It was 1949, and life was very simple. There was no TV up until the night Dad brought one home. As he climbed the two flights of stairs to our third floor apartment, I noticed he was carrying a large box in his hands and marched into the parlor.
As my older sister and I watched, Dad put the box down and opened it. Tessie was getting more excited by the moment, “ we got a Television, we can watch Howdy Doody, and…” Being new at the game of wonder, I went along with her excitement.
Clearing a corner table, Dad put the TV on it and hooked up some wires that were hanging from outside the window next to the table. Now my curiosity was at its height, as Dad disappeared and was suddenly calling down from the roof. Mom put on the TV and a picture in gray and blacks and white suddenly appeared after a while. Dad started barking instructions and asking: “How’s it now?” “Too snowy” said Mom, “how about now?” countered Dad, “Go back a little, a little more, good, that’s it!” yelled Mom.
Finally things were hooked up, and there were people in the box, just like there are in the movies! It WAS exciting!
The very first program we watched was Kukla Fran and Ollie, a children’s puppet show, with a long toothed puppet that reminded me of my cousin Victor.
Dad and I watched wrestling (rassling) and boxing every Friday night, the boxing was spectacular with names such as: Rocky Graziano, Rocky Marchiano, Joe Louis and Archie Moore, wrestlers such as Haystack Calhoun.
Black and white TV became a staple like milk and bread, a job or education, an inalienable right. There was Lucy, and Ed Sullivan, Uncle Milton Berle and the Dodgers, “live from Ebbets Field”.
Now here’s the clicker, you had NO, I repeat, NO remote control! You had to get up, and go over to the TV, and change the station by turning the knob for the stations that had on only 13 numbers. Just think of it, 13 knob positions for only 7 active stations: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 as the channels.
Often the picture would go zigzagging or flipping up and down. Sometimes reception was so bad that you had to go up on the roof to adjust the picture. Television was not just new and exciting, but a lot of work.
So, when you turn on the boob tube, just remember the last thing you needed to do was find the remote. HDTV is just the beginning, and we are taking all of it for granted. No getting up to change the channel or adjust the horizontal or vertical controls, the brightness and contrast are all there, and in perfect color.
Tired of reading a reminiscing old fool going on? Change his channels, write to; joedelbroccolo@yahoo.com, tell him; a fool and his TV soon wearout.
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