To me, TV lamps are pieces of art. There were so many different ones made by a lot of different manufacturers (Royal Fleet, Maddux, Lane, Texans Inc., Kron, Fuhry & Sons, Jacquelin, Royal Haeger…). These lamps became essential once televisions started showing up in homes. When watching the early televisions you had to watch them in almost complete darkness because of the low luminosity, making low light viewing a genuine benefit. The common belief was that watching the television in complete darkness caused eyestrain, hence the birth of the television lamp.
Sylvania came out with this new revolutionary HaloLight feature which helped eliminate eyestrain and the need for TV lamps.
Mel and I were contacted by one of our friends who informed us that she came into possession of the very rare Sylvania HaloLight television. She asked if we were interested and of course you know what we said. I shot over to pick it up. The cabinet on this unit is in good shape for its age. I plan to refinish it so it is perfect. I love the lightning bolt on the right side.
Once this is refinished it will look great.
The control panel is pretty clean on this unit. I plan to replace the fabric with something a little less ratty.
Here she is all lit up! Yup, it still works. Our friend Justin of Stellar Vintage Electronics said that if the Halo works you are ahead of the game because they are custom fluorescent tubes.
This unit has only one speaker so I don’t imagine it will compare to the modern televisions. If Justin can’t get this unit to work, it will be retrofitted with a modern tube and will be good to go for many more years to come.
Whatever we decide to do with this unit, it is nice that another set has been saved from the junk pile.
Here are a couple of 50’s commercials of the Sylvania HaloLight.
Hepcats Haven 