Saved another Motorola color set this weekend!

[drh4683]

A nice snowstorm greeted Chicagoland this weekend, also marking it the very first snowfall for the season. The storm started Friday evening and continued into Saturday afternoon with near whiteout conditions at times. It wasn't going to stop me from hitting up some Saturday morning estate sales though!
So I stopped at a local sale and walked into another one of those time capsule houses and sitting in the living room was a nice looking 1966 Motorola color set in the French Provincial cabinet. It was half off day and $10.00 finalized the deal. This was another one of those situations where the TV was bought brand new at the time the original owners moved into their then brand new home. I assumed the set was probably still plugged in with an outdoor antenna still attached, but after peeking behind the set, this wasn't the case... I saw the power cord was neatly wrapped up and hanging with a piece of wire on the back cover and no antenna leads in sight. However, it was obvious that this TV was sitting in this spot for years because of the undisturbed dust. Typically a "disconnected" vintage TV still surviving in a living room means something is wrong and the set was simply taken out of service but remained as furniture. So I decided not to plug it in and that I'd wait to see what it would do until I got back home. I was happy to see the "Certified Service" tag still on back with a delivery and set up date of 12-2-1966. The Certified Service tags were typical on sets bought new at Polk Brothers department stores in Chicago and they were a huge retailer here for Admiral, Motorola and Zenith products.
I wanted to bring the set home today where I wouldn't have to deal with the snowfall, but that wasn't an option. All sales had to be completed Saturday, so that left me no choice but to transport the set home in the snow. I was able to get some plastic sheeting and wrapped the the set completely down to and around the bottoms of the feet so the legs couldn't wick up any water when sitting in back of my truck. A gentleman at the sale offered to help me load it up and tipped him for his help. Its always easier to get a 2nd hand when it comes to moving these sets than fumble around with the appliance dolly and tip the sets on all sorts of angles.

Once I got home, I safely unloaded it and got it in the garage without a drop of water or snow touching it. Today was the day I'd see what this set was all about. The back cover looked undisturbed. I powered it up and to my amazement I am greeted with what was essentially a perfect color picture without touching a thing. The CRT is bright and razor sharp even though it has a little bit of bubbly cataracts. It's certainly a low hour set. So I popped the back cover off to take a look inside. Once I looked inside, it was immediately apparent that this set was NEVER used and it was never serviced. The TS-918 chassis is like the day it left Franklin Park when it was built in October, 1966. All original tubes, just a slight bit of dust which was almost nothing considering it's been almost 50 years... Wires were all clean and tack free, all labels and tags still bright and clean as well and a bright shiny high voltage cage. This CRT is the original EIA-836 code making it a National Video Corp made tube for Motorola with a matching October, 1966 date code. This was the infamous "bad tube" but this one is basically perfect. So it leads me to wonder why this TV was never used? Either they watched TV somewhere else, didn't watch TV at all, or perhaps Mr and Mrs. Dombek (the original owners) were frightened by the color TV x-ray scare scam that hit the news around 1967 and they never felt comfortable to touch this TV ever again? Nobody knows. Unfortunately Mr and Mrs. Dombek have both passed away. Mrs. Dombek was a widower for the last 30 years and passed away at age 92. Their old Motorola TV will live on though.

DSC04768 by drh4683, on Flickr

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[drh4683]

additional photos:

DSC04804 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04814 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04815 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04819 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04826 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04810 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04823 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04827 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04856 by drh4683, on Flickr

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DSC04866 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04877 by drh4683, on Flickr

DSC04881 by drh4683, on Flickr

[Arcanine]

You always find the nicest sets. This one is pretty with that wooden case it lives in. I actually really want to find a later 1960's rectangular set much like this one to go with my RCA Roundy, since i can only squeeze two large sets like these in to my life.

[radiotvnut]

Another excellent find and I always reading the stories about how these sets were found and their history.

[hi_volt]

Man, that is an amazing find. It's incredible that it still works after almost 50 years..and the chassis looks like new. Great score. Thanks for sharing.

[kf4rca]

I remember those from the late 60's. I was in high school working p-t at a repair shop. But as best I can remember they didn't make as good a picture as other brands of the time. I remember the shop owner saying they had bad red phosphor from the factory.
I hadn't seen one in years. Thanks for sharing!
Next time, scale those pictures down. They take f o r e v e r to load!

[WISCOJIM]

Originally Posted by kf4rca

Next time, scale those pictures down. They take f o r e v e r to load!

Keep the pictures large! Many of us love the great photos and seeing the fine details in them. AFAIK they load instantly here. Maybe you need to get a decent internet service?

.

[LovesZenith]

I do like that one! The cabinet on it is actually very tasteful, unlike most Early American/period sets. Unlike most period sets, I enjoy the cabinet on it. It isn't gaudy or overly ornate. It is amazing that the set hasn't been touched in 50 years. Original tubes and everything. Those "as found" shots are always a pleasure to see. I can see why those are called the "bad" CRT. The picture quality is mediocre for the day. It looks very "streaky" in the picture showing Stephen Colbert.

[dieseljeep]

In the first picture, I see the street sign, Tripp Av. Is that were the Tripp-lite firm is or was.
I like the looks of the building on the corner. It looks to be both commercial and residential.
The home, where the TV was located, I wouldn't mind calling mine, either.

[Kamakiri]

Very very nice score!

[LovesZenith]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

In the first picture, I see the street sign, Tripp Av. Is that were the Tripp-lite firm is or was.
I like the looks of the building on the corner. It looks to be both commercial and residential.
The home, where the TV was located, I wouldn't mind calling mine, either.

I do enjoy the corner building's concrete decoration blocks. I love the carpet in the living room, it looks very "mod"! I think my aunt had the same harvest gold couch that the flash is bouncing off of when she first moved out in 1970. That wall paper looks as if it belongs in a dining room however...

[tvcollector]

Excellent find, and the story behind it makes it more charming... I doubt there is a 60s set like this sitting in a home in Florida untouched like this.. You're so lucky to find stuff like this and have the room for it.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by LovesZenith

I do like that one! The cabinet on it is actually very tasteful, unlike most Early American/period sets. My family being in antiques, "true" french provincial is the white and gold painted stuff. Unlike most period sets, I enjoy the cabinet on it. It isn't gaudy or overly ornate. It is amazing that the set hasn't been touched in 50 years. Original tubes and everything. Those "as found" shots are always a pleasure to see. I can see why those are called the "bad" CRT. The picture quality is mediocre for the day. It looks very "streaky" in the picture showing Stephen Colbert.

I've seen and worked on the early rectangular Zenith sets and the picture wasn't that much better, especially the 22" sets. Those CRT's were very short lived. The RCA's of the day, were much higher maintenance. I've replaced CRT's in RCA's that were less than two years old. That's the reason that most of the industry went to a two year warrantee. Admiral went to a three year warrantee, because their CRT's were that bad.
The picture on the set in question, seems to be very good, considering that the set was asleep for so many years. Try that with many others.
I wouldn't do anything with the cataracts, until they get a lot worse.

[stromberg6]

Thank You for a post that brightened my otherwise gloomy day!! SO happy that you have saved that TV, and that it provides a great picture before re-capping.
Kevin

[old_tv_nut]

OK, so now we know you really are a time traveler. Great find!