WHO WAS
FIRST? ??????????????????????? ???? COLOR
SET ???? ?? PRODUCTION ?? ?? QUESTIONS! ?? ???????????????? ?????????????? ????????????? ??????????? ????????? ??????? ????? ??? ? Was RCA the only manufacturer to have a true production
run of 15-inch color television sets? Were Westinghouse, Admiral, Silvertone,
Arvin, and other production lines just pilot runs at best? Were they in some
cases simply engineering models? (1) Then –
A Documented Production Line. Sometime
after 15-inch color television sets began to churn off the assembly line in Included
in that document are (a.) a drawing of the CT-100 manufacturing area, (b.)
production flow information, and (c.) an interesting statement indicating a
significant, but not drastic, reduction in the number of sets produced on a
color production line compared to a black and white line. At least two, and no doubt more, of
these handouts have survived. (2) Today – Some TV Set Survivors: an Overview. ●There are
over 125 surviving Merrills. That’s under five percent of the reported
production run of about 4100. ●There are six
known and two chassis of the 1956 Philco 22D5102 21AXP22-based color set.
That’s under five percent of the reported number of
500 sets made. ●There are six
known surviving RCA Model 5 color sets. That’s under
five percent of the reported number of 200 sets made. ●There are
15 known surviving Westinghouse H840CK15 color sets. That‘s under five percent
of the reported number of sets made. [In early April 1954, Westinghouse claimed
they were producing “several dozen” a day. They also claimed to be the “only
company with a color set actually on the market” and that they had sold 30.] (3) Inference – Pete’s Musings In an
industry where 25 million b&w sets had already been manufactured, a
production run of about 4100 seems puny. But it was a documented true production
line, and the circumstantial ‘<5-percent’ numerical evidence seems to point
to just peewee pilot runs from RCA competitors. Is it not the CT-100 that deserves the honor of being
remembered as the first consumer color television set ever produced? —Pete Updated
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