The portable black and white RCA television came from my in-laws basement. We claimed it while helping to clean out my wife’s childhood home, when it was time.
I like to repurpose things, especially if they have character, or spark nostalgia. I sent each of my adult children off to university with an antique radio I converted into a bluetooth speaker. They tell me they still use them, which makes me happy.
My wife remembered playing Pong and Frogger on this tv with her sisters. At one point I considered installing an LCD screen, and wiring it to the old Atari I still have in the garage. That may still happen at some point.
I needed something to get folks to look at my book table, at vendor’s markets and Christmas bazaars.
We decided to gut the little tv, and replace the old cathode ray tube with a piece of clear Lexan, to create the illusion of a screen.
I installed LED lighting run with a remote controller, scavenged from a light bar picked up from Dollarama. I added an inexpensive display turntable, likely intended for the glass cabinet in a jewelry store.
The miniature Christmas trees are from my wife’s extensive collection of seasonal craft supplies. The trees and the tiny snowpeople are mounted on a 45 record of Frosty the Snowman.
The result is shown in the video, and it does the job. People of a certain age remember having a television like it. Younger folks wonder what it is.
One thirty-something exclaimed to her shopping companion, “It looks just like my gran’s microwave oven.”
I didn’t argue. Her friend bought both my books.
