The other day I was wondering if I could remember the model number on an old Zenith tube radio that I had as a kid. It turns out there are databases of old product ads. These are quite a bit of fun to browse.
Take a look at radio ads during the twenties when a radio boom comparable to the Internet boom was underway.
I've been trying to remember when I last saw a commercial tube tester. For what it is worth most TV and radios didn't move from tubes to transistor designs until the sixties (mid decade for radios, late decade for TVs). Since tubes failed, most hardware and drug stores had a tube tester where the consumer could bring in suspect units and purchase replacements.
As a kid I had acquired a Lafayette TE-50. The move to transistors seemed very exciting at the time, but the warm glow of the tubes combined with the danger of the high voltage is something that I miss every now and again.
4:54:13 AM 
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