Philco Predicta

The Philco Predicta is a black and white television chassis style, which was made in several cabinet models with 17” or 21” screens by the American company Philco from 1958 to 1960. The ''Predicta'' was marketed as the world’s first swivel screen television, and had an iconic design by Catherine Winkler with the picture tube ( CRT) separated from the rest of the cabinet.

The safety mask on the front of the picture tube was made with the new organic plastic product by Eastman Plastics called “tenite” which protected the glass and provided implosion protection for the user and also gave it its iconic greenish tint. The ''Predicta'' also had a thinner picture tube than many other televisions at the time, which led it to be marketed as the more futuristic television set.

''Predicta'' television sets were constructed with such variety of cabinet configurations, some detachable but all separate from the tube itself and connected by wires.

The model ''Predicta Tandem'' had the fully detached picture tube and the flat twenty five foot long umbilical cable, which allowed the controls and speaker for the set to be next to the viewer, with the screen up to twenty five feet away. Also unique to this version was a large handle over the top to carry the cathode ray tube portion wherever the viewer wanted it. This version also required more internal circuitry to drive the video signal through the cable.

Philco also had ''Directa'', its short lived remote series in 1959 before being bought by the Ford Motor Company in December 1961. This feature provided Philco with an answer to the wireless remote control by Zenith entitled “Space Command” which had been introduced the same year. The ''Predicta'' was announced to the industry in the summer of 1958 with the public getting its first look on the edition of 1959 of Miss America, which was sponsored by Philco.

Shortly after the ''Predicta'' was announced, the reliability was called into question by several trade and consumer publications. Philco produced the ''Predicta'' the following year but unfortunately, as it was phasing in its next chassis iteration the ''Cool Chassis'' they went bankrupt. The Predicta was credited as one speculated cause of Philco’s bankruptcy.

Ford stepped in shortly thereafter and bought Philco. ''Toy Story 2'' featured a miniature replica of the Predicta which was based on one owned by John Lasseter, who directed the film.

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Consumer electronics
Television technology
Products introduced in 1958
Products and services discontinued in 1960