NOW we are getting somewhere! And there was so much snow on the picture that you had to put blue or red cellophane paper in front of the picture tube to try to filter out enough of the snow to be able to see an actual picture. YEARS later, probably some time in the late 70s – when we finally got a COLOR TV, I was astonished to learn that the last few years of The Lone Ranger, almost all of The Cisco Kid and totally ALL of BONANZA had been in color since back in the 50s.
What is amazing is that so many of those old TV shows which were originally made for an audience which was watching on a 6 inch black and white TV screen look so very good when re-runs air on today’s big screen TVs.
Our first TV was about a 6-inch screen, but it had a 12-inch magnifying lens in front of it.
Those old shows look good now only if they were filmed like a movie. But old live shows often exist only as “kinescopes”, filmed images of a TV screen. They don’t hold up so well.
The first TV I ever saw (late 50’s) had a green screen that was convex. It was a Joe Louis boxing match that my dad took us kids along to watch on a neighbor’s new TV. We were practically the last in the neighborhood to get one, as I recall. I wasn’t allowed to watch ours because I would do running commentary. Still today, I “listen” to TV, seldom ever sit and watch it. I grew up with radio, after all.
Few TVs had screens that small. The picture tube was, but they either used fresnel lenses or a magnifying mirror arrangement to enlarge the picture – up to eight or nine inches!
Speaking of Bonanza, in Canada Loren Greene was known as The Voice of Doom. He was the main CBC news reader during early WW-II when most of the news was bad. If you are ever in Vancouver, go to the Maritime Museum and see the RCMP schooner St. Roche. It is restored to the way it was when it returned to Vancouver in 1944, completing the first two-way crossing of the Northwest Passage. Even the PA system is playing the CBC broadcast for that day – with the news read by Greene.
All the people we know who rushed out and bought new high definition or high-definiton ready TVs soon discovered that those TVs gave up the ghost rather quickly. In fact, this has happened to so many people in the Denver area that the Denver Post published an entire article about how quickly the HD TVs give up the ghost. Even more distressing – it costs an arm and a leg to either repair or replace the ailing high-definition television sets. By contrast, those of us Pluggers who decided to just hang on to our old Analog television sets and just equip them with the high definition receiver (most of which cost about $40) can STILL get either high definition television from the HD receiver or digital television from our satellite dishes. If you still have your old Analog television set – you can still watch television. If you invested in the new high definition stuff – maybe you can watch television – and then, again, maybe you can’t!
EstrelitaH almost 13 years ago
NOW we are getting somewhere! And there was so much snow on the picture that you had to put blue or red cellophane paper in front of the picture tube to try to filter out enough of the snow to be able to see an actual picture. YEARS later, probably some time in the late 70s – when we finally got a COLOR TV, I was astonished to learn that the last few years of The Lone Ranger, almost all of The Cisco Kid and totally ALL of BONANZA had been in color since back in the 50s.
What is amazing is that so many of those old TV shows which were originally made for an audience which was watching on a 6 inch black and white TV screen look so very good when re-runs air on today’s big screen TVs.
pschearer Premium Member almost 13 years ago
Our first TV was about a 6-inch screen, but it had a 12-inch magnifying lens in front of it.
Those old shows look good now only if they were filmed like a movie. But old live shows often exist only as “kinescopes”, filmed images of a TV screen. They don’t hold up so well.
ChukLitl Premium Member almost 13 years ago
When we first got color, I was amazed at how white some people are. People that white tend to be pink, under my desert sun.
ghkimac almost 13 years ago
We called our first tv a “Magnabox” instead a “Magnavox”.
LuvThemPluggers almost 13 years ago
The first TV I ever saw (late 50’s) had a green screen that was convex. It was a Joe Louis boxing match that my dad took us kids along to watch on a neighbor’s new TV. We were practically the last in the neighborhood to get one, as I recall. I wasn’t allowed to watch ours because I would do running commentary. Still today, I “listen” to TV, seldom ever sit and watch it. I grew up with radio, after all.
Nighthawks Premium Member almost 13 years ago
you mean you’re a plugger’s grandpa
hippogriff almost 13 years ago
Few TVs had screens that small. The picture tube was, but they either used fresnel lenses or a magnifying mirror arrangement to enlarge the picture – up to eight or nine inches!
Speaking of Bonanza, in Canada Loren Greene was known as The Voice of Doom. He was the main CBC news reader during early WW-II when most of the news was bad. If you are ever in Vancouver, go to the Maritime Museum and see the RCMP schooner St. Roche. It is restored to the way it was when it returned to Vancouver in 1944, completing the first two-way crossing of the Northwest Passage. Even the PA system is playing the CBC broadcast for that day – with the news read by Greene.
firedome almost 13 years ago
my earliest recollection of tv was a tabletop black and white with a 15 inch screen made in 1955 by motorola. (this memory goes back to 1958)
wanderwolf almost 13 years ago
Beg pardon, Bouncy, but vacuum tubes are still made. They’re more expensive, but you can still get them.
EstrelitaH almost 13 years ago
All the people we know who rushed out and bought new high definition or high-definiton ready TVs soon discovered that those TVs gave up the ghost rather quickly. In fact, this has happened to so many people in the Denver area that the Denver Post published an entire article about how quickly the HD TVs give up the ghost. Even more distressing – it costs an arm and a leg to either repair or replace the ailing high-definition television sets. By contrast, those of us Pluggers who decided to just hang on to our old Analog television sets and just equip them with the high definition receiver (most of which cost about $40) can STILL get either high definition television from the HD receiver or digital television from our satellite dishes. If you still have your old Analog television set – you can still watch television. If you invested in the new high definition stuff – maybe you can watch television – and then, again, maybe you can’t!