Okay, if you took a good look at the "mystery" 19" color set, you might have noticed one little thing that looked out of place. In fact, it was the only reason I even stopped to take a closer look at this set myself. What clue does the front of this TV provide that makes it impossible to be from the mid-1980's?

Why, it's that Philco-Ford logo on the top.
Huh? Didn't Ford dump the Philco consumer electronics division in the mid-1970's..?

A closer look reveals that the entire front panel above the speaker is mounted on a track and folds into the set like so:

Yes, it's just a plain-ol' turret tuner for VHF; it's not even a single-knob varacator unit. A closer look at the UHF tuner demonstrates that it's the old continuous style, so this tells us that it was made no later than about 1974.

Now, let's take a look at the back of this set.

[Ooof! This thing weighs a ton!]

You observant viewers out there may see some interesting clues here. Notice the AC power cord-- it looks like there's an interlock plug. Indeed, if you look at the warning just above, you will note that it indicates the presense of an interlock, but moreover lacks the keywords "no user-servicable parts". What does that mean? Yep. It means: "Tubes Inside".

Indeed, lugging this critter to a nearby wall outlet in the store confirms that it is a tube hybrid set.

Sometime later, I checked the SAMS Photofact index; the Photofact set covering this TV model was published in 1974, which means that this TV was probably made starting in 1973.

So, this "typical mid-80's solid-state color TV with frequency-synthesized electronic tuning and remote control" is, in reality, a 1973-1974 tube hybrid color TV with a standard turret tuner.

...There is no remote control capability on this set either, which makes me question the point of having that cute door that covers all the front panel controls. Who wants to open and close some silly door every time you want to switch the set on or off, change channels, or even adjust the sound volume?

On the other hand, when I plugged it in, I found that the front panel lights up with a big bright red "AUTOMATIC OFF" indicator if one dares to switch off the "automatic" (mostly just factory preset) picture controls. So, at least, if you close the door, you won't have to see that dopey warning light. [A piece of strategically-placed electrical tape would have also solved that problem, however... :-) ]

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