Maybe I'm smoking crack, but...

Seems like a lot of trouble back in the late 60's/early 70's to put such a detailed "antiqued" finish on the cabinet for a TV that probably didn't work anymore by that time. Could this be a case where maybe the cabinet was customized with this finish at/near the time of purchase? I won't go so far as to say Zenith did it since there are people on this board who have far more knowledge than I do about Zenith and what was available/optional back when this set was manufactured, but it looks very detailed and putting that kind of work into what was likely a dead set and a white elephant piece of furniture doesn't make much sense to me. So I have to think this was done early on, if not before, the original owner took delivery.