RCA model names
 

Where in the world did RCA come up with the model names for their sets? Did it lend/add an aura to the set? The French were consistent in naming battlefield encampments after the General's girlfriends. RCA makes no sense at all. Did you know the "Whitby" name was used for the -5N, -11C, & -17X? Does anybody really care? If you have a model # and want to know the name, my field service index is about 95% there through -19. One thing I did find (interresting ?) was the -12AC was listed as Hotel/Motel.

It appears that similar cabinet styles of sets used the same model name even as the chassis technology changed.

I guess it made choosing a cabinet out of a book a little easier. Instead of "Frank, I really like the RC-473-6QE-71A better than the RC-471-6QT-64B. It would go better with our sofa." she could just say "I like the 'Portabello' better than the 'Riveria' " I suspect at smaller dealers, at least, they sold many sets out of the book instead of having to stock everything. Also made it easy when you saw the ones shown in the magazine. Maybe the wife of some executive got the job of coming up with those names. Always wondered if they had to be careful not to use the same name as the competition. What if both Admiral & Philco offered a "Walla-Walla"? And what would a "Walla-Walla" look like? Sorta like a Wishy Washy Washing Machine???

If I recall, many brands did use the same model names. Especially in the higher priced sets. Now there are virtually no wood cabinet models available. No catalogs. Few neighborhood appliance/tv stores. Just on line shopping by model number and big box stores. Pretty hard to put an exotic name on a rectangular plastic cabinet. Ho hum.........


-Steve D.

I posted this somewhere here once before:

I wasn't in marketing at Zenith so I can't say for sure, but I believe they took their model names from town/city names in an atlas - and I believe they definitely checked that no competing brands used the same names. There probably were copyright issues involved, but they wouldn't want the same names anyway.
Many of the RCA names have a British origin (except the Seville, I guess) or refer to something considered elegant (Haviland <-->porcelain china). "Gainsborough" was an artist and is also a town name.

I also say ho-hum to the charcoal gray sameness of present designs.

Now here's a cabinet

I always wished they'd named one the "Featherstonehugh"-Fanshaw- and another one the "Chalmondeley"-Chumley. But nobody there had a warped sense of humor like I do, I guess...-sandy G.

Magnacrap
 

Hey OLD_TV_NUT. Nice picture. I remember working at the Magnavox dealer back in the early 70's. An old lady would come, adore the cabinet, buy it, could care less about the set. She would tell her friend, and the process would repeat. I have to hand it to the marketing execs at Magnavox..they knew how to get to people who had the $$$$$$.

Isn't that white set either the Drysdale or the Tralfaz? LOL

You think most TV names are weird? Ford hired some wacky poet to cook up some sub model monikers for their upcoming Edsel. Among the names she suggested was "Utopian Turtletop" I shat you not. Whatta maroon!

Anthony

Hell, it mighta done better if they HAD named it that.... Still the the Edsel would have been a BIG hit if they'd introduced it in '55, rather than '57...in '55, you could sell anything that had wheels. By '57, the country was headed into a recession, & people weren't wanting to buy too much that was flamboyant. So what does Detroit do ? offer up the most outrageous, "gorpiest" cars ever. At least until the '59s came out...-Sandy G.

The chassis in that white set is a pretty good one...out of four of that style I have, 2 worked right off the bat and the other two just needed new 6BK4's or HV rect tubes and repairs in the 6BK4 circuit.

In their day, Magnavox, Zenith, and RCA sold some really great looking cabinets. And I'm pretty sure some of those wood tv cabinets had real live wood and not just coated partical board. Constructed far better than most of the real furniture you would find at discount places today.

So I wonder what has happened to cause the situation so different today than in the past? Did we run out of wood or could it be that people just prefer to buy a bunch of cheap crap at Wal Mart? I wish I knew.

Sony happened. As soon as people saw that amazing Trinitron picture they forgot about the wood and went for the picture.

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consoles
 

I can't remember if consoles had the radio, record player, and tv or not. If so, Then put my vote in for hating consoles. They were hard to deliver, hard to work on, hard to put together (wiring) after repairs. I remember that few had wiring diagrams inside them. General Electric was a real piece of junk, followed closely by Magnacrap. But in this instance I can honestly say that I wasn't prejudiced..I hated them all.

In case I forgot to say it..I hate consoles.

We in the UK, AFAIC, rarely had consoles... To be honest, most of the ones I've seen on here or Ebay have looked fairly rank (sorry guys!) - that white Magnavox being a prime example - why did US designers of olde go for such overblown tackiness? A lot of the consoles look overstated even by Las Vegas standards!

Real wood is nicer than plastic, but KISS should apply to styling :)

Magnavox was the king of cabinets - they may not have sold the greatest number, but I'm sure they made a profit on every one when the lady walked in and said "that's the one that goes with my furniture". The French provincial cabinet is probably the peak of embellished (over- embellished?) designs. When I first showed it to some friends, he was silent, but she said "Oh! She's a Lady!".

"It's all a matter of taste," said the old lady as she kissed the cow.

Taste? ...lack of it, imho, morelike :)

Mind you, I have a bland Sony box (understated I guess). My hifi uses Rega, Naim and NAD though - now that's dour, individual styling!!!

So, where does RCA's Dimensia system (early 1980's) name from.

As I recall, they did have some hardwood on sides and top of 26" tv, though the stand was a laminate.

I think the proper spelling for that is "Dementia"

Anthony

The Dimensia series is based on the Lyceum TV, the professional video monitor model of the RCA 25" set. The Lyceum usually had real wood veneer or woodgrain, while the Dimensia seemed like it was usually black laminate veneer.

I just checked, it is with an 's' and 1 'e'.

Well I initially thought that was the difference between the Colortrack 2000 and Dimensia, but then my curiosity was piqued and I looked through Google. Go here

Our family had received one back in '84, well the tv,vcr, small amp&speakers,and tape. It was wood grained. Had one of the strongest remotes that I have seen so far. Between many falls and even partially melted from being left on a stove, change of batteries and it still worked. While the stereo was OK (still a major improvement over previous tv speaker), I did like the integration of the system, something I miss with the components of today.

The tv is now with a brother and is used as a secondary tv, the picture is a bit off and the color tends to change.

Thanks for reply as I did not know the history.

Here is a bit from the link --

>> but instead of being a general purpose machine attached to a TV, the television itself was the computer. This remarkable new television came in the FKC2600 ebony-finish model and FKC2601 oak-finish model, and was the first TV containing microprocessors capable of external input/output functions. This monitor/receiver was the centerpiece of RCA's new Dimensia home entertainment system, where the TV and all the attached components could communicate with one another in an "intelligent" fashion. <<

These seem to develop bad solder joints in the tuner/control modules if the Dimensias use similar chassis setups to the Lyceum and Colortrak 2000. I have the Lyceum and had to resolder joints inside those modules which are in metal shield boxes to get rid of intermittent noise in the picture.

Is there a link on how to do this or is it a major project that is best left to the pro's?

If you are not familiar with soldering it would probably best be left to someone more experienced....the modules are on the left hand side of the set as you are at the back of it with the cover off. It has been a while but seems like you just pop off the shield covers and resolder the ground connections and anything that looks suspect in there.

I always wondered why The General didn't have RCA name their top of the line "The Sarnoff". Maybe he just didn't think of that...-Sandy G.

Anthony, aren't you the one who sold his Dementia and bought a Phlegmington?

Or was that a Phlegmington II?

I still have several of the Dimensia components I purchased in 1985. They still perform well. I also still use the original remote! I gave the Dimensia AM/FM tuner to my brother some years back and it still works like a champ. Components included: 26" TV/Monitor, CD, VCR, AM/FM tuner, linear tracking turntable, stereo amp, and matched speakers. And custom cabinets. An equalizer was added later. There was a CED player planned but never produced. I believe the Dimensia name was phased out around 1988. As I recall, the use of the word "Dimensia" as a model line was called into question because of the association with the mental condition. This may explain why it was dropped. The intergrated components remained in the RCA line up with out the Dimensia label for a couple of more years. Perhaps GE decided they were to expensive to produce.

-Steve D.

Yep, I don't know what I was thinking. I might be getting senile but I can't remember what the doctor said. The Phlegmington is a royal pain as I have to manually manipulate the electron beam to scan the screen. All of those people with carpal tunnel syndrome from computer use ain't got nuthin on me!

Anthony

Back to the console stuff...

OK, here I am on the other side. My theory runs something like this...

In the late 50's, cars seemed to be the largest, heaviest, and most chrome ridden pieces of "artwork" out there. Size meant style, size meant that you had MONEY, size was everything by the late 50's through to the early 1970's. Gas was cheap. TV's (IMHO) seemed to run along the same marketing ideas. I don't think that technologically the picture tube could grow, so why not have an enormous cabinet? My father purchased a 1966 GE console the "top of the line". Even though it had more than its share of problems, our family loved that set deeply. My parents kept it long after it quit working and the tv repair dude told my mom "...we just can't work on it any more, just can't get the parts....." Mom told me last week that she gave it to good will. For me, that TV was the greatest, and always will be.

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Yes I agree with that, as what most companies sell is the "sizzle" not the
"steak", maybe perhaps more so in the old days. It's harder to sell the technical merits of a product to consumers as opposed to the exterior qualities, as many people are non-technical and are more interested in fashion and style.

You often can or could sell a product on technical merits and not fashion (such as, say, Checker cabs) to an industrial or commercial customer.

A table model CTC-38 in a black metal cabinet with non-illuminated channel numbers is the exact same inside as the deluxe console, except for the speakers. Even if the larger sets had more speakers there were not usually better amps or bass/treble controls, etc. except in the case of some of the Zenith sets.

The thing that I find most interesting is that when you go to one of the electronics shops, their best TV's are usually displayed in something that resembles a cabinet. It might be glass, or plastic, or possible even some type of wood product, but people still want to see their favorite electronics inside a cabinet that is "in their minds eye" enhances and shows off their favorite equipment.

Me? Right now, I have (modern stuff) a 2004 Sony 32inch monitor in silver that is setting on the old 31inch RCA stand that is black! The RCA has a problem with the vertical circuits, and I just can't bear to heave it out, even after my son threw the boccer balls at it (steel round balls a little larger than a marble). Chipped the picture tube like a case of acne.