by DAN CALLOWAY
Published 17 December 2009 @ 19:12 UCT
WEAVERVILLE, NC – My wife, Jeannie, purchased a Sears portable color TV just prior to Christmas in 1981 to give me as a Christmas present on our first Christmas together as husband and wife. We were married on the 16th of September of 1981 and I recall that first Christmas, Jeannie spent tons of money on me to make my first Christmas with each other a very memorable occasion.
The Sears color TV that she purchased from Sears in Chicago, Illinois, was the very first portable color TV that Sears sold. This particular model (seen in the photograph) is AC/DC powered and can be plugged into a cigarette lighter in your car to be used on camping trips or plugged into direct AC wall current.
I also recall that Jeannie purchased the TV for about $450 at the time and paid another $300 for the extended 4-year warranty. Little did Jeannie know 28 years later that TV would be sitting on our kitchen counter plugged into a cable box, and running as good as the day it was purchased. We have moved several times in 28 years, and this Sears portable color TV has gone with us to each house we’ve lived in, including overseas. The TV has been operating almost every day in that 28 years time. It is simply amazing to me that an electronic device like this Sears TV would still be operating normally after 28 years of service.
If anyone at Sears, Inc., reads this article, I want to thank you for producing quality products such as my Sears portable color TV that my wife bought me for our first Christmas.
