By mid-1965,many television series switched from black-and-white to color and some continued in B&W for 1965-66 and by the following season,B&W became defunct for TV series although it gradually continued and began to phase itself out.
something the new generations will never know, the wonderful smell of tubes heating up and the warm red glow from the back of the set, and watching the picture turn into a small bright dot fading away in the evening when you got up out of your chair and actually had to turn the tv off.
@1952kid OH YEAH, right you are.....that heavenly aroma of hot tubes and a wooden cabinet. I know it well and miss it. Looking forward to saturday night monster movies with a ghostly host....who was usually the stations weather man moon lighting for extra money. Get the jiffy pop & the 6 oz green bottles of coke ready
It is Really sad that most every consumer electronics is made oversees ie China Japan etc. I do remember when most of the televisions were made here, it would be great if they would do it again and bring the jobs back to the U.S.! But unfortionately there are too many greedy corporations out there that want to be cheap and save money let alone cater to their customers!:(
People just have to demand it, it's no different then demanding Italian suits, French Champagne, or 12 year old Scotch, all could be made elsewhere cheaper but they wouldn't be considered as good. There is a market for high end anything if people wouldn't settle for crap.
@Mustanglover66 When the Chinese wise up and stop lending us money, we'll have to pay full price for all that crap. Then we'll either have to make it here or start exporting something other than worthless bonds.
I don't think there has been an entertainment medium since colour television that created such enthusiasm with the public and the engineers that designed it and serviced it. Great Ad! J.
This commercial was initially telecast in color, I believe (probably on "WALT DISNEY'S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR", as RCA was their primary sponsor throughout the '60s); Norman Rose is the announcer.
Love those RCA TV ads and starting next February 2009, digital will be taking over, because you will need to get a digital converter to hook up to one of the old RCA Mark-8 color TV's and you will get digital picture from an old vintage 1960's TV set.
My aunt/uncle and grandmother both had this set---you can make fun of it now if you want, but I believe it really was a breakthrough in color tvs. had a much better picture and easier to tune, and as the commercial said the b&w picture was good too. My aunt and grandmother ended up using their sets for about 15 years, both in fringe signal areas, a real bugaboo for color in that pre-cable time, and both added UHF tuners later.
RCA was not sold by NBC... RCA was the parent co. of NBC. RCA was taken over by GE in 1985-86. RCA dropped the RCA Victor name and trademarks in 1968 when Robert Sarnoff, the son of former CEO David Sarnoff took over. He decided to get rid of the old trademarks and change the corporate logo or RCA. He pretty much started the decline of RCA.
@cubantoro Yes, their products got progressively cheesier after that. After some of the coolest logos in the business, the 3 stylized block letter trademark was a poor excuse for a replacement. It goes down in history with the Chrysler penta-star as one of the ugliest trademarks ever.
Please keep in mind that color television was cutting edge technology in the early 60s. A ton of money was invested to make it a reality. Think of it - In the day, people used manual typewriters, they wound their watches and clocks every day, telephones were rotary dail, there were no home computers or Internet. In 2000, I paid over $2,000 for a PC with 125 MB RAM and 20 GB hard drive. I just replaced it with a PC with 2 GB ram and 250 GB hard drive for $600.00.
Ahem... this tv was state of the art when it was made... and was meant to last a lifetime. It could be repaired.... your new flat screen is pretty much disposable and not cost effective to repair.
Colour TVs like that were still chugging along fine 20 years after they were made, some examples still are, as long as people repaired them. On the other hand a 42'' Chinese or Korean made flat screen will probably be hitting a dumpster somewhere before it's tenth birthday. Look up Samsung flat screen on you tube and see how many videos there are about how to repair a two year old set.
@OlegKostoglatov my 32 inch panasonic super-flat has a huge glass picture tube and weighs a ton. I have had it for about 13 years and run it about 6 hours a day and the picture is as good as the day I bought it. I think it will make it to 20 years easily....I also have a Hitachi color set from the 80s still running fine
my grand parents got the model they show in the comercialand still use and it still got a prety good picture. though i don't think they will be useing it after 2009 but who knows
That's why it was so difficult for people to grow "accustomed" to color TV in those days- RCA was virtually the ONLY set manfacturer to "push" them {the cost kept most people from buying them}, and, except for NBC [RCA's subsidiary], very few color shows were on network TV in 1962-'63 (only ABC was telecasting "THE FLINTSTONES" and "THE JETSONS" in color that season!). CBS didn't telecast ANY- out of spite to RCA- and wouldn't until the fall of 1965....
RCA you will be missed and known for as the king of electronics.
chris061290 3 months ago
People in 2040 will watch our commercials for HD TV's and laugh at us. :(
CoolConejo 6 months ago
Comment removed
fromthesidelines 9 months ago
look at that color LOL
MrGameboy1989 1 year ago
@MrGameboy1989 hey thats the way people viewed and said bout tv in those days when color came out.
chris061290 1 year ago
@MrGameboy1989 i suppose u are one of those greedy americans today that sit on there asses and use fancy gadgets
chris061290 10 months ago
@chris061290
no, im a greedy dutch guy
MrGameboy1989 10 months ago
@MrGameboy1989 so that doesnt matter. ur still greedy
chris061290 8 months ago
By mid-1965,many television series switched from black-and-white to color and some continued in B&W for 1965-66 and by the following season,B&W became defunct for TV series although it gradually continued and began to phase itself out.
arhuxtable 2 years ago
something the new generations will never know, the wonderful smell of tubes heating up and the warm red glow from the back of the set, and watching the picture turn into a small bright dot fading away in the evening when you got up out of your chair and actually had to turn the tv off.
1952kid 2 years ago 3
@1952kid OH YEAH, right you are.....that heavenly aroma of hot tubes and a wooden cabinet. I know it well and miss it. Looking forward to saturday night monster movies with a ghostly host....who was usually the stations weather man moon lighting for extra money. Get the jiffy pop & the 6 oz green bottles of coke ready
inkey2 3 months ago
It is Really sad that most every consumer electronics is made oversees ie China Japan etc. I do remember when most of the televisions were made here, it would be great if they would do it again and bring the jobs back to the U.S.! But unfortionately there are too many greedy corporations out there that want to be cheap and save money let alone cater to their customers!:(
Mustanglover66 2 years ago
People just have to demand it, it's no different then demanding Italian suits, French Champagne, or 12 year old Scotch, all could be made elsewhere cheaper but they wouldn't be considered as good. There is a market for high end anything if people wouldn't settle for crap.
OlegKostoglatov 1 year ago
@Mustanglover66 When the Chinese wise up and stop lending us money, we'll have to pay full price for all that crap. Then we'll either have to make it here or start exporting something other than worthless bonds.
lrd9999 1 year ago
I don't think there has been an entertainment medium since colour television that created such enthusiasm with the public and the engineers that designed it and serviced it. Great Ad! J.
vinylseat 2 years ago
This commercial was initially telecast in color, I believe (probably on "WALT DISNEY'S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR", as RCA was their primary sponsor throughout the '60s); Norman Rose is the announcer.
fromthesidelines 3 years ago
When the company redesigned their logo in 1968, 'johnrons'- from the "initials in circle" to the "block computerized initials".
fromthesidelines 3 years ago
RCA TV why is black in white?
hilarioph 4 years ago
Love those RCA TV ads and starting next February 2009, digital will be taking over, because you will need to get a digital converter to hook up to one of the old RCA Mark-8 color TV's and you will get digital picture from an old vintage 1960's TV set.
BrooklynMouse 4 years ago
HD TV
StormRisingOriginal 4 years ago
My aunt/uncle and grandmother both had this set---you can make fun of it now if you want, but I believe it really was a breakthrough in color tvs. had a much better picture and easier to tune, and as the commercial said the b&w picture was good too. My aunt and grandmother ended up using their sets for about 15 years, both in fringe signal areas, a real bugaboo for color in that pre-cable time, and both added UHF tuners later.
moedog1234 4 years ago
when did r c a drop the victor name?
johrons 4 years ago
in the 1990's when rca was sold by nbc to a japanesse company.
waserman123 2 years ago
RCA was not sold by NBC... RCA was the parent co. of NBC. RCA was taken over by GE in 1985-86. RCA dropped the RCA Victor name and trademarks in 1968 when Robert Sarnoff, the son of former CEO David Sarnoff took over. He decided to get rid of the old trademarks and change the corporate logo or RCA. He pretty much started the decline of RCA.
cubantoro 2 years ago
oh i didnt know that thanks!, i just got the same television in this commercial but the b&w version, it came with a remote, but it didnt have one.
waserman123 2 years ago
@cubantoro Yes, their products got progressively cheesier after that. After some of the coolest logos in the business, the 3 stylized block letter trademark was a poor excuse for a replacement. It goes down in history with the Chrysler penta-star as one of the ugliest trademarks ever.
lrd9999 1 year ago
Wow. $495 for that POS in the 60s.... Makes a 42" flatscreen in 2008 at $899 sound almost like a giveaway!
musicom67 4 years ago
Please keep in mind that color television was cutting edge technology in the early 60s. A ton of money was invested to make it a reality. Think of it - In the day, people used manual typewriters, they wound their watches and clocks every day, telephones were rotary dail, there were no home computers or Internet. In 2000, I paid over $2,000 for a PC with 125 MB RAM and 20 GB hard drive. I just replaced it with a PC with 2 GB ram and 250 GB hard drive for $600.00.
skinnyblinddude 3 years ago 2
well put. From one to have bought a Mac G3 for $2000 also in 2000, and its now worth $50 on ebay...
musicom67 3 years ago
Ahem... this tv was state of the art when it was made... and was meant to last a lifetime. It could be repaired.... your new flat screen is pretty much disposable and not cost effective to repair.
cubantoro 2 years ago 10
@cubantoro thats right. tube electronics were built to last. made in usa
chris061290 8 months ago
Colour TVs like that were still chugging along fine 20 years after they were made, some examples still are, as long as people repaired them. On the other hand a 42'' Chinese or Korean made flat screen will probably be hitting a dumpster somewhere before it's tenth birthday. Look up Samsung flat screen on you tube and see how many videos there are about how to repair a two year old set.
OlegKostoglatov 1 year ago
@OlegKostoglatov my 32 inch panasonic super-flat has a huge glass picture tube and weighs a ton. I have had it for about 13 years and run it about 6 hours a day and the picture is as good as the day I bought it. I think it will make it to 20 years easily....I also have a Hitachi color set from the 80s still running fine
inkey2 3 months ago
my grand parents got the model they show in the comercialand still use and it still got a prety good picture. though i don't think they will be useing it after 2009 but who knows
piplol2468 4 years ago
That's why it was so difficult for people to grow "accustomed" to color TV in those days- RCA was virtually the ONLY set manfacturer to "push" them {the cost kept most people from buying them}, and, except for NBC [RCA's subsidiary], very few color shows were on network TV in 1962-'63 (only ABC was telecasting "THE FLINTSTONES" and "THE JETSONS" in color that season!). CBS didn't telecast ANY- out of spite to RCA- and wouldn't until the fall of 1965....
fromthesidelines 4 years ago
I know my family wouldn't go 'color' until 1971...and the grandparents didn't want to either until 1977!
musicom67 3 years ago
"A brand new RCA Mark 8 color TV set" "And what a huge color TV set it is!"
mubd 4 years ago
GRACIAS POR ESTE RECUERDO
PINOTEA64 4 years ago
FYI... the cheapest Mark 8 cost $495 which is equivalent to $3222.80 in todays dollars!!!
cubantoro 4 years ago