got a 1953 dumont teleset dropped off the other day

To keep it vintage, you should be able to attach a 75 / 300 ohm adapter (aka balun transformer) to the VHF antenna screws on the back, and then hook up a digital to analog converter box along with a simple set of rabbit ears. Make sure the tv tuner is on either channel 3 or 4. You could also hook up a satellite or cable box and those should work as well.

I myself have a vintage 1952 Westinghouse that I used to have hooked to my satellite, and it worked great, as long as you like black and white movies...Good Luck...