I suppose that they could have made a version of that with a mirror in the top lid (and the CRT stays put below that lid), flip the wires on the vertical coils on the yoke, and you watch the TV in the mirror. Then the CRT doesn't have to move and get shaken around a lot. And it wouldn't be so "in your face" if you left it in viewing position all the time.
They did the mirror trick with the pre-war TV sets.
__________________
|