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LEARN HOW TO MAKE OUR TYPE LARGER

	Just a thought
	Betty Lammers

30 B.C. (Before Cable)
Published November/December 2002

Last century, in the mid-forties, we were the first family on our block to own a television set. Not that we were the "Joneses" who everybody tried to keep up with - it was an answer to my Dad's wish. He was homebound from a severe heart attack long before by-pass operations were even a thought. We four children chipped in and bought at 9-inch Motorola. There were as yet, no choices available in stores, but fortunately I was dating a young man who owned a radio and TV shop. When our order arrived, we sneaked it into the house and hooked it up temporarily with an antenna in the attic and got a picture. We awakened my Dad and we will never forget the tears of joy he showed.

The idea of sitting in our living room watching programs was awesome. You turned a dial for the 3 or 4 channels. The picture was clear and sharp, but you would just settle down and the picture would roll and you had to reach around the back and turn a narrow rod (the horizontal hold) until you got it just right. The vertical hold gave faces a narrow or wide look.

All programming went off at 11 p.m. with a prayer (they were politically correct then) and the Star-Spangled Banner. A test pattern was all that was left to look at. At first, Thursday night was called "Silent Night" because there was no programming.

I remember having neighbors in to watch the Friday night boxing matches. We all huddled around a 9-inch screen enjoying it.

So-called improvements came along. One was a large glass magnifier which slid out on racks below the set. It only worked if you sat directly in front of the screen. Those on an angle saw figures distorted. That was quickly discarded. When color became a distant future possibility, they sold a plastic film to place over the screen. This was a stupid idea because the bottom third was green for grass, the middle was flesh for skin and the top was blue for the sky. This only worked for outside scenes but was rather inappropriate for inside ones.

I remember seeing a rodeo from Madison Square Garden in New York City and we were all stunned that here we were, sitting in our living room watching something going on all the way in New York.

Ok, so all you couch potatoes who sit around surfing over 99 channels and complaining that there is nothing on, while astronauts from space are talking to us here on earth - remember TV in its infancy and be IMPRESSED.

E-mail Betty Lammers at betty@homefrontmagazine.com.

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