Was there ever such a thing as "TV Insurance"?

[Shangas]

Hey folks.

I'm currently writing something in my blog, about the history of television. And I wanted to confirm or deny a rumor/myth that I've heard many times in such things as documentaries and period TV shows.

The myth (or whatever it is) goes that in the early days of television usage, during the 1940s, mostly, ignorant, uninformed, or just plain worried people, could purchase "TV insurance" policies.

These policies, (some pedaled by unscrupulous insurance agencies), were supposed to cover the cost of a new TV, and any resultant damage, if the set were to explode in the owner's living-room.

Has anyone heard of something like this? If so, where could I read more about it? Or if not, then where did this rumor come from? I would really like to put it in my blog, but I want to be sure that it's REAL first.

Help is appreciated

 

[dhermann1]

We got our first TV in 1951, and I NEVER heard of such a thing.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There were service policies that were sold with early television sets, which, given the cost and expense of many of the parts involved, were a reasonable expense. But they weren't insurance against the TV blowing up. TV's don't explode -- they *implode* -- and the earliest sets had protective covers over the picture tubes to contain any such damage. Not to say some rogue shyster couldn't have sold such a policy to some sucker somewhere, but it wasn't a common thing.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I remember watching 1951 New Years Eve celebrations on our new TV. However I was a little young to know anything about TV explosion insurance. Never heard of such a thing,either.
HD

 

[Shangas]

Thanks for the replies, dames and dudes. I think that pretty much covers it Nice to be sure.

 

[Stanley Doble]

I remember TV commercials for an insurance policy or service contract for TVs. It was supposed to protect you from the dreaded "Pop-a-tube-a-phobia".

Early TVs with tube chassis and hand wiring frequently went wrong, and were much more complicated and harder to fix than a radio. A decent TV cost a month's pay and repairs were expensive.

Does anyone else remember the TV with "The works in a drawer?" This was supposed to make it easy and cheap to fix because you did not have to take the back off the set when it broke down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spZ5X-AAaH8

It was one of the first "solid state" all transistor sets - no tubes (except the picture tube).

It quickly became obsolete, improved solid state electronics were much longer lived and more trouble free than the old tube sets. So being able to easily replace blown parts was no longer an issue.

 

[Stanley Doble]

If a policy like you described was ever offered (I never heard of it) it may have been an advertizing gimmick to reassure potential customers.

There were lots of rumors going around in the early days of TV, like it will cause eye strain or ruin your eyes. I think a lot of them were sour grapes from people who could not afford, or were too cheap to buy, a set. They didn't want to look cheap so they made up crazy excuses and these stories grew in the telling as such things tend to do.

 

[Stearmen]

Does anyone else remember the TV with "The works in a drawer?" This was supposed to make it easy and cheap to fix because you did not have to take the back off the set when it broke down.


It was one of the first "solid state" all transistor sets - no tubes (except the picture tube).

It quickly became obsolete, improved solid state electronics were much longer lived and more trouble free than the old tube sets. So being able to easily replace blown parts was no longer an issue.

I do! The transistors looked so Buck Rogers at the time. We didn't get a color TV until 1975. Nice to see a young Mike Farrell pre MASH.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My uncle owned a "works in a drawer" set -- they were the "Quasar by Motorola" brand. They came out in the late sixties, and were popular into the early seventies, and the drawer was mounted vertically alongside the picture tube. You pressed a catch, and it rolled right out. Other makes were moving into solid state sets around this same time but what made the Quasar revolutionary was its use of modules -- it wasn't that the solid state electronics were all that much more reliable, but that with a Quasar you didn't have to bother with soldering and unsoldering components, the modules would unplug and plug back in just like tubes. This became the dominant method of construction for TV sets in the seventies, although the patented "drawer" gimmick was strictly a Motorola thing.

My uncle's set was not 100 percent solid state. The high-voltage power supply was still tube based, and the filament circuit was always turned on when the set was plugged in to create the illusion of "instant on" when you turned on the set. Eventually a module in the color section blew out and he couldn't find a replacement, so it became a big, expensive black and white set for the rest of its life.

 

[Olde English]

Thanks Stanley Doble for the link to a really fascinating slice of modern history.
My grandparents rented a colour television in the 70s, (they were still way beyond many people's pockets) but I mostly remember watching black and white movies on it with my Grandma. I can remember us both crying over the ending of "Now Voyager". We'd watched a lot of classic films together, but that is the first film I saw that made my Grandma cry too. (I blub over anything!) Those old films are what started my love affair with the 1930s and 40s, I'm certain!
I don't remember any talk of specific television insurance, but I can understand the ease with which an insurance salesman could have cashed in on the fears and concerns of many people about what was must have still seemed like very new and futuristic technology when it began to be available to the masses rather than just the very well off.