In the early 60s (perhaps '62- '63) a local paper ran an ad "new color tvs $75"... Since my parents had not purchased a color tv by that time, I pestered them until we went to take a look at these incredibly cheap sets. It turned out to be a blowout sale of unsold stock of CT-100s, to be sold with the understanding that when the tube failed, that was it... no replacement crts would be available! Well, that was not the deal breaker, since my parents figured that in a few years price/performance of new rectangular color tvs would be reasonable, so this set would only have to serve as a "placeholder" until that time. The problem was that these sets just looked terrible the way they were adjusted at the time. Most people at the sale just walked away, shaking their heads.:thumbsdn:
I think that they ran the same ad the next weekend, with the price reduced to $50.

If I would have known then what I know now, I would have smashed my piggy bank and bought as many as I could.:yes:

jr

Whine, whine, whimper...My "CT-100" story is this: On the other side of Missionary Ridge, in Chattanooga, in 1975, there was a "Bohemian" section of town (Read: Slightly seedy) known as "Brainerd". There was a used radio/TV store/service shop/junk hole in one store front, & one day the guy had in the window a "1957 RCA CT-100" for the magnificent sum of $150. I didn't actually go in & look at it, but it definitely WAS some sort of a '50s era color set...As an impoverished hi-skule senior, whose interests were more along the lines of girls, beer, girls, gas money, & maybe girls, it rated no more than a momentary pang of desire...Besides, where would I put it, how would I get it home, yada, yada, yada...I THINK it could have been a CT-100, that WAS 35 yrs ago & I have slept since then, but I DO remember it having a too-small screen for the cabinet...And the fact it looked almost brand-new. I graduated in May '75, it was far down on the list on my mind, & it was 1978 before I was back in Chattanooga...By then, the TV/Radio/Junque emporium was long since gone... Que Sera, Sera...

This NOS 15GP22 tube is now resting confortably in my TV museum. It tests fantastic on the Beltron with a minimum of 27 seconds hang time on the weakest gun and over 30 on the best.

Congratulations Bob! :D

Unbelievable Bob ! N.I.B. Will look forward to seeing pictures on your CT-100.

What a great find! I bet this won't happen too many more times over the next decade...
Cliff

Way to go, Bob !

Christmas In March
 

Congratulations Bob,

It's always nice to see a good NOS 15GP22 turn up. What date was it manufactured and what was your final price?

Best wishes,

W/my luck, I'd drop 'n' bust the damthing in my glee to get it outta the box...Lessee, one busted 15GP22-Almost Unobtanium-, one bigazz Mess to clean up, one trip to the Emergency Room to pull all the glass shards outta my heinie...Listen to the hoots of derision, nay well-deserved DEATH THREATS from youse byrds over tooling up a rare & valuable CRT-Yeah, I think that about sums it up...(grin)

production date was 48th week of 54. As for price paid I will just say that the market price of a good 15GP22 is now solidly in the vacinity of $2000 and up.

And of course if you should find one in the original box, it may be close to priceless as a collectable.

Christmas In March
 

Thanks for the update Bob.
We can only hope that when these rebuilt and NOS 15GP22s go into service they hold up.
I wonder how Jerome's efforts are going in France?

Best wishes,