Phorget Sony: What About Philco?

As followup to my recent two-part series on mobile television, John Foell, a Professional Engineer and Senior Member of the IEEE working at Raytheon in Fort Wayne, IN (which, in a former life, was known as Magnavox and, as such, was my first engineering employer…memories, of the way we were…then, believe it or not, Phillips, Carlyle, and Hughes, prior to its current moniker since 1998) pointed out to me via email earlier today that Sony’s TV8-301 was not the world’s first luggable television (though, in re-reading what I wrote, I never suggested it was, only the first from Sony…but I digress…). As proof, he provided a scan of a 1959 Philco ad:

John writes:

Philco had one in 1959, rechargeable battery built in. It used a roughly 1.5" tube projecting on a mirror to give a picture about 3 x 4 inches. They beat Sony to the market but it was an expensive set - $250.00 retail. I have one and it still has a pretty good picture - considering I have not done any restoration work on it. These things show up on ebay once in a while - usually go for premium prices.

So there you go. I think I’ll stick with watching pre-recorded content on my Zune