Sales are approaching the summer doldrums and rumors abound of mergers and bankruptcies, so I'll just reminisce a little and show the humor and fun of being the `TV Man'. It's the 50's and 60's and all Televison sets were 17", 19" or 23" consoles or table models, portables were just introduced. Service call rates in the city were $3 to $5, and 95% of the repair work was done in the home, one chassis in 20 had to be taken into the shop.
Tubes, rectifiers, 'lytics, burnt resistors, pix tubes, yokes and tuners all were in-home repair jobs. Rarely was someone not at home and you didn't have to call first. I have completed as many as 22 service calls in a day! Really!
Most all TVs had a glass in front of the tube that people were afraid to wash. Some TV's had `door knob' capacitors, `sugar coated' resistors, `door bell' coils, uhf strips, `top hat' rectifiers and florescent bulbs in the escutcheon around the pix tube. Remotes had motor driven controls and tuners, and the Magnavox transmitter was a `douche bag', honest! Zeniths used a flashlight.
Some of the more memorable customer comments are: "We always put foil on the fuse", "Can you come after 6 pm?", "My husband wants to watch"; "You charged $7 to replace this little thing?", "My neighbor, who is a TV expert, says one tube isn't lighting up", "Where is the picture tube?", "I know it's black and white, but I see color, don't you?", Don't turn around, my daughter is naked and has to run through the room!", "Don't come during the soaps or Captain.", "We don't have roaches!", Look around in there, I know there is a secret camera.", "If it stays fixed for a while, I'll pay you.", "You'll replace the switch Monday?, I can't leave it on all weekend!", "How do you know the cost will be $24? Just because it smells like rotten eggs?", "Can you rub suntan lotion on my back? I don't have a top on and can't raise up.", "I don't know how the tubes got in the wrong sockets, no one has touched the TV.", "I'll just dust that (reaching for the high voltage button)".
The sweet little kids were fun too. I'd make a face at them and, if that didn't keep them away, I'd give them a piece of carbon paper to play with. Ahhh, the good old days of the TV man!