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There are a few of reasons for the abundance of 10BP4s around today. One is that about 98% of all post war 10 inch TVs of the forties used a 10BP4 or the aluminized 10FP4 version. Virtually all manufacturers initially made a 10 inch TV. When shops scrapped trade-in TVs the 10BP4 was one of the salvage parts.
In the late forties conversions were a big business. Customers would have 10 inch TVs converted to 12, 14 and 17 inch screens. It usually involved more than a picture tube, but it usually left a surplus 10BP4. Many of those have survived through the years.
Picture tube re-builders had so many 10BP4s that they stopped taking them back as duds so some shops just left them laying around rather than figure out a method of safe disposal.
As the industry grew, varied screen sizes and TV designs caused the types and sizes of picture tubes to proliferate, so no tube type ever achieved the degree of standardization as the 10BP4.
Don
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