RCA CTC-9 Golden Anniversary model
 

This model,"The Felton" w/gold colored cabinet, recently sold on ebay, was unknown to me. Anyone ever seen one or perhaps own one in their collection?: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1959...item486680d895

-Steve D.

The vendor stated low hours, but I saw that the tube was a Colorama 21CYP22A, so was it replaced?

That is a colorama replacement, the original Colorama tubes didn't state anything about new components. Just the Colorama stamp

Not unknown to Ed:

http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/Galler..._Felton595.gif

[QUOTE=miniman82;3108566]Not unknown to Ed:

Nick,

The "Felton" CTC-9 is not unknown to me either. However the "Felton" shown in the ebay listing is painted a rich gold color on a perhaps metal cabinet. Was this a special edition model? The model pictured on Ed's site looks to be an Oak finish. I'm only asking if anyone has heard of a special edition "Felton" model.

-Steve D.

Steve,

The second sale of this set does not show in the completed listings. ???

However, the first (?) sale still does, and back on April 15th it went for $900!

See auction 161271541617

This set in not in the vintage I'm into, but I don't remember ever seeing an RCA metal cabinet with orange peel. (A paint defect usually caused by an improper paint-to-thinner mixture, improper paint-to-air mixture or too much paint being applied.)

On the last two photos in the vertical photos, if you click they will enlarge, then click again and they blow up to a huge size.

Both orange peel, and gold flake paint are evident in these photos.

The age marks on the paint look questionable. They just don't look quite right to me, but I cannot say why. In short, I've never seen an RCA metal cabinet with a non-professional paint job, but with that said, I've never had a reason to look that closely. I'd demand a careful paint inspection before purchasing that set.

Jas.

Sold for $750. Some fool bit on the "Golden Anniversary" hogwash.

I did notice the imperfections in the paint. Considered that this could be due to the age of the set. Again, I was trying to determine if in any of the VK member's experience they had ever come across, or heard of such a limited edition set. In all my years of collecting vintage TV's and pouring over catalogs and sales information, I had not. So, I will agree this was a scam, until any evidence to the contrary comes along. Thanks for the comments.

-Steve D.

The first thing noted is the golden anniversary of RCA would be 1969, not 1959.

The major companies that were absorbed into RCA in the early years, Westinghouse and General Electric (which included The American division of Marconi Wireless after it was nationalized during WWI), all predated 1909.

I literally can find nothing connected to RCA important enough to celebrate a fiftieth anniversary in 1959!

Could this have been a dealer promotion to sell some left over metal cabinet sets, by repainting them a jazzier color?

Since there obviously were other 1959 RCA model 210CB831 made, as Steve's original question still wonders, what color were they?

I still feel this is a non-professional repaint job. I'm not saying the seller did it, he or she could have been suckered on an older set they picked up.

Jas.

They are celebrating the 5th year of color TV. Why golden, I don't know. I have the "Caulfield" model and has the same tag.

The "Golden" seems to have been added by the seller. Well, the hang tag IS partly gold-colored, and the set itself is painted gold. It is a metal cabinet, of course. Is the Felton as shown on Ed Reitan's Web site known to be blond and not gold?

Seller is having a hard time with this, listed again: http://www.ebay.com/itm/161354299786

.

The Felton on Ed's site is Oak. The seller also says in description factory painted gold. Who knows? I also noticed in one of the photos of the speaker grill some kind of logo or emblem, that I can't quite make out, that is not on the Felton catalog photo. No place on the ebay post to ask questions. Guess I can't let this go until I know for sure.

-Steve D.

Steve:

At the bottom of every listing is "Ask a Question". It is right below the last photo if you scroll down.

Thanks Tim,

I scrolled down the site several times and missed the "Ask a Question."
I have asked the seller to verify w/documentation that this "special edition" Felton is what he says. Also a clearer image of the emblem on the speaker grill.

-Steve D.

Steve I don't ever remember seeing a set that color. The anniversary model I have is a full console. I guess a can of Krylon can do wonders

As a result of my questions to the seller he responded w/ the following message:
Q: What does the emblem say on the speaker grill? (see pix). Also what documentation do you have that this was a special edition Felton Golden Anniversary Edition? Jul-02-14
A: hello, actually the emblem is missing... the brochure tag that comes with the TV explains the Feton Golden Anniversary Edition.... it was a 5 year anniversary edition as stated in the brochure which they called, the "golden anniversary for color TV! we've recently sold this TV twice - both times to someone in Italy and we've had to relist due to nonpayment because of the over $1400 shipping cost. And, also so you know, as I've seen comments on the Videokarma site - this is the original gold paint - it has NOT been repainted. The paint looks much better in person than in the photos.(if you examine where the missing emblem is, you'll see the original glue over the gold paint) I originally purchased this set years ago from Harry Poster who also was aware of it being the golden anniversary edition…

I have emailed Harry Poster and hopefully he will reply and verify the Felton's authenticity. And also possibly recall what the badge on the grill displayed.



-Steve D.

Gold painted CTC-9
 

Hi Steve and all!

Since I sold this TV in 2012, I remember a bit of it--but most importantly, I did save Ed Reitan's email concerning his knowledge of the TV.

I'm sure when I had it, the set was original gold painted from RCA, and Ed's comment seems to confirm this...

From his email of Sept 2012:

"...The 'Mural" set was meant to be custom mounted in the wall of a home,
achieving at that time, a flat panel color television receiver "on the
wall". See my blurry attachment. Did you get any of the speaker or
surround frame? I can see the "Speaker Connection" on your photo of the
rear of the set.

I recall seeing a RCA color one-page 8 1/2 x 11 dealer sheet for this set
that my Dad got for a friend who was considering it. I can not imagine many
homes having the layout or space to hide the rear of this set, but that was
the idea. ..."

So that mysterious missing tag, had the word MURAL...and I remember after reading his email, checking the set from an angle, and I could almost make out the work. The original sticker isn't removed, as much as faded or lifted--a quick makeshift RCA sticky nametag, rather than a metal tag as would be expected.

I hope this helps anyone that thought the set could be contrived.

An interesting set...just too bad they didn't gold-plate it rather than gold paint it! (Although, as Ed stated, it was meant to have the cabinet concealed)

Harry Poster

Harry,

Thanks for the info and for confirming that this set did actually exist. Seems to me the seller may have hyped it w/the 50th Anniversary special edition text. Glad to know the gold paint is original and the badge said "Mural TV." Thanks also for the photo. I recall a 1959 article w/photo on installing this set in the wall and have attached it. Also enhanced your photo as best I could.

-Steve D.

Just curious, why paint it gold if it's going to be installed in a wall, why have a cabinet at all for that matter?

1) To keep to from having two shipping crates, one for the chassis and one for the CRT/Yoke.

2) To insure that the components stayed in one piece during the wall installation. The cabinet supports the CRT assembly.

3) To have some way of safely handling the pile of parts when the set had to be removed for service.

4) And most important, to prevent a lawsuit when some carpenter failed to cover the HV on the back of the set and the owner's kid stuck his hand inside to see what the back of the CRT felt like.

For the record:
I was under the impression that all RCA metal cabinets in this era had high temperature dried (period name: "baked-on") finishes. What caused so much suspicion for me is this paint looks like it was cold sprayed and air dried. The cold process takes too long to use in mass produced cabinet manufacture and I assumed it was a former owner's attempt at hiding cabinet damage or more likely, rust. It also creates a softer finish and that picks up scratches more easily.

Jas.

that Gold CTC-9
 

I first suspected something was 'strange' for that particular set, when I checked the model NUMBER (the name was of less importance to me).

I saw: 210 CB 831 ... and there were no listed 210CB's on Ed's listing.

Of course, it wasn't a RCA CPA Color Prototype, but it was interesting (and still is).

response to contraversal anniversay color tv
 

Thanks Harry for remembering the TV that I purchased from you several years ago and confirming that I doid not repaint. To clarify, the anniversary is not a 50 year anniversay - it is the "5 Year Anniversary of Color TV" The "Golden" refers only to the color of the set which matches exactly the attched brochure tag.... This has been quite a learning experience about semantics and wording and how it effects perception! Hopefully, a reliable buyer that will actually pay, will make an offer on the set. I have seen other CTC9's sell for comparable prices...

There is a model of the CTC 9 simply called "The Anniversary". You can see it on Ed's site (now the ETF). It has the same paint scheme as the CT 100 (Gold around the perimeter). It's similar to the familiar CTC 7 "Anderson" model . I have one that's a little rough, and cannot make up my mind to restore the cabinet or leave it as-is. A very lucky find.