My first remembrance of TV was when I was quite little, maybe four years old or so. This was in the early 1950s. We used to go over to my aunt and uncle's house. They owned the first TV I ever saw. It was a round screen TV that operated by a series of tubes of different sizes and shapes that were hidden inside. The screen itself was about 12" diameter or so.
We would all huddle around this little TV set. It was quite an event and we were quite an awestruck little group that would gather around to watch the limited amount of programming that was available back then.
Of course it was all black and white and the picture was fuzzy as I recall (no High Definition for us, no siree) but exciting nonetheless.
We watched a variety show called Spade Cooley most every week as well as boxing and the roller derby. I also remember a variety show that had the word "Jamboree" in the title, but I can't remember what it was called. There were also some sitcom types of shows as well, but I don't remember their names.
Later on, when I was about eight we actually got our own TV set. Square or rectangular screen and it was a bigger picture. Still black and white though. Favorite shows were Mickey Mouse Club, Romper Room, Ding Dong School, Engineer Bill, Father Knows Best, and Howdy Doody. Later on, as a teenager I loved Donna Reed, American Bandstand, Ozzie and Harriet (ahhh, Ricky Nelson), Dr. Kildare, Mr. Novak, Dragnet, and Perry Mason. Often the shows were watched while munching popcorn and drinking hot chocolate.
Back then, our parents didn't have to monitor every minute of TV because the shows had no bad language or sexual content or violence. The shows reflected the values that we were being taught in our homes, and today when I happen to see bits of those shows it brings back really good memories! Hot chocolate, anyone? :-)
4 comments:
Welcome to Blogger Mom... very nice story. -Mike
Welcome to blogging! And for the record (as I tell everyone who's heard of it), I was on Romper Room when I was four. My cousin, Ann, was too, and remember her spitting in her play dough when the teacher wouldn't give her water to make it more wet. And they gave us all bags of Clover Club potato chips after each program (their program sponser). Does anyone else remember Clover Club chips? Great blast from my past!
Do you remember how many channels there were?
Not many channels, Karissa! We had no cable TV or satellite back then, so it was just your basic channels.
I think it was channels 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, and 13. Those are the ones I remember at least.
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