Anybody want to own a genuine TV repair shop?

[Bobby Brady]

It's Sheldon's TV. Owned by a great guy named Bob Rinker and located on Federal Highway(Broadway) in Riviera Beach, Fla. An authorized RCA and Zenith Dealer since early 60's and recently Zenith dropped him claiming he had too few claims. Apparently his business is steady and good with long time customers. Surprisingly to me there was very little there older than the '90's as far as parts or TV's. The shop is small so I can imagine tons of valuable stuff was tossed over the years. He recently tossed a bunch of stuff. I did not press for details even though I wondered about my just missing the boat again. I was a little disappointed by the neighborhood. However, the building is secure and I believe the neighborhood will get better and better(remember "RCA is making television better and better."?). It is located near Singer Island which is a special place and he services that area. There is a new huge condo complex very close. Bob has a bum knee and needs time away or I think he'd stay longer.

[Captain Video]

Originally Posted by Bobby Brady

It's Sheldon's TV. Owned by a great guy named Bob Rinker and located on Federal Highway(Broadway) in Riviera Beach, Fla. An authorized RCA and Zenith Dealer since early 60's and recently Zenith dropped him claiming he had too few claims. Apparently his business is steady and good with long time customers. Surprisingly to me there was very little there older than the '90's as far as parts or TV's. The shop is small so I can imagine tons of valuable stuff was tossed over the years. He recently tossed a bunch of stuff. I did not press for details even though I wondered about my just missing the boat again. I was a little disappointed by the neighborhood. However, the building is secure and I believe the neighborhood will get better and better(remember "RCA is making television better and better."?). It is located near Singer Island which is a special place and he services that area. There is a new huge condo complex very close. Bob has a bum knee and needs time away or I think he'd stay longer.

I found the pictures of his TV shop very interesting, and I noticed that the TV's he got there for repair are decently stored. Here in Brazil TV repair shops are usually very chaotic places, where the owners put dozens and dozens of TV sets on top of each other, forming true "TV walls" . Do american owners of TV shops do the same, or the way he stores the TV's in his shop is the normal way in the US?

[Bobby Brady]

Bob's shop has about as much clutter as possible but he is careful with his customer's sets which are mostly big screen sets. I would keep my showroom very clean and free of clutter. I am sure Bob's was that way in the past as some of the 70's RCA decor(curtains/displays) is still in place. There are many photos throughout this site showing shops in America stacked just like you described which is not how I would do it but everybody is running out of space. I try to be as careful as possible with anything nice treating it like a museum piece.
Do you think there are any round screen color sets in Brazil?

[Captain Video]

[QUOTE=Do you think there are any round screen color sets in Brazil?[/QUOTE]

There are VERY few of them...I only know of of two. One is with a collector who is a friend of mine. The other is with a guy who collects movie memorabilia. From what I have been able to learn, some 300 color TV sets were imported from the USA to the city of São Paulo in 1963, and were sold to rich people, so they could watch some experimental color transmissions that were conducted by two TV stations of that city.

[Bobby Brady]

That is real neat that you know such info. I would think that there could be a fair # of those 300 sets still there. I get the impression that a place like Brazil has an extremely large percentage of low income people and those are the types that may keep such old stuff. I imagine the rich, who originally bought them, would have gotten rid of them a year or two after first getting them. So, then they would likely give them to relatives. The relatives would pass them down to the poor relatives or anybody else to get rid of them. I imagine the poor in Brazil being much more likely to keep something like an attractive nonworking TV in their home than the poor Americans. I expect many of them were gutted to use cabinet for other purposes like in many in America. However, crazy as my speculation may seem, I just think there could be some roundies in Brazil for someone who may want to look for them.
Here's something almost as crazy: I live close to Miami and I love the history of Miami and I love being there. I have always been very comfortable with Spanish/Latin people but I don't speak the language. My life involves much stuff to make it hard for me to take time out to learn Spanish so I put it off. It is kinda akward to be with Latin people who are my "freinds" when they speak their own language. In Miami I have seen homes and business that are full of old stuff, more than I see in "American" peoples' places. So, I am going to try to learn Spanish to go to old TV shops and maybe I will get lucky! I mean to find a TV not sex(haha). The Latins love to make love!
The old RCA shop I recently posted info on was operated by a great man named Bob Rinker and when I spoke of a CTC-15, etc. he seemed to respond as though he thought I might be a little nuts.