TV Sets Can Now Be Disguised as Fine Works of Art

There was a time when household electronics weren't that complicated. As a matter of fact, they were more like pieces of furniture. When I was a kid my grandparents had an old "television graveyard" tucked away in a dusty corner up in the attic. It contained the skeletons of a long line of broken old sets. TV sets back in those days could usually be repaired. Some of it was "do-it-yourself." You just went down to the corner drugstore and bought a replacement tube and you were good to go until another one burned out. They were sort of like light bulbs. That was until the "big tube", i.e. the picture tube, went out. These were too expensive to replace. In was in this case that the set was relegated to the "yard."

Some television sets were not only fine pieces of furniture; they also sometimes served more than one function. I remember one Magnavox that we had that took up a whole living room wall. It was a 25" floor model television set as well as a stereo and an entertainment bar where you could store your drinking glasses and your bar supplies. When it finally went out it was too valuable to discard so the new set was simply placed on top of it.

Eventually the electronics became smaller and lighter and were usually placed on another type of entertainment center that consisted of wood shelves and a glass cabinet. In recent years, however, with the advent of plasma and big screen TV's they are becoming more like pieces of furniture again or works of art that are designed to blend into the room's décor. According to an article in The St. Louis Post Dispatch, (www.stltoday.com) flat screens can now be hung straight on the wall, incorporated into a computer system, framed, or made to look like fine pieces of art. When the TV is not on you can buy CD's and computer programs that will make your screen look like everything from a Picasso to a roaring fireplace. You can even get family pictures that constantly scroll down on the screen. Don't care for any of the above? Then you can get a set that either disappears completely into the wall or blends in so well that people won't think you even have one.