— the equivalent of $10,000 today.
Do you love the look of vintage TV sets, but actually want to watch be able to use them to watch the full range of programming available today? Greg and Tammy found a rare and wonderful 1951 Admiral Tele-Bar — and retrofitted the television portion to hold a 24″ flat screen TV. Now they can truly enjoy this amazing vintage television every single day. Read on for their story.What could be more useful than a television, record player, bar cabinet and trash can all in one? Readers Greg and Tammy (of the fabulous 1953 Kelvinator refrigerator freezer) had been drooling over this vintage Admiral Tele-Bar — found at a local antique store — for about a year before they finally decided to pull the trigger and bring it home.
Greg and Tammy write:
Hi Pam,
Thought you would get a kick out of this. We recently bought what we discovered to be a 1951 Admiral Tele-Bar. It is a factory built entertainment center featuring a 21” black & White TV, AM-FM record player, 10″ speaker, complete with a built in lockable bar featuring 32 glasses, a serving tray and trash receptacle. It appears to have been made just one year. It cost a whopping $895 in ’51 when the average price of a new car was $1,800! Like spending $10K on a similar item today. Only about 23% of the U.S. population had TV’s in 1951. It interestingly has a socket for a color adapter!
We had been looking at it at an antique store in Ohio for around a year. We thought it was really cool, but didn’t know what we would do with it. We joked about the cool swinging couple who must have owned it. It has a sort of “Austin Powers” feel.
I really liked it, but wasn’t sure if we would put our modern 42” flat screen on it or? I didn’t want to make a fish bowl or something like that. I thought maybe I could get the old TV working, but we live out in the country in a deep river valley with NO antenna connection.
In the end, to make it a usable, practical 1950’s item (like our kitchen—remember our Kelvinator Foodarama, Tappan stove & custom built-in oven), I measured carefully and found a that a 24” flat screen would fit adequately. We were worried the screen would be “too small” after having big TV’s over the years, but it was one of the best decisions we ever made. It is our full time, everyday TV. I like looking at the Tele-Bar as much as the TV! Our 14-year-old son ended up with our 42” flat screen.
The Tele-Bar itself is in good shape. The original finish looks great except for some glass stains on the top. We may refinish that portion. The bar is missing just two of the original glasses, supplemented with four period “girly glasses.” The bottom “bar” portion serves as a perfect place for satellite receiver and DVD player. The trash receptacle serves as a DVD storage area.
Thought you might enjoy yet another 1950’s addition to our house. Now on the lookout for a mid century sectional!
Greg & Tammy
One of the Admiral Tele-Bar advertisements that Greg and Tammy pointed us to on the intertubes reads:
It’s here! The one and only Tele-Bar…Admiral’s new, exciting, unique, and revolutionary television-bar combination. Now…21″ TV, Dynamagic Radio, and the incomparable “Triple-Play” Phonograph…all combined in one great home entertainment ensemble for gracious living.
A Built-In Bar…Fully Equipped!
Tele-Bar enhances every occasion! Its exquisite, hand-rubbed, liquor-proof cabinet provides a stainless steel mixing tray, liquor-proof serving shelf, “empties” receptacle, and racks for 32 glasses. Lower compartment holds over 30 bottles. For those who entertain regularly…Tele-Bar is an indispensable aid and a practical investment. Glasses included at no extra charge.
I suppose this must have been the Rolls Royce of television sets back in 1951. Since it holds 30 bottles of liquor and 32 glasses — it would be easy to have all your neighbors over to watch TV. And as Greg and Tammy mention, since less than one-quarter of all Americans had a television in their home, those with a TV were immediately popular.
It is funny to note that the cabinet is described as “liquor proof” — even though it holds quite an amount. That must be in reference to the finish being impervious to water marks.
It was pretty ingenious to stick a flat screen TV behind the old frame — and using the liquor storage area for your cable box — perfect. Greg & Tammy — I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you find the perfect mid century sectional sofa to accompany your Tele-Bar soon — until then — thanks so much for sharing this fun story and photos with us.
Rick says
That is beautiful! And yes, in ’51 that would have been the uber ultimate! Glad it’s gone to an appreciative and imaginative home. I keep hoping I’ll find a working round tube color TV; even one from just before the switch to rectangular tube.
Mary Elizabeth says
Yowza, Greg and Tammy! What a neato find and what a swell job you did fixing it up! And the conversation about people’s different solutions to hooking up old working TVs to cable is fascinating. It is fun to imagine what shows they watched on it. You could get DVDs of some of the old shows and watch them with your friends and children. But I’m still trying to get my head wrapped around the initial cost in 1951 and who could possibly have afforded it. Our two-family 16-room house house cost only $11K in the 1950s. My grandparents had one of those consoles with the TV and stereo, and I went to their house to watch the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. But I’m sure it didn’t cost as much as our house.
nina462 says
Hulu tv, antenna tv, me tv, …there are a ton of new tv stations that play the old tv shows. Just wish they’d have the old commercials, instead they have commercials for hearing devices & wheelchairs!
I do have a dvd set of old tv commercials that I play once in a while to get in the retro mood.
Nancy B says
That is fabulous! I love it! Right now I am driving my husband crazy because I know our 50’s living room really needs an old stereo console! I really want to play the old albums we listened to in college! But, to find a great old cabinet & working components is very hard! Anyone have a great one that could recommend what has the best sound?
Robin, NV says
I scored my Zenith Stereophonic Hi Fidelity console off craigslist for $50 (it’s not a Phillips as stated in my earlier post). It has vacuum tubes, so it needs a little time to warm up but it’s amazing how good the radio sounds – better than any modern stereo I’ve owned. Sadly, the turntable is not functioning. I suspect it can be fixed though. My husband was less than thrilled when I bought it but once we turned it on, he was hooked.
My grandparents had one of those huge TV/radio/turntable consoles from the 70s. My childhood memory was that it was 6 or 7 feet long. But maybe it was only 5.
nina462 says
check out estate sales. I scored my hifi system along with my 1960 motorola for $60 each. They were in great condition! They had another tv as well that I almost bought.
Justin says
When you “retrofitted” the new tv in. Can I ask what you did with the old components? Even though it may not have worked, there were a lot of good parts on there that probably were still good.
Also there are adapters out there to be able to run the old tvs on the new systems. I have a 1959 Magnavox console, that is hooked up to Satellite, dvd, vcr, and laserdisc. Eventually I’ll probably have it hooked up to antenna tv as well. For that you just need a converter box. So hooking up an old tv can and does work. As long as you don’t mind watching it in black and white in most cases.
Sarah says
Speaking of vintage TV paraphernalia, does anyone know if it’s possible to convert a vintage twin lead antenna to coax? If I bought a vintage antenna and took it to the lone TV repairman left in town, might they be able to convert to coax?
BlueJay says
Sarah, this is totally doable. We did this for our 1953 Motorola so we could watch old movies on it. You’ll need to go to a specialty store like Radioshack to get it though, as stores like Best Buy don’t carry it.
Justin says
Here is the adapter you need. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002ZPIOG/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=1535523722&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0041IG1AK&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=17YZ61BXZACRBNFP6SDB
nina462 says
It’s worth asking that Lone Tv Repairman. I know I was very pleased when I asked my guy. Even stopped by his store…what a throw back in time 🙂
So, go ahead & ask.
Robin, NV says
Very cool! And with Dynamagic Radio too!
I have a Phillips stereo cabinet (c. early 60s) that I’d love to retrofit with a satellite radio. The Phillips radio still works – and works great – but way out here in the middle of nowhere we get one radio station.
nina462 says
I have a 1960 Motorola in a cabinet, and found a TV guy (Laings TV) in town that does retrofitting. Trouble is, I’m waiting for the tube to go on the black & white tv before I retrofit the tv 🙁
He did hook it up, so I can watch cable on the Motorola – but it does not like fast forward.
Funny thing – I bought my Motorola for $60, and he said people would be willing to pay $400 because it was in excellent shape. (Bring on the buyer, I say!). Laings TV has been in town forever – in fact it’s listed in the 1962 phone book I have (same location, but was his father).
Sherree says
I love it! But am I missing something? I only see one photo. The last sentence says “photos”. Just wondered.
thatmidcenturyfella says
Bummer! I thought the same thing. I would love to see how they made this work. I might want to do this soon!
pam kueber says
thanks for the catch, i will fix it
Kirsten says
Am I missing something? Did the “fix” not work? Where are the rest of the photos?
Sherree says
I still can only see one photo 🙁
pam kueber says
There is only one photo
Kkmk says
So cool. Kudos on your ingenuity!
J D Log says
Glad to see you have been able to convert this TV but how did you go for the remote control operation and the curvature of the display cabinet with the flat screen TV being square shape on the corners? I have a AWA 1956 TV (we 1st got TV in Australia in 1956 and colour TV in 1975) as I have thought about doing this with my TV.
Also a really good book on U.S retro TV’s is “Window To The Future” written by Steve Kosareff published by Chronicle Books has a lot the original TV manufacturer adverts from the 40-60’s it has a different advert on your model on page 41 I am not sure if it is still in print
ScottG says
I did the same thing with a 17″ RCA Victor from 1953. I used a 4:3 ratio screen so all I lost were the corners when I mounted the LCD in the original case. I’m not sure how you would fit a 16:9 screen (which are the typical HD aspect ratio). Maybe Greg or Tammy will chime on with an answer.
As for the remote operation, my remote communicates with an IR receiver built into my tuner that sits on top of the TV. I’m guessing, based on the picture above, his remote communicates with the satellite tuner that is sitting on the bottom right shelf of the cabinet.
Greg says
You guys have pretty much answered your own questions, but;
As TV’s are no longer square, the 24″ flat screen’s “letterbox” shape is a bit of a compromise, but it has adjustable aspect ratios that can give a square, albeit smaller screen.
We have to use two remotes with the satellite. The TV remote works through the original glass screen, use to turn on & off and volume. Use satellite remote to change channels.