Ralph's and Norton's TV?

[cbenham]

An RCA TV, ebay item #110057958145 is claimed to be [or be like?] the set used as a prop in 'The Honeymooners.' I doubt this for a couple of reasons:

That show was first on The Dumont Network, and later moved to CBS. In either case the set would probably have been a Dumont or a CBS Columbia/Air King, but I doubt it was an RCA.

Neither Alan Dumont or William Paley had any great love for David Sarnoff and I don't think either would have allowed an RCA set to appear in one of their network's programs as a prop.
~Unless of course the script called for it to explode. ;^) ;^) HARRUMPH!

[David Roper]

This is a relist from at least a month ago with the same dopey description. The TV set in the episode the seller refers to was never seen from the front, but that matters little because the set Ralph and Ed bought together was a console! I recall a table set being prominent in Norton's apartment, but it's been much too long since I've seen an episode to remember exactly what it looked like. I doubt it was this RCA set though.

[Carmine]

Agreed.

[cbenham]

[QUOTE=David Roper]This is a relist from at least a month ago with the same dopey description. The TV set in the episode the seller refers to was never seen from the front,...

Exactly, but it is seen very well from the rear and it is different because the set in the program has a flat top with sharp corners and the RCA set on eBay has rounded corners.

I found I have the DVD Honeymooners set and the show is #1 on the first disk.
It is titled 'TV OR NOT TV' and first aired on October 01, 1955. The credits at the end state that the show was filmed with the Dumont Electronicam system.

[tubesrule]

There are actually two episodes I can think of that revolved around television sets. The one already mentioned TV or Not TV from the Classic 39 episodes, and Kramden vs. Norton from the Jackie Gleason Show just before they did the Classic 39. In the latter Ralph takes Ed out to the movies for his birthday, and Ed ends up winning a drawing for a TV. They fight over who owns it, and Ralph ends up with the CRT on his kitchen table, and Ed ends up with the cabinet. I can't find a picture of that set, but have a couple from the TV ot Not TV episode.

[Sandy G]

I would think a TV was a big-ticket luxury item for either one of them.. Ralph & Ed were POOR...Seems like I remember Ralph saying he made 50 bucks a week...Not a helluva lot, even back in 1955. My dad, when he started in 1949, got $35 a week..after 6 months, they gave him a raise to $50 a week, but he had to come back after supper & wash up the presses.. He thought he was shittin' in high cotton when he got to $100 a week...

[Geoff Bourquin]

I wonder if it was a real TV. If we never saw the screen, it may have been an empty cabinet.
Just thinking out loud
Didn't we see a puff of smoke come out of it once? That would have probably have been a prop TV. Maybe I'm thinking of another show.

[daro]

Looking at the pictures of the set it shows a small hole on the bubble that protects the CRT neck. This set had magnetic focus which was usually adjusted by a mech that adjusted the focus magnets on the CRT.

What was the last year that magnetic focus was used in US made set?

[kbmuri]

Digitally-enhanced photos below, if it helps anybody. Definitely woodgrain on the side of the cabinet, not black metal or bakelite. Definitely square top, not rounded corners. Focus hole on neck cover is at the upper-left (11-o'clock position). My small sampling of 3 RCA's from that time frame all have the focus hole at middle-upper-right (2-o'clock position). Did another company routinely put it at 11-o'clock? Does the dark-and-white sticker look familiar to anybody (maybe it's just studio tape covering the RCA logo...)? Was that particular design of rabbit-ears associated with a particular brand? How about the vent-holes?

Power cord looks to be going to a metal chassis inside (something shiny anyway), so cabinet might not be empty.

Positively ID'ing this TV might make it a collector's item, like Gilligan's radio or the Waltons' Zenith. Worth a try.

[captainmoody]

I had an early 50's Dumont that I gave away about a year ago, It looked a lot like that one from the back.

[daro]

I guess that would be logical being a show that was produced by the DuMont network, Why not use one of their own TV's as a prop on the show.

[Tubejunke]

I could swear that there was some later episode or episodes where the TV was by the door next to the bedroom and you could see the screen from an angle. Maybe I have seen one of the later resurections in the 60's and the set was added. There were some color episodes in the 60's with one or both of the women being different actress's. Then they did original cast once again for some shows. I think the later versions never went over as well. Its funny how some things lose their magic and it won't return, even when almost carbon copied.

Now Ralph and Norton are Afro-Americans.

I guess "Roots" is next......

[ManFromPorlock]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

I would think a TV was a big-ticket luxury item for either one of them.. Ralph & Ed were POOR...

Most of us were. In the early fifties my father was working at a defense plant and making big bucks... $85 a week. You could buy a 16" tabletop B&W for around $180 -- and that was the cheapest one around.

[Tubejunke]

The last post brings to mind something that I have thought of a bunch. The television set is the one thing that really has never changed a lot in price. If anything as of late they have gotten cheaper in relation to screen size. What I mean is an average set in the mid 50's, like my Philco 21" tabletop set cost like $249.00. So as inflation goes a similar size set should now be like $2,490.00. I didnt do the math but back then a bottle of pop was $.05. Now a drink is anywhere from $.60 to $1.49.

To the point again TVs havent changed a lot up until getting cheaper lately. I recently, and unfortunatly went to Wal-Fart and saw something like a 21" color, remote, set for $89.99. They now have table top sets with screens the size of what out glorious floor models of the 70's and 80's used to have for like $189.99. That was almost enough to make me part with the 27" floor model my Dad brought home new from Sears in like 1982. When I returned from the service and got out on my own he donated it to me. It never needed repair up until earlier this year. Even now I don't think its anything big. The picture is sharp as new for a while and suddenly will go blurry with retrace lines. I feel like its a bad cap like many TV troubles are.

Man thats 25 years of continuous use witout skipping a beat. My Dad says trash it, its time has come and gone. I think the thing may need a minor repair and will go on for another 5 or 10 years. For certain the crap on the shelves today will NEVER perform like the old one. We live in the age of planned obsolescence and intentionally bad craftsmanship to keep us all shelling out the bucks.

[Bobby Brady]

Your Sears 27" has a very good chance of having a bad solder joint or poor contact on some panel or wire connection. I doubt a cap is causing that trouble. I have a solid state RCA that did that and looked like something complex causing it and it turned out to be a bad connection on the IF/video module.

I think it's worth a good once over!