Originally Published: 2008. Newsletter of the Roseville Historical Society
by Bob Hole, Jr.
In about 1990, the Carnegie Museum was given a television console set, now on display and one of the highlights of the museum tour. Unfortunately, we didn’t know much about the set, but we’re learning more all the time. The console is a 1950 Dumont Westminster Series II and is a true entertainment center.
1950 was an exciting year in television. On the screen Bob Hope made his first television appearance, Milton Berle (“Uncle Milty”) was hosting the Texaco Star Theater every Tuesday night, and canned laughter was used for the first time. Behind the scenes, the first cable television company, the Jerrold Company, was formed; pay TV was being experimented with for the first time, and the FCC settled on a standard for color television.
Manufacturers in the U.S. turned out 5.2 million televisions in 1950, almost five times the number of sets that existed in 1949. But one company, DuMont Laboratories, was producing its last full production run of television sets.
Begun in 1931 by Allen B. DuMont, the DuMont television companies produced the first cathode ray tubes in quantity. In addition to building television sets, DuMont formed a television network, one of the first companies to go directly into the television market without experience in the radio industry.
The DuMont network was never really viable. Unlike CBS and NBC, which started in radio broadcasting, DuMont did not have established radio programs or stars that could be used on the new television broadcasts. DuMont had to produce or buy completely new programming without the aid of established names.
The DuMont network did, however, air some programs of note over the years. These included “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet”, and “Life is Worth Living” with Bishop Fulton Sheen (a program that can still be seen in reruns).
By 1950 DuMont television sets were among the highest in quality, but unfortunately also among the highest in price in the U.S. Sales were falling off so badly that they cut production in 1951 by 60%. The DuMont company got out of the television manufacturing business in 1958 and the last assets of the business were sold by 1960.
In 1946 the DuMont company was positioning itself in the post-war luxury market. That year they introduced a television console system called the Westminster. It included a phonograph, radio and a television on a platform that raised out of a hidden pocket in the console and tilted forward for watching. This set featured one of the largest television screens available. This Westminster sold for about $2,400, the price of a fairly decent automobile and equivalent to $24,000 today.
Of these 1946 console sets only six are known to remain. Not many were sold to begin with, despite being on the market for about four years.
In 1950 the Westminster model was updated with the introduction of the Westminster Series II. In this version the television set was no longer on a movable platform, but the company added a reel-to-reel tape player and updated the radio. Outwardly the consoles look the same.
I haven’t found any information on the price of the Series II, but I expect it was in line with the original Westminster and quite expensive for the time. According to information provided to Phoebe Astill, Carnegie Museum Curator, there were only about 450 of these Series II consoles produced.
Information I’ve been able to gather suggests the Carnegie’s Westminster Series II may now be unique, I can find no record of any others in collections across the country, though I’m still working to establish that positively.
The components of the Museum’s set are not in working order, and the cost of labor and parts to repair it are prohibitive, but even so this unusual and probably unique piece of television history is well worth its place in the collection.
Original contents of this and all linked pages produced by this author copyright © 1995-2008 Robert B. Hole, Jr. All Rights Reserved