Roadkill 2005!
 

Thought we should start a thread showing our roadside finds this year. Picked up this Catalina combo yesterday. Thought it was color when I first saw it. About killed myself getting back to pick it up. I will have to wait for it to dry out before attempting to power it up. This would have been awesome if it was color.

polaraman

Back view.

TV chassis. It does have a few transistors.

What was that perverosity of long ago which led to building behemoths like this? :-) Where is the yoke on the neck of the picture tube? Buh-zar!

Anthony

Interesting set. Looks like something that might have been sold at k-mart way-back-when. Did it have legs with it?

There are legs listed on the parts list. They were not laying with the set when I picked it up. I will have put some on it though.


polaraman

the set sure has that color look from the front. catalina's & coronado's interest me because the only place i ever see em is when browsing through photofacts. is this one wells-gardner built?

I really do not know who buit it. I will look more tomorrow. It is SAMS 1064. I was shocked that it was not color. It is a cool set though. Because of the name I will keep the set. First Catalina set I viewed also.

polaraman

That's definately a unique looking set. I really like it.

In this part of Texas, no garbage is put out at the curb...it is all put in the city-owned dumpsters which are located in the alleyways behind all houses. In the country you have to contract your own trash hauler which furnishes you with a metal dumpster or you have to haul it to the dump yourself. No trash cans are ever used for trash pickup.

Consequently no large items are usually put out for the trash. Luckily we have a community recycling days yearly from which I officially collect the TV's, etc.

I remember though when I lived in Ohio and you just set the trash out at the end of the driveway and hunting for TV's set out...sometimes it was a race against the trash man to get them!

How about if I enter this thread just to display a gratuitous photo of a console TV displayed in the back of an old Dodge truck? :naughty: This is a somewhat-working color '68 Zenith that looks like new cosmetically.

If only I could get somebody to do some trading with me :worried:

Sure wish we were closer... I'd trade ya a truck load of sets for your truck! :yes:

I found this set about a year and a half ago at the curb. It did work, but I gave it a recap anyway. The CRT is weak though, I'm using a booster on it.

Ya just have to imagine ...its 'Superbowl 1'...way back in 1960sumptin!!!!! :banana:

Okay, I'll bite: Who sold Catalina sets? It's a name I never heard of.

Nice truck! Looks like a 76 model? Like to find one of that era with a big block! Would make one hell of a screamer. Mine is a 1988. Bought it 5 years ago and have put over 100k on it. I looks like hell but it runs well. Thought about a new one but they are $20k! A new one only gets a couple more miles per gallon than mine. Mine has fuel injection. I got a lot of use out of my $2k investment.

Who did make catalina?


polaraman

Okay, Veg, you asked the kinda question I like...the kind I can find an answer for! My book sez White Stores, Inc. Hmmm...never heard of 'em. Maybe thats why I've never seen a Catalina.

I did an excite search and came up with Thrifty White Stores inc. This is a chain of drug stores in Minnesota and adjoining states. Are they the same?


polaraman

No...I don't think the White stores in question here was a drug store...We had a Whites here years ago in Texas, seems like they were a discount store that sold appliances, auto parts, etc.
There is still a Western Auto store in Alamogordo, New Mexico that sells home entertainment equipment and appliances along with auto parts...not sure if they still have Truetone brand products.

It could have been one of the long lost dime store chains that used to be a ball to look around in as a kid. Maybe Woolworth-Woolco, Grants, Kresgie, Eagles to name a few. Many of these had there own brand name of electronics. Sure miss those days.

Walmart Sucks!!!

This has got me to thinkin....anyone remember Rexall Drugs? At one time they were bigger than Walgreens, anyway, they're still around although their numbers are few and far between. What I'm getting at is that their stores are older than dirt and may still have tube testers....a long shot but one worth checking into.

Anthony

Haven't seen a Rexall store since I was a lad. I believe the name at least is owned by Dart Industries, who also owns Tupperware.
Anyone remember the Rexall 1-Cent Sale?

When I was a kid there were large discount department stores called "White Front".I wonder if Whites was a part of them.This was in Southern California in the mid sixties.
Jimmy

There was a huge White Front store here in San Fran years ago. It went away before I moved out here and the locals tell me about it.....pretty much like a Woolworths. It still blows what's left of my mind that someone didn't buy out Woolworths and saved them. To this day that has got to be one of the most recognizable names out there (Kodak being another one and to a slightly lesser extent, Lionel trains)

There are still some Rexall stores locally although they look pretty shabby and seem more like an old time local corner drugstore than part of a (once mighty) chain. Hell, even Longs is more upscale, and they're a distant second or third compared to Walgreens. I've always wondered if there was some connection between Wal-Mart and Walgreens......would explain a lot, eh?

I wonder where all those Radio Schlock tube testers went.....they couldn't ALL have ended up as landfill. What about Canada or Mexico locations? Perhaps some still are kicking around either.

Anthony

We have a Rexall drugstore in Midland (Graham Pharmacy). They still have the old soda fountain where you can get malteds, sandwiches, etc. Also there is a drugstore downtown in Eastland, Texas with its soda fountain. Seems like in Eastern New Mexico/West Texas there are still a lot of towns with downtown drugstores, Coast to Coast and Western Auto stores, IGA stores downtown, etc.

These little towns often have a Radio Shack dealer (not company owned store), too. The radio shack dealers are independent licensees of the R.S. brand and are sometime general stores with other products, too such as hardware. Because the store owner owns all his or her inventory, they are a lot more likely to hold on to old products...some small town Texas radio shacks still have tubes and phono styli but have not seen a tube tester.

I remember R.S. stores selling their tube testers around 1986, 87 or so in the store as "manager's specials". for around $50-$75.

Rexall brand vitamans are sold through some other stores. I don't recall ever seeing a real Rexall drug store. No Walgreens here, either. There are a few Western Auto stores in the area; the one I know of looks straight out of the '50s. They still carry tv sets but when I checked them out about 8 years ago, no, there were no "Truetones"! I would like to patronize a store like that (independently owned) to help keep them going, but both W-A's around here are about an hour away. One interesting thing about Woolworths, the company is still in business. They own all the big athletic kinda stores at the mall. I think Footlocker and several others. Last time I tried typing in woolworths.com it took me to the homepage of the new company, with some made-up name like "Verizon" or "Altria". I think there big mistake was sticking with a lot of old locations that were too small and in bad parts of town. Our nearest Woolworths was in a regular shopping center & was pretty good sized for a Woolworths. Still vacant after all this time.

More Road Kill! It is a Setchell Carlson unitized chassis set. It is missing or never had the radio and record player. So, it is a combo set. It is not for the faint of heart! Children beware! I like the lift up top. It is real easy to access the chassis. CRT checked out good.


polaraman

Chassis view. Anybody have the radio module for this set?

Your choice of Halloweenie prop or colorized. SCARY! The critter that made all of those webs is still there. They are not fake! It is a big spider!!!!! :sigh:

polaraman

That's an interesting set. Should be fixable, it looks like everything's there, and the cabinet doesn't look _too_ damaged that it can't be fixed up. Hmm, maybe this particular set needs a slightly modified Sam's Photofact...

Chassis Removal:
Remove screws from cabinet back, remove back.
Remove push-on knobs from front of set
Remove chassis retaining screws from under chassis shelf ; remove spider.
Detach web from chassis frame, disconnect speaker, HV, yoke and picture tube leads.
Lift chassis up and out of cabinet, disconnect retaining webs.

Installation is opposite of above, although spider may be discarded. Web connections are optional, they provide no signifigant grounding.

But seriously, that looks like a really neat television. Good find, I hope rebuilding it goes well. You might want to take a good picture of that spider though, just in case the doctors need to figure out what kind it was. <grin>

-Ian

Man... they really knew how to make a chassis easy to work with! Just lift the top and jerk out the section you want!

And easy for little Junior to poke his fingers in there too! :saywhat:

Looks pretty hammered, what say ye Polaraman, can this be saved?

I may have to consult with Jim from Star trek!!! :D

I peeled off all the loose veneer tonight. The wood under the veneer (On the sides and top) was 1'' thick solid wood. I think it can be saved. It will take a lot of work. It will have to go on the back burner for the moment. I was amazed that the chassis was not rusty.

If this was in my house as a kid I would have had my fingers in it. :thmbsp:


I put the truck back in this thread. :naughty:


polaraman

Cool, I like those sets.
I think the chassis is Aluminum?
As a kid I most certaintly would have been poking around under the hood too :D