Vintage TV Pics from The S.E.P. 1951

[ybaolywa]

While I'm usually in the vintage audio gear threads, I'm always find myself drifting over here & reading the posts in these threads. So, I was at the local military base thrift and picked up a Feb. 17, 1951 copy of the Saturday Evening Post. I got it for the Air Power story with Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, former CSAF. Found a lot of neat full-page ads of TVs. Just wanted to share some of 'em

[old_tv_nut]

Thanks for posting. A few things that are striking in these early ads:

1) The furniture!
2) Some makers advertising a range of products for a range of budgets.
3) Advertising hype based on some particular technical design feature like "balanced beam" - but they never really told you what it was, even though they claimed it put them ahead of everyone else, and even though there might be many other important things about a set's performance. There ensued many years of advertising "features" that nearly every chassis had, in addition to any real distinguishing features - the main thing was that some ad writer could find a catchy name. I have some later Motorola ads touting "Miracle Interlace!".

[Einar72]

Another stand-out in these ads is the formal dress of the cast. From the pre-war days and into the early fifties, TV night at someone's home was a special occasion, since the owner was often the only one within his family or social circle to own one. It's a far cry from today's couch potato sitting in his/her undies with a beer and Dorito dust on their fingers and on the remote!

[70salesguy]

Originally Posted by Einar72

Another stand-out in these ads is the formal dress of the cast. From the pre-war days and into the early fifties, TV night at someone's home was a special occasion, since the owner was often the only one within his family or social circle to own one. It's a far cry from today's couch potato sitting in his/her undies with a beer and Dorito dust on their fingers and on the remote!

My intent is not to hijack this thread, but it is true that people used to dress better.

When I was a kid and my Dad would fly for business (not with the Wright Brothers by the way), people used to dress up to fly. Now when I fly, half the people look like they are in their pajamas or gardening clothes!

If you look around in public, it looks like some of the people don't even have a mirror at home!

Pardon the minor digression here, please.

[old_tv_nut]

Those who couldn't quite afford a TV at home could subsidize the one at the corner bar.