...No radio or TV stuff, but it has a "Wow !" factor of about 15 on a 1-10 scale...When Mr Vanderbilt looked off this back portico, EVERYTHING he saw was HIS...They later made most of the Pisgah National Forest out of that part of the estate...The house was built in 1895, yet had electricity, & quite a few of what we'd consider modern conveniences...It takes the better part of a morning-or afternoon-to go thru...If you get the guided tour. They can have 2500 people going thru, & you WON'T feel crowded. It is obviously a major tourist attraction, yet it does NOT feel "Cheap" or "Touristy". It is still owned by the family, & is a fairly major local employer, & is EXQUISITLEY maintained.

Also had central heat in that monster house Now, it's set up for wood heat, oil heat (a huge Iron Fireman -branded furnace,) and natural gas. I would advise the guided tour. The main buss lines that feed power between the floors of the house are totally original solid bars of copper in trenches. I also got to see the original generator distribution system, not working, and the site of the first Carrier air conditioning system in the sub basement. There is work going on there every day. Not a speck of dust anywhere, either.

I live, as the crow flies, about one and a half miles from the Biltmore House to the west. From close to my own house, with binoculars, I can see the big back patio of the home.

Used to call my house, Biltmore House West. My dad called my house, Biltmore House Worst.

[jr_tech]

Since this thread is already pretty far off topic, I have a question... Every time is see "Asheville", an old folk song starts running through my head about Asheville Junction and the Swannanoa Tunnel. Is this the same Asheville? is the tunnel still "all caved in"? does any of this make any sense?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v-UuePEvgw

thanks,
jr

Edit add: Hoyt Axton version, with tunnel pix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS8iPHLz-SA

[holmesuser01]

Well, Swannanoa is near this Asheville, along the railroad line to the east. The line is open to Old Fort, NC at the bottom of the mountain range, and continues on towards Winston-Salem, and points east, so the tunnel must have been reopened at some point.

Maybe we can drag this back on topic kicking and screaming, somehow?

[Sandy G]

Well, we could start talkin' about WLOS...THEY had color kinda early on, as well as I remember....We had 'em on our Cable TV system, & they had network color as far back as at least '64...Even Mr Bill was in color...This is SORTA back on topic...Moreso than talkin' about Biltmore..You prolly don't appreciate Biltmore, growin' up w/it being right there & all, but I grew up hearin' "The Sight to see in Asheville, Is Biltmore House & Gardens..." Never got to see it til I was grown up..

[holmesuser01]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Well, we could start talkin' about WLOS...THEY had color kinda early on, as well as I remember....We had 'em on our Cable TV system, & they had network color as far back as at least '64...Even Mr Bill was in color...This is SORTA back on topic...Moreso than talkin' about Biltmore..You prolly don't appreciate Biltmore, growin' up w/it being right there & all, but I grew up hearin' "The Sight to see in Asheville, Is Biltmore House & Gardens..." Never got to see it til I was grown up..

I've toured the house twice. I did audio-visual work up there for many years, and got to know alot of the behind the scenes people there. It is a beautiful home. Mr Vanderbilt had all the forests planted allover the ranges to the mountains, as this was all well-used up pasture land, for the most part.

WLOS got a new color film chain around 1964, when they started running the individual Hanna Barbera cartoons on Mr. Bill's show. Before that, they played black and white prints of the color Warner Bros. Cartoons, Storybook cartoons, and The Stooges. Wonderful time in our lives, getting to see all these great old cartoons before we were off to school!!!