This compilation reel consists of a series of longform commercials made by the Jam Handy Organization to promote RCA Victor’s 1960 line of black & white TV sets. This included innovations such as a remote control and timed on and off. RCA Victor was formed when, in 1929, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) bought the “Victor Talking Machine Company”, creating the “RCA Victor” brand. The four commercials included in this film cover the promotion of groundbreaking television technology including “The Programmer with the Magic Memory” and “The Hillsborough with New Hideaway Styling” (a new console television that folds into a piece of furniture so as to conceal the all-seeing picture tube), followed by “A Cinch to Service” covering the service and reliability of RCA Victor products, and lastly “The Inside Story” describing the entire technical framework and contents of the black and white television receiver chassis.
A man is promoting a TV remote control to a woman, presenting the features on a television (00:06). “The Programmer with the Magic Memory” commercial title (02:35). (Note: Robert Adler invented the first practical, wireless television remote control. Introduced as the “Space Command” by RCA’s rival Zenith in 1956.) A man is reading a magazine, seated in a lounge chair (02:52). His television automatically turns on (03:23). Earlier that evening, he pre-selected his television schedule using the RCA Victor Programmer Model named the “Magic Memory Program Selector”(03:35). The television automatically turns off while the viewer fell asleep (05:46). “The Hillsborough with New Hideaway Styling” commercial title (06:27). A woman is promoting the Hillsborough TV hidden inside an unfolding console (06:43). She converts the TV back into the stylish console (08:19). “A Cinch to Service” commercial title (08:48). An RCA Victor technician is familiarizing himself with the innovative new technology of RCA Victors products in a workroom (09:05). An RCA victor salesman enters (09:20). They converse about the remarkable technology and the simple and easy process of performing service on it (09:38). The technician explains function such as the dependable power transformer, the humagar capacitor for humidity protection, and the tube-guard for gradual warm-up, to the salesman (11:16). The salesman explains about the RCA Victor security seal circuit (14:26). “The Inside Story” commercial title (18:15). A man enters an IT-workspace holding a golf club (18:34). He takes off his jacket and start explaining about television-sets (18:47). He portrays the newest features of the RCA Victor Black and White television chassis (19:33). Using one mirror which distorts the reflection and one regular mirror, he explains the TV-feature called a horizontal balanced phase detector (19:45). He describes the yoke guard which makes for an undistorted picture (20:34), followed by the TV signal guide tuner (21:05), the 20,000-volt TV-receiver (21:55), and the high-contrast and clarity controls (23:23), the automatic channel equalizer, also known as AGC (25:06), the serviceguard chemical fuse (26:28), the duo cone speaker (29:22), the security sealed circuits tested against vibrations and moisture (29:45), and the epoxy coated capacitors for longevity (31:30). He concludes the commercial by encouraging buyers for the black and white television receiver chassis (32:27).
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