'Tin box' televisor, c 1930.

The original Baird 'Televisors' (television sets) were made with mahogany cabinets and were very expensive. This later 'tin box' model was designed for Baird by Percy Packman, an engineer at Plessey. Only about a thousand of these sets were sold, as buying DIY kits based on the same 30-line system proved the cheaper and more popular option. It would have been purchased to watch the periodic Baird Studios/BBC broadcasts between 1929 and 1935. This set would have cost £18 in 1930 (equivalent to nearly £3,000 today).