Philco Seventeeners

[Phil Nelson]

Is that one of those "instant on" sets that kept the tube heaters lit even when turned "off?" They must have been a boon to the tube manufacturers.

I had a briefcase style TV like that in graduate school. Can't remember offhand whether it was a Philco or some other make.

Phil Nelson

[Don Lindsly]

Philco engineers were not sold on instant on. I don't recall any US made tube-type Philcos that were instant-on.

[peverett]

The one that I have restored and the one that I am working on now do not have instant on. I do remember GE having this in the 1960s.

On thing I did notice is that the 1958 versions have plated solid metal channel/volume knobs while the 1959 version that I just finished has painted channel/volume knobs that are 1/2 plastic. The 1/2 plastic tuner knob on the 1959 one is cracked. I glued it, but am not sure how well this will work. Manufacturers have always tried to cut costs.

[Don Lindsly]

I have not had any luck with glue as a permanent solution.

I have found some thin wall brass tubing, in a model shop, that works for holding knob shafts together. It comes an a variety of sizes so I take the knob to make sure I get something to fit.

[peverett]

I have not had very good success with glue either. I will give your suggestion a try.

Thanks.

[El Predicta]

I have some NOS replacements that may be what you need. I don't think that they're too brittle due to age. PM me.

Larry

[bgadow]

Don makes mention of Philcos being sold by Firestone, and someone recently posted a scan of a print ad with Firestone bragging that they were the "world's largest Philco dealer". Up to that point I did not know of that connection. What was the timeline on the relationship? I know that Firestone had their own brands (Air Chief or just plain Firestone) but they don't seem to show up much in the later years. I know this gets things off-topic but I do find it interesting. I used to think that dealers were given exclusive territories, so that if you were selling GE, for instance, you would be the only one in town doing so. Now I know better. It would seem to be a real kick in the pants to a loyal dealer to have to compete with the chain store down the street offering almost the same product. Just what were the conditions of being, say, a Philco dealer? Were there binding contracts or was it just a matter of "buy 10 TV sets & we will give you a sign to hang out front"?

[Don Lindsly]

Philco made the Firestone deal in 1956. Goodyear Tire stores sold GE TV and appliances. Philco bought the Bendix Home Laundry and Crosley Radio-TV from Avco in 1955. Firestone was branding Raytheon and some others, but the stores needed a full line supplier to compete with Goodyear stores. As discounting eroded margins, most tire retailers eased out of TV and appliances. There were very few remaining by the early 70s.

Distributors were given exclusive territories. The distributors established their own rules for the dealers in their markets. Dealers that were meeting volume targets were generally left alone. Those that did not soon had company. Exclusives were usually given more slack than multiple brand retailers. Furniture and department stores typically handled high-end consoles and combinations. Discounters specialized in portables and low end consoles. The distribution usually figured out its own formula for the market.

There were two shows a year where dealers were expected to "renew their franchise" with a buy-in order. There were packages consisting of a quantity of products at package price. Once the dealer took delivery, the distributor's salesman was back for another order.

The Seventeener III was one of Philco's best sellers. The factory line rate was 5,000 a week.