Mom was very frugal, having lived through starvation in eastern Poland around the turn of the Other Century...
We inherited several sets along the way, like a Sylvania (I think it was) with Halo-Light!... maybe 24" around then.
My first wife was a TV addict. We referred to her as "if she sat down in front of a TV, you'd have to arrange for intravenous feedings."
We never owned a TV through our 13 or so years of marriage. I had to borrow a set to watch the Moon Landing!
Well, after that divorce, some years later, my new fiancé and I bought a 50" Pioneer rear-projector we called "Goliath."
After we moved to NC after selling our well-appreciated CA home, we donated the Pioneer to a church group (took three volunteers to get it out of the house...) and later ended up with our 60" or so Plasma Samsung.
Can't go bigger without lowering the table a new set would sit on, since it wouldn't fit under the fireplace mantle... Ah, the problems I've had to deal with in my life... :))))))))))))