The TV set.
There it stood.. at the far end of the living room.
Positioned perfectly for all to see…
whether seated on the long comfy couch against the wall,
or the (“mom-made”) banquette along the opposite wall,
or even, conveniently, from the “dining room” table
on the far other end of the room.
A rather massive black “box”.
Designed by DuMont for the ever-so-stylish 1950’s.
Standing proudly on its four legs…
its highlight feature was a magical roll-back “wooden bamboo curtain”…
which, when elegantly rolled back from each side…
majestically revealed a hugely impressive 28" screen.
(At least, that’s the way I remember it)
Our family TV set.
A miraculous vehicle to deliver us countless hours of entertainment and news….
joy and discovery…
(Cartoons too!)
Behind those doors existed a vast universe of things to see.
SIX WHOLE CHANNELS FOR US TO CHOOSE FROM!!!!
To be in control of these wondrous offerings…
we merely had to step up to the box…
grip the dial…
and with a simple twist of the wrist…
we could find CBS, NBC, ABC or our home-town favorites.
We’d sit together as a family and watch...
Jackie Gleason, Ed Sullivan, Steve Allen,
Father Knows Best, Gunsmoke, What’s My Line, Lassie,
Make Room for Daddy, Topper.
Ah, but then I’d have my own “kid TV time”…
Howdy Doody, Kukla Fran and Ollie, Mickey Mouse Club, Rootie Kazootie.
NOTE: Rootie was a baseball-playing puppet who played for the ‘Dotsville Yankapups’ …
and thus turned me into a life-long Yankee fanatic!
My very favorite kid’s TV show however was...
Winky Dink & You!
An early pioneer in interactive gameplay!
Viewers were strongly urged to purchase a Winky Adventure set…
which came with a “magic screen” and “magic crayons”.
We complied.
When the show came on, I would affix the plastic screen over the regular TV screen.
Then, when perhaps Winky’s adventures might take him to the edge of a cliff…
I would be able to save him by drawing a bridge on the magic screen…
and sure enough…with my heroic help
Winky would walk across!!!
AMAZING!!!!
However…
One day I could not find my “magic screen”.
And so I watched in dread as Winky had to cross a river...
and needed me to draw a bridge!!!!
And know what?
I drew no bridge...
and that damn Winky walked across in mid-air!!!?
WHAT???
I felt betrayed! Deceived! Lied to!
NOTE: I did kinda get back at Winky (and my complicit parents) by one day drawing a bridge
on the ACTUAL TV SCREEN! Let’s just see how Jack Paar looks with a bridge across his face!
As I got a bit older I discovered...
Ernie Kovacs, Alfred Hitchcock, Twenty One…
and my favorite...
The Twilight Zone.
NOTE: Once for a school assignment we had to write 10 book reports for 10 short stories.
When I realized I had only read 9…and time was running out…
I wrote my final report on a Twilight Zone episode.
(And never got caught!)
As much as I loved our big DuMont “black box” as a member of our family…
it didn’t take more than a minute for me to switch my affections to…
Our BRAND NEW ZENITH COLOR TV!!!!!!
In 1962, we were one of the first families in our neighborhood to get color TV.
(My dad was able to get it with Green Stamps, due to a special promotion of buying carpeting to sell in his store!)
I was over the technicolor moon!
The very first thing I saw on color TV was...
Casey Stengel talking about his new team, the Mets.
The field was green!
The uniforms, orange and blue!
The flag in the outfield waved red, white and blue!!
All day I could think of nothing else but...
running home to see something, ANYTHING in “living color”!!
I began dreaming in color!!
We used to look through TV Guide,
which would designate those few shows that were broadcast in color.
When we’d find that ©…
we’d watch that show, whatever it was…
Bonanza, Superman, Ford Playhouse…
and of course, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color!
I was so obsessed with having color TV…
that I used to adjust the color tint dials on the TV, set,
to make B&W TV shows appear green or red…
And somehow that was thrilling to me as well?!?
One last TV memory is alas, an angry one.
As a little boy, my sister Ellen (3 years older ) and I used to share a bedroom. Each night, we would walk up stairs together, get into our separate beds, chat for a bit
and then fall asleep…
OR SO I THOUGHT!!
One evening, I woke up after a couple of hours and looked around for Ellen.
But she was NOT in her bed!?
I trudged down the stairs in my PJs…
and what I saw shocked…nay, appalled me!!
There was Ellen sitting on the couch with my parents, all three enjoying TV…
without me!!!!
(I believe they were watching the ever-so-thrilling ‘SeaHunt’).
When I asked her with confused indignation…
“What are you doing down here watching TV??”
She answered with the one “mean” thing she ever
said to me in her life..
“Oh, I get up and watch TV with Mom and Dad every night after you fall asleep”.
Absolutely livid!!!
With tears of rage in my eyes, I stomped up the stairs.
As I was halfway up, I heard my Mom “sweetly sing out”…
"Good Niiight Robert".
I made my way back down the stairs,
stood directly in front of the TV,
faced my tormenters,
and declared…
“I DON’T SAY ‘GOOD NIGHT’ TO LIARS!!!!
NOTE: To this day, this has become another oft-repeated catch phrase in the Forever Kid's household.
Would love to hear your early TV memories.
