[NJARC] Muntz TVs

[David R Sica]

I don't have a Muntz in my collection, but I wouldn't mind tripping over
one some day!  They're not real collectible sets, but they do have that
bizarre history behind them which always makes for a fun story to tell.
There's an example of one of these lovely(?) sets at
http://www.earlytelevision.org/muntz_17a3a.html.

The stories I've heard include that Muntz engineered their sets by
copying circuits from other manufacturers and then deleting parts until
the set wouldn't work any more. They built them with the absolute minimum
needed to make a barely working set. Don't know if that's a true story,
but the sets were cheap and did have a reputation for not offering much
performance, so it sounds plausible. I've also heard that they worked
acceptably in strong signal areas, so people living near a transmitter
may have been happy with them.

"Madman Muntz" must have been kind of like the "Crazy Eddie" of his day.
Or maybe it was the other way around?

--Dave


On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 22:54:59 -0500 john ruccolo <jr6v6gt at yahoo.com>(by
way of Harry Klancer <klancer2 at comcast.net>) writes:
> Dave Sica,
> 
> Good question from John.
> 
> I remember Muntz TVs were called
> "The gutless wonder". Used to hear them
> advertised a lot on WCFL from Chicago.
> 
> (of course, they didn't use that expression)
> 
> How bad were they, really?
> 
> Harry K
> 

> Hi Dave,
> 
> I can't help you with the PC power supply....
> 
> But have you ever Googled "Madman Muntz"? I did that
> on my lunch break -- fascinating stuff!
> 
> Do you own a Muntz TV? I remember them having bad
> reputations when I was a kid....but I don't think I've
> ever seen one.
> 
> JR
> 
> --- David R Sica <davesica at juno.com> wrote:
> 
>  > Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
>  > _______________________________________________
>  > Might anyone have an extra ATX computer power supply
>  > kicking around?
>  > (That's the newer style with the single 20 pin Molex
>  > connector.) The one
>  > in my daughter's computer gave up the ghost the
>  > other day and I must have
>  > at least a half dozen AT-style power supplies under
>  > the workbench, but no
>  > ATX. I plan to be at the meeting on Friday.
>  >
>  > Thanks,
>  > --Dave
>  > _______________________________________________
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> 
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