Nice to meet Sara and her vintage Philco television set. What a find, to be sure!
Hi Pam,
My name is Sara, I just signed onto your site as a member yesterday, although I have been reading your blog for the past year now! I have to say that I just absolutely LOVE your blog and I think you are doing a fantastic job with it. I finally feel like there are other people out there like me! Ever since I was in high school (mid to late 80’s) I have been really into all things 50’s and 60s.
My Mom had a hard time getting me to wear “normal” clothes, because I always wanted to shop the vintage stores and wear 50’s dresses to school! Even a repairman who came to my house last year asked if this was my house and I said “Yes, why?” and he said “Because of all of this old stuff”!!!! Anyway, I seems I am just as obsessed as you are hunting on e-bay, and going to estate sales and flea markets looking for anything 50s. I really love your kitchen pics, and one day I hope to have a retro kitchen of my very own. Maybe even a retro house too, that is ALL original and that has not been modernized with yucky granite! I feel like all of your other readers, it is really heartbreaking to see all of the home renovation shows destroy all of the great 50s and 60s details. I even saw one renovation show destroying and original terrazzo floor, I wanted to jump through the screen and stop them! Keep up the great work, you are really an inspiration.
I meant to send this pic of my Philco the other day – when you were showing the new Philcos. I saw this set at an Estate sale a while back and I just could not pass it up. It was not cheap at $250, but it is in nearly mint condition with the original stand – and it still WORKS! It is a Philco Siesta from 1960 and probably very modern for it’s time, as there is a clock above the channel knob that you could use to turn the TV on and off when your programs came on. I bought it from the original owners, and they obviously cherished this TV because they took very good care of it. There were a lot of older people at the estate sale, probably friends and neighbors of the sellers, and they were all probably thinking I was crazy to buy this old black and white TV, that only has 13 channels, and no remote – but, you know how it is!!! I love it!
Sincerely,
Sara
Ken says
Great find! I just picked up a Philco Predicta Siesta set this very weekend and found this site in a search…..great site! This buyer got a very good price as these sets usually dont work (vintage electronics aged poorly) and its expensive to find someone to work on them and rebuild it to work. I have 3 now, and adore them for their design as well as the nostagia it offers watching B&W shows on them! If you want to know more about these vintage Philco Predicta sets and see more image’s please take a look at my Flickr site…I’m trying to preserve these gems and keep the alure going for future generations!
Julie says
FABULOUS FIND! I WANT IT! 🙂
PugFreek says
Oh wow! I never knew that! Thanks for telling me!
Sara in AZ says
Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for all of your lovely comments, I really do appreciate them.
Tiki – You are totally right, looking back I would have TOTALLY regretted not getting the TV!
Justin – Thanks for letting me know the value, I will show this to my husband so now he will be even more happy I got the TV! 🙂
Elvis – The TV actually comes off the stand, so you could set it on a tabletop or whatever. It is the actual real stand that came with the TV, the only reason I know for sure is I was able to find an old ad from 1960 that showed the exact same TV with this exact same stand.
I was really debating getting this TV because of the price, and I really was not sure what they were worth. I called the day the Estate Sale started and asked about the price, they said the owners wanted $300, and they were firm. Even though my husband LOVES vintage almost as much as I do, as you can imagine, my husband was not thrilled to pieces about spending hundreds of dollars on an old TV – esp. in this economy! I could not make it to the Estate Sale until the second (and last) day, and I was actually shocked the TV was still there. So, I offered $250 and they accepted. I was thrilled to take it home with me and now my husband even loves it as much as I do!!! I have to say there is something about this TV, when it is on, it just draws you in and you can’t help but start watching it. We even watched ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ on this TV, at Christmas, instead of on our normal, bigger TV. Thanks again for all the comments!
Elvis (aka) Jane says
NICE! Is it sitting on a stand, or is that all part of the TV?
Justin says
Thats a real nice original predicta. For $250 you got a steal. They normally go for around $1000 if not more when they are in working condition.
Tikimama says
Oh, envy dripping from my every pore! For $250, you actually got quite a steal! Not that most of us have extra cash anymore, but you will forever be glad you made the purchase (and if you hadn’t, you would have forever regretted it!).
nancy burton says
That is tooo cool! You have something really special! Thanks for sharing!
Pam Kueber says
PugFreek, the Predictas are replica’s of the vintage Philco’s. Sara’s is the real deal.
JAson says
Acrually, Predicta was the name for the Philco’s from 1958-1960 when they were manufactured. I have a few original advertisements. I was looking into to getting one of the modernized color versions for my vintage living room, but just do not have the space in my floor plan for it. The company that makes them now have bought the rights to the Predicta name. They are quite expensive but WAY COOL!!
PugFreek says
It looks like a predicta!