Elvis's RCA color TV at Graceland

[fujifrontier]

Grrrr!

[Sandy G]

I agree, Fuji- "Grrrrr!", indeed, but for a WORKING museum display, a roundie stuffed w/modern guts prolly makes more sense than going w/the original. Roundies ARE kinda prone to breakdowns due to their age, & I'd say most general museums DON'T have a good roundie mechanic on premises. WE know what kind of good pictures a well-set up roundie is capable of, but yr typical museum curator, or more likely, the grad student that sets things up is NOT likely to really know-or care-the proper care & feeding of a 50 yr old funky TV. Helluva shame, but that's the way it is.

[Whirled One]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

I agree, Fuji- "Grrrrr!", indeed, but for a WORKING museum display, a roundie stuffed w/modern guts prolly makes more sense than going w/the original. [...] Helluva shame, but that's the way it is.

Yep, I'd agree. It's really not practical to leave a fully-original vintage TV constantly running in a typical museum situation, no matter how nifty that might be. As someone mentioned in another thread, even the Smithsonian doesn't do that, including the couple of prewar sets they perpetually have on display (which were fitted with "guts" from modern B&W TVs, as of the last time I was there).

Now, of course there are some specialized museums that do have such things on display. BTW, one I haven't seen mentioned here before is the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting ( http://www.pavekmuseum.org/ ). It's in the Minneapolis area. I've been there a few times, and they've got a pretty fair range of stuff, ranging from acoustic spring-wound phonographs, to early battery radios, to televisions-- including radio/TV broadcast-related equipment. The specific items on display tend to rotate from time to time, and most (but not all) of it is kept in operating condition and they'll gladly demo most of it for you..! They even used to have a CT-100 on display, but I don't think it has been on the floor for some years now. However, one reason they can keep these things going is because the equipment is not on 24/7, and there's always someone from the museum nearby to supervise/watch the equipment when it is running.

They do have some odd/interesting stuff there though-- when I was there once a few years ago, they even had an old radar unit on display (running and operational) that had been used as the weather radar by one of the local TV stations.

[fujifrontier]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

I agree, Fuji- "Grrrrr!", indeed, but for a WORKING museum display, a roundie stuffed w/modern guts prolly makes more sense than going w/the original. Roundies ARE kinda prone to breakdowns due to their age, & I'd say most general museums DON'T have a good roundie mechanic on premises. WE know what kind of good pictures a well-set up roundie is capable of, but yr typical museum curator, or more likely, the grad student that sets things up is NOT likely to really know-or care-the proper care & feeding of a 50 yr old funky TV. Helluva shame, but that's the way it is.

oh, well I know THAT... it's just..... what gets done with the guts?

[Jack Lord]

I did the Graceland tour (one of life's must dos btw) and do not recall seeing that set, although it is obviously there. I do remember his three tvs in a row in his rec room or whatever he called it. They were working and had prerecorded stuff from the 70s on them. I noticed that intro that used to precede all CBS specials such as Charlie Brown played on one.

Now were the three in a row the same as that one in the pic? I do not recall that either.

[orthophonic]

The blonde CTC 5 is in the music room that is visible when you
look across the living room.

[vintagecollect]

...

[bgadow]

I'd say either this is a seperate TV from what folks have seen playing video or else this is an old photo taken before changes were made.

[rcaman]

i have seen the set it looks all original to me. it is right next to the piano. you see it as you walk in the front door to your right. music room next to the living room. steve

[rcaman]

[QUOTE=rcaman]i have seen the set it looks all original to me. it is right next to the piano. you see it as you walk in the front door to your right. music room next to the living room. steve[/QUOTE

and i would love to own that set. yea right so would everyone else

[orthophonic]

bgadow, no video is ever played on the CTC 5, the videos are
played on the three later model non-roundie RCA's built into the wall of the rec room. Those TV's have had the insides
updated, the CTC 5 is original and not used.

[vintagecollect]

...

[Indian Head]

A recent interview with Priscilla Presley had her located with the music room behind her. The CTC-5 was easily visible in nearly all her shots. So, as of earlier this year, the set is still there. Some friends who toured Graceland said that the tour did not go into that room, so I don't know how much attention they paid to anything in there.

[charliesheen]

i know dick clack has a ctc 5,its at his warehouse in burbank,my dad use to work there and (dick used his coaster group alot and dad needed work when there were no gigs)its in good condition,i dont know if it works but at least it looks good.the last time i saw it i wasnt too intrested in it,i was more intrested in his jukebox he had in his office,and would you belive when i asked him if hed give it to me he said no.but yea dick dosent throw away anything.

charlie