Are these vintage television set ads from the '40s, '50s or '60s?

From TV size to picture quality, these ads from the '40s, '50s and '60s tried to maximize sales any way possible!

 

The box, the telly, the small screen, the TV. No matter what you call the thing that plays your favorite shows from MeTV everyday, there's no denying that television is a part of our everyday lives, and has been for decades and decades. 

With as much television we consume on a daily basis, it's hard to believe there was a time when advertising for television sets was a relatively new topic. Today, we get emails, see social media ads and even see commercials on the TV, about the TV! At one point in time, advertisements for television sets were fairly simple, but competition started to heat up in the Forties. 

We want to take you back to before, during and after the golden age of television, with these vintage ads! Can you guess what decade they're from?

  1. What decade was this ad from?
  2. What decade was this ad from?
  3. What decade was this ad from?
  4. What decade was this ad from?
  5. What decade was this ad from?
  6. What decade was this ad from?
  7. What decade was this ad from?
  8. What decade was this ad from?
  9. What decade was this ad from?
  10. What decade was this ad from?
  11. What decade was this ad from?
  12. What decade was this ad from?

Are these vintage television set ads from the '40s, '50s or '60s?

Your Result...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque nec ante ipsum. Mauris viverra, urna et porta sagittis, lorem diam dapibus diam, et lacinia libero quam id risus.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

104 Comments

RobertK 11 months ago
7 of 12. I never knew television even existed in the '40s! My folks always had purchased used TV's from the classified ads in the newspaper when I was growing up, because they were expensive, so the sets we had were new to me!
JeffPaul76 21 months ago
" You got 7 out of 12" -----That score came out a little fuzzy... better try another quiz! I got 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 wrong.
ClassicTVnut 23 months ago
8/12 Not bad, but I guess I could have tuned my rabbit ears in a little better.
RobertK ClassicTVnut 11 months ago
Yup, I remember those well, and also fold pieces of tin foil on the ends of the antenna for better reception!!
RichLorn 24 months ago
7/12
I never saw most of these. I was only reading comic books until 1959.
Michael RichLorn 24 months ago
For some reason, tv sets didn't get advertised in comic books. Just seamonkeys and army men and life size submarines. And the ads where you could win hot items by selling subscriptions.
paulat0805 24 months ago
7 out of 12 My dad bought a color set in the late 60’s so that he and mom could watch Lawrence Welk in color on Saturday nights! 😖
AlF 24 months ago
Hahaha! Fuzzy score!

TV is SO old-fashioned...
UTZAAKE 24 months ago
8/12; 2, 3, 6 and 12. Good quiz.
5. Easiest question because I've seen this ad so many times. Very memorable.
Dayna 24 months ago
LOL! I got 4/12 No Signal Available! LOL!
Moody 24 months ago
Wow, 5/12. I thought I'd do better.
texasluva Moody 24 months ago
mQ @ 𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓?
texasluva Moody 24 months ago
Saturday Spotlight Movie-

𝑅𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝒲𝒾𝓃𝒹🌞𝓌 -【(1954)】1 hr 52 min
Director
Alfred Hitchcock
𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴
𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘵---𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘒𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘺---𝘞𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘺---𝘙𝘢𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘳

https://ia800206.us.archive.org/27/items/zuxijad_shotmail_104/104.mp4
Michael texasluva 24 months ago
What, Rear Window's being Svengoolied?
texasluva Michael 24 months ago
No. It's for Moody who is over in Italy and part of our MQ group. Though since you found it you can watch.
JERRY6 24 months ago
6 of 12 just passed the 1940 ads got me
LoveMETV22 24 months ago
# 12 is humorous. What was GE thinking, Advertising their product with the back panel removed and clearly sitting in front of it doesn't scream reliability. LOL
CoreyC 24 months ago
My father loved the remote control televisions of the 1970's. ME!!!
Pacificsun CoreyC 24 months ago
Isn't it the truth!
ncadams27 24 months ago
If you watch the closing credits on The Honeymooners, you will see it was filmed using Dumont’s Electronicam system. The Dumont TV network started in 1942.
cperrynaples ncadams27 24 months ago
TRUE! They predated both ABC & CBS on TV! Sadly, a proposed merger with ABC fell through at the last minute!
Rick ncadams27 24 months ago
I love that in the Honeymooners credits! DuMont T-V (sic).
Kramden62 cperrynaples 21 months ago
But when ABC merged with the United Paramount Theaters in 1955, that's what saved them and put DuMont out of business. Leonard Goldenson, who turned ABC into the #1 network in the late 70's, was the one who commissioned the ABC-UPT merger.

By the way: vinyl record aficionados (like myself) can deduce the first name of ABC's record label from the merger of the two companies (ABC Paramount).
Kramden62 ncadams27 21 months ago
Electronicam was the first version of a camera that recorded "live on film." That set the standard for some of today's shows ("Saturday Night Live," for example; when the show would go on hiatus for the summer, NBC would play a previously live show that was recorded on videotape simultaneously).
Deleted 24 months ago
This comment has been removed.
cperrynaples 24 months ago
Yep, but Allen NEVER appeared on the Dumont network! He had a game show called Judge For Yourself and was a panelist on What's My Line until his death in 1956!
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?