Sylvania's Halo-Light .... Who Remembers? (1 Viewer)

[David Von Pein]

Who remembers the Sylvania TV sets with "Halo-Light"??
I ran across this webpage while surfing. ..........
"In the mid-50s my dad brought home our very first television set. It was a Sylvania, with one of those state-of-the-art Halo Lights around the screen. My dad had made a serious study of television sets before he finally broke down and purchased one, and his study convinced him that without the Halo Light, our family would go blind watching television. He’d heard a story somewhere, very likely from a Sylvania dealer, about a family in Wisconsin whose children had spent an inordinate amount of time watching some second-rate, small-screen, non-Halo Light television, and after a year of this kind of abuse were all as blind as moles. So he bought a huge, 19-inch screen Sylvania, with a Halo Light so bright that you just had to smile with satisfaction when it flickered to life, even when your reception wasn’t so good."
Any of you ever hear that bit about TV causing blindness?
Thank the Maker this isn't true.....or else 99.95% of America would be walking with canes!
Where do urban legends like this get started do you think?
Don't forget to switch on your Halo-Light!

 

[Rain]

Damn, that thing would look cool in my apartment.
Where do I get one?

 

[Peter Kline]

My uncle had one. B&W only.

 

[Jim_F]

Before my time. My memory only goes as far as our Zenith with the "Space Command" remote. That remote really was a "clicker". Press one of the buttons and it would make a distinctive CLICK and the mechanical tuner would scroll up or down to the next channel or sound could be muted (I think) likewise.

It was amusing if somebody accidentally dropped a coin on the table and it clinked just so, triggering the channel on the TV to change (never managed to do it on purpose, though)

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

My parents always swore (circa 1965) that you would go blind watching TV unless every light in the room was turned on as brightly as possible. And you would also become sterile and die of cancer if you sat closer than 8 feet to the set.....

 

[Steve Schaffer]

In the 50s Zenith had a remote that consisted of a rubber squeeze bulb with a hose going to the tv. All it did was change channels and only in one direction. Jack Lemmon had one in the movie "The Apartment."

If you think that HaloLight set looks cool, you should see a Philco Predicta.
The Predicta models had the picture tube mounted by itself atop the chassis on a sort of swivelling bracket arrangement.

We all know what color temperature is, and most newer sets now have 2 or 3 settings for this labelled cool, neutral, or warm, in addition to the standard color and tint controls.

Some Sears Silvertone color sets in the late 60s had the same thing, a third color control knob on the front of the set in addition to color and tint. Unlike the modern sets, it was infinitely adustable from a pronounced bluish to reddish range.

Anybody remember some of the other popular tv brands from the early days that aren't around anymore:

Muntz
Hoffmann
Sears Silvertone
Montgomery Ward Airline
Trutone
DuMont
Radiola

 

[Philip_G]

MAN. you people make me feel young. I'm glad I hang out in here

 

[Derrik Draven]

If you think that HaloLight set looks cool, you should see a Philco Predicta.

I think you can see one of those in "Revenge of the Nerds" when they're in the half of the gymnasium that was turned into their dorm. There's one in the corner that they're watching. Looks pretty neat really.

 

[Craig]

Any of you ever hear that bit about TV causing blindness?

They said that about another popular pasttime, and it wasn't true about that one either (Thank Goodness!).

 

[Jack Briggs]

This is precious!

My parents were "Admiral" people--just as surely as they bought Fords (and, later, Buicks), they always purchased Admiral televisions.

Our first was shaped like a small, very monolithic jukebox, with a small 9-inch screen. Then, two black-and-white sets later, they sprung for a huge 21-inch Admiral color "console" television in 1964--the wood cabinet was the size of a tank.

It was my sister and I who finally turned them on to the fact that better performance could be had. In late 1970, my sister brought home this fantastic little 13-inch color set that sported a marvelous picture--it was made by some "new" company called Sony.

We led the way. Eventually, our parents relented to our wisdom. In the late '70s, they converted to Sony and never looked back.

 

[Peter Kline]

In 1956 or thereabouts my parents finally bought a television - a 16" Magnavox. In was a console that included an AM-FM radio and turntable. The electronics were on the left, TV in center and speakers on the right. I was excited and couldn't wait to get home from Publc School the day it arrived. Imagine my disgust when I got home to find three of my friends already sitting on the living room floor watching the TV!

In the next several years a repairman seemed to make a regular appearance every month to replace some tubes... yes they had people that made house calls then. I got a Crosley 15" tv for my 13th birthday. It was all tube upfront with the controls on the side. In the late 60s my folks finally bought a Sony 17" color set.

 

[Jack Briggs]

I remember the "tube man" making house calls too, Peter!

 

[RobertR]

I remember machines in stores that allowed people to test tubes to see if they were good. You could buy tubes yourself and change them. That ended with the advent of transistors, which is why you get the "no user serviceable parts inside" notice on consumer electronics.

 

[Peter Kline]

RobertR,

I remember those machines.

Also when the tv guy came to adjust the picture he had someone hold a large mirror in front of the set so he could make the adjustments in the back. Someone could have made a mint if a special mirror rig was designed.

 

[Jefferson]

While we are at it, remember when the tv set had to "warm up" and you could hear the sound first, but had to wait for the pic. And when you would turn it off, that little white dot would glow in the middle of the screen.
I'm 37, but I remember it well.

 

[Peter Kline]

Jefferson, you used to see little white dots?

 

[MickeS]

Jefferson, I'm 31, but I remember that too.

Our TV also had a lightbulb on the back of it, to provide some bias lighting I guess, to prevent the eyes from getting sore. I asked a while ago here about that, bit I don't think anyone else had 'em.

/Mike

 

[Jefferson]

Yes, Peter, and then the dots would go bouncing around on top of song lyrics.......I saw them too

 

[Jack Briggs]

Hey, I saw the fading white dot, too!

And so did Joseph Stefano. Remember how the original Outer Limits would end, with that white dot, after "they" returned the controls of "our" televisions back to us?

You don't know your television history unless you've seen that fading white dot.

 

[ChrisMatson]

The Philco Predicta.
I'll take my XBR450, thank you!