TV shop Photo

[regentone001]

I thought this photo may be of interest some nice TV's in it

[G6Tanuki]

Lovely.

And look at the prices - I see £350 and is that £490 on the one in the bottom left corner??

Assuming this photo is from the late-1960s/early-1970s, £400 equates to several *months* pay for a typical worker!

[Compare that with the cost of a new telly today]. No wonder renting was popular!

[FERNSEH]

Judging by the sets on display I'd reckon the picture was taken sometime in 1974. Clearly the dealer had given up selling black and white TVs, although there is a hint of one on the top shelf.
Those were days when it was profitable to own a TV sales shop. 70s and 80s was the best time for anyone working in the TV sales and rental trade.
The 90s wasn't too bad. After 2005, forget it, not worth getting out bed in the mornings for.

DFWB.

[Heatercathodeshort]

This takes me back! This picture could have been my shop in 1975/6. The only nasty receiver is the Pye with the rainbow show card. Oh please. These horrors drove me crazy.

I had great pride in my shop. The dark blue carpet was vacuumed every day. Nice clean carpet and windows cleaned with everything priced, appreciative customers.

A tiny bit of a Thorn 1500 on the top. Happy Days. John.

[chriswood1900]

Blimey that brings back some memories, and the prices £399 is the equivalent of around £3,700 in today's values, no wonder they could make a decent living. Mind you now, I would baulk at paying £399 for a 26" TV, how things have changed!

Chris

[Nuvistor]

Those prices seem on the high side to me, the Ekco CT102 dual standard with cabinet doors was rrp at £340. Sets were expensive but a 22inch SS was under £300 and the horrible 18 inch Pye was less than £200.
My memory could be wrong of course.

Frank

[McMurdo]

I've chosen mine, the Philips G8 please.

[System A]

Hi
i think that the photo must date from 1975 /76 as the PYE CT222 on the front row wasn't launched until the middle of 1975 . Great photo though , are there anymore from this era ?.
Regards
Gary.

[FERNSEH]

1975/76. The only problem with that date is there is two GEC C2111 CTVs on display, that's the model with the plastic cabinet which many will remember the fake wood effect often wore off. I remember taking delivery of that model December 1972, I was allocated one set. Perhaps the set that looks like a CT222 is the 22" version of the Pye sets that employed the 110degree delta CRT? 731 chassis.
Also, there is a GEC C2112 which is the solid state model with the tambour door. Both the C2111 and C2112 were gone by the end of 1973, replaced by the touch tuner models.

DFWB.

[mark_in_manc]

A daft question from a comparative youngster (I'm 46 ) - how did an independent afford to stock a shop like that, given the value that would be sitting there on the shop floor? And wasn't theft / insurance a big deal?

[FERNSEH]

Back in the 1980s there was a time there was over eighty colour TVs in the shop. Some on display and other in boxes ready for delivery to customers.
Those were the days when I could be working up to sixteen hour a day.
The eighties was the time of the ram raiders. 4am I received a phone from the Police informing that the shop alarm had gone off, and be prepared for a shock! There was a car rammed into the shop front. Whole shop frontage wrecked.

DFWB.

[johntech]

I worked in the trade as an engineer from 1961 to 2000 they were amazing times and who could have foreseen it would all grind to a halt and one's skills would be totally obsolete!
Like many contributors to this forum I could write a book on that happy 40 years.
Best wishes to all those who know what a FSX2442a was (flywheel sync diodes Bush TV125)
Just testing your memories funny thing is I am sure we can all recollect part No.s and bits of circuits of these old sets, pity I forget the milk today!
Best wishes to everyone John

[Norman Raeburn]

Hi, I worked for an independent TV repair shop in the 70's and we used to get ITT televisions delivered in batches of 50. We were all knackered after lifting that lot up to the store room. Norman

[Peter.N.]

The plastic GEC (top left) formed the basis of my rental business at one time, not new though, ex Granada.

Peter

[60 oldjohn]

We bought a G8 with the flat buttons in Feb 1973, when did they bring out the G8 with the sloping buttons? (2nd set down left side of pic for anyone not in the know) I personally prefer the original version for styling, but each to their own.




John.

[Ted Kendall]

Re prices - remember that the 70s was the decade of sustained double-digit inflation. A year or two either way would make a significant difference.

[ben]

I think that G22k550 was mid 1974

[electronicskip]

I love all the Manufacturer/dealer point of sale stuff in the picture, much more interesting than the generic boring stuff u see nowadays.

[Welsh Anorak]

Unusual to see so many different makes under one roof.
Rather too much Pye for my taste, I must admit. Nice to see the odd hybrid there (CVC9, Bradford, 1500). I think the person parting with their hard-earned would have done well with either the G8 or one of the ITTs. British sets as well!
But one set has me foxed - what's the one at the very bottom left? It seems to have a high price (£490?) Looks like it could be a European TV.
Any info on where this was taken?
Glyn

[ben]

Looks like a Telefunken we used to have, Glyn