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When I was first "noticing" TV sets at about age 8 or 9, most of the color sets were 10-year-old roundies in my neighborhood. A few people had 23" rectangular sets, and one millionaire had a 25" Magnavox solid state console. Most still had B&W consoles in the livingroom, or maybe a 19" Japanese portable color set in the den. Bedroom sets were not common yet.
But the roundie was the "normal" set that I would expect to see in any color TV household. I was really fascinated with the round tube, as we still had a late 50s 21" GE B&W console at that time. One neighbor in particular had a Sears roundie, which she had serviced regularly by Sears repair. I used to be allowed to go to her house when the repairman came, and I would watch him do a repair. In fact, it was one of those Sears guys in her house who taught me to do the gray scale setup. Before that, I was allowed to go and see the Saturday morning cartoons on it.
The roundie was such a big part of my childhood and my beginnings in the TV hobby (and TV repair career until I quit 5 years ago). It is a symbol of a magical time in my life, the fascination with color TV, my envy of color TV-neighbors, and the roundie will always have a special place with me. It is a component of my memories of easier and more innocent times.
Anyway, that's what I have to say about Roundies!
Charles
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