641TV on eBay
 

Listed as a 1950's set, I believe this is actually a 1946 model?

One book says 46 the other two say 47, the model number indicates a 46, Anyone know for sure?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-RCA-Vict...QQcmdZViewItem

I know it didn't come from Sears!

As far as I know, on all of the postwar-40's RCA TV sets, the first digit in the model number is the last digit of the model year, and the next two digits give you the total number of tubes in the set (including radio/phono functions if it's a combo unit). So, a "641TV" is a 1946 model having a total of 41 tubes. [Oh, and I *think* the "V" in the model name stands for "Victrola", so that also indicates it's a combo with a record player.] Of course, the model year doesn't necessarily indicate the actual year in which the set was made.

Other examples of this coding on RCA TV sets:
621TS: 1946 model year, 21 tubes
630TS: 1946 model year, 30 tubes
8TS30: 1948 model year, 30 tubes
9T240: 1949 model year, 24 tubes
9T246: 1949 model year, 24 tubes

When I bought my 641 I checked around a little; I agree that the 6 refers to 46 but it appears these were built in 47. My 630, going by date codes, was built around new years 46/47 so there was some definate carryover there. I would think somewhere on the net there would be a clearinghouse for this information but I haven't found it. An oddity of my 641 is that it has a Crosley branded chassis, probably swapped in sometime later. I've read that Crosley sold 630 clones fairly late, up into 49 at least.