| The Set: Pete Deksnis's Site about the CT-100 Restoring a Vintage Color Television Set |
CTC-2B
Sserial Numbers
27 April 2007 REPORT. Note that the second link below will provide an accounting of the number of RCA 21-CT-55 color television sets known to have survived. The first link lists known serial numbers of those surviving sets and of the spare chassis. 13 March 2007 REPORT. This list represents but a miniscule number of all CTC-2B chassis built for the RCA 21-CT-55 color television set beginning late in 1954.When this page was created, only twelve 21-CT-55 sets were known to have survived. This is a strange quantity since urban legend has just as many or more 21-CT-55's manufactured as the CT-100, and there are over 100 CT-100 survivors. What happened?
Perhaps the unique nature of the CT-100 as the first full production color television set influenced owners to keep their 'first' color set. Plus, many CT-100's survived because they saw years of service in television stations as off-air, studio, and control-room monitors.
It is also possible that far fewer 21-CT-55's were built than urban legend espouses.
Whatever the reason, it is comforting to know that examples of this milestone in the development of RCA color television sets do survive, with many restored to operational status.