Quincy...As you say, vacuum tubes generally include a "getter" to "get" stray atoms of gas that leak into the tube. However, I think that the getter needs to be hot to do its job, which means that the tube should be operated. Early vintage CRT tubes used to fail easily due to gas. A TV that was stored unused for a year or more usually meant a ruined tube. Recent vintage TVs don't seem to have this problem.