Zenith Model H3267R Television and Entertainment Center

Zenith Model H3267R Television and Entertainment Center

This Zenith TV was sold in several different versions in 1950 and 1951. Ours is a Model H3267R. The first letter in the model number, “H”, indicates that it was made in 1951. The ’32’ in the model number is derived from the total number of tubes in the TV main chassis (23), AM/FM radio (8), and the picture tube (1). The model and year designations on the Zenith entertainment center can be quite confusing! Some of the systems also had names that were often used in advertising.

This entertainment center came with a Cobra-Matic turntable (Model S14029), an 8-tube AM/FM radio receiver (Model 8H20) and a 3-tube power supply (Model 68T4).

This TV was a transitional model when you consider the picture tube. Most picture tubes at that time were round. Some manufacturers displayed the entire area of the round tube. Others masked off the tube to create a rectangular viewing area which many people preferred.  A TV that displayed the entire picture tube was referred to as a ‘porthole’ style TV, as was this Zenith. Zenith was well aware that some customers would prefer the rectangular shape, so, they included a switch (center of the control panel) that allowed the owner to switch from a round to a rectangular view! Our TV indeed does have that switch. Zenith was also experimenting with remote controls at this time, both wired and wireless. A wired remote called the “Lazy Bones” was available in the early 1950’s, but it soon disappeared since it did not work well and was eventually replaced with a wireless unit. The Lazy Bones, which changed channels only,  was available in 1951, but we do not have one for this TV.

Although we could not definitely pin down the name for our model, it was most likely called the Kilmer, as referenced in period advertising. This line of TV’s addressed one problem with early picture tubes, reflections. Often, depending on room lighting, reflections of the room might appear on the TV screen while viewing a program. Zenith attacked this problem  by introducing their “Reflection-Proof Blaxide Tube”. The tube was given a coating that reduced reflection.

Our TV , donated by Ken Carr, is housed in a beautiful mahogany cabinet which has room for the TV, radio, record player, and records. The power supply is hidden in the back.

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