Which is worse?
Installing a new television inside the cabinet of an old set.
OR
Hauling an old television to the junk yard.
I know that there are a lot of people here that regard any course of action other than restoring a vintage television to original specifications as sacrilege, but the general public sees these things as yesterdays junk
. By installing a modern set into this cabinet you are introducing an aesthetic to a new generation AND making it usable for them. You are teaching people that these things are not yesterdays junk, and you are doing it in their living rooms. What if the person who buys this set makes it their daily viewer? Maybe some one will visit their home and love the look of the set so much that they become an early television enthusiast? When I bought my first vintage television from an antique shop I thought that I would install a new set inside of it and call it a day. After taking it home and looking at it a while I decided that I would restore the original instead (the rest as they say is history
). Now that I am introduced into the world of vintage television I would not do a modern conversion myself, but when I see these sorts of things done to sets I keep an open mind and hope that it will encourage others to appreciate that which we all hold so dear.
Oh and I also think "gosh I hope they saved the chassis so that some day if they should decide to make it original it can be done easily."
My $.02