[Jeffhs]

I never cared much (or at all), either, for the "curtain burner" resistance line cords because they got so hot in operation. My grandmother had a 1936 Silvertone AC/DC radio that had a resistance line cord; for years it was in her summer cottage, left unplugged, of course, when she wasn't there or in the off-season. The cottage had curtains on the windows; I hate to think what would have happened had that resistance cord come in contact with them.

In the late '60s-early '70s, I had a 1955 transformerless Emerson portable TV in a metal case (which also wound up in my grandmother's cottage when I eventually got a new set). The TV worked well enough, but the metal case could well have posed a shock hazard (thank goodness mine never did; the AC switch was bad and had been jumpered, so the TV was always unplugged when not in use anyway). I don't know for the life of me why some TV manufacturers (even reputable, long-standing manufacturers such as Zenith) even put some models of their sets in metal cabinets in the first place when they knew (at least they were supposed to know) that transformerless televisions in metal cabinets were disasters waiting to happen under the right (or wrong[!]) circumstances. Deteriorated or missing insulation barriers (some do-it-yourselfers and even some technicians who should have known better sometimes left insulation schemes such as barriers off the cabinets of transformerless TVs and AC/DC radios, thinking they weren't needed--after all, the set worked without them), failed blocking capacitors, accidental contact with the chassis--anything could cause these sets eventually to become death traps. I also had a 1959 Zenith metal-cabinet TV which had a power transformer, but that set never was a concern to me as far as shock hazards went because the transformer effectively isolated the chassis from the cabinet.

There is a way, however, a transformer-powered TV in a metal cabinet can become a death trap, aside from the high voltage on the CRT or a defective power cord: if the power transformer develops a short that, for whatever reason, does not trip the house circuit breakers. This will happen because the core of the power transformer is usually grounded; if the windings short to it, either the TV's own line fuse or the house fuses/breakers will open. If they do not open and kill the circuit, the entire case of the television will be charged with the full line voltage. What would happen to the rest of the house is a different story.