Dear Readers,
Television was a big part of my childhood. My Dad purchased our first TV in 1950, when I was 5 years old. It was a Zenith with a small round screen. We were so excited when it was delivered and set up in a place of honor in our home. It was quite expensive so only Mom or Dad was allowed to turn it on. The picture did not come on immediately – we had to wait for the tubes in the set to warm up.
Only two channels were available for viewing – CBS and NBC. Shows were telecast for only four hours a day from 6 PM to 10 PM. My sister and I would often gaze at the test pattern on the screen, waiting for our favorite programs to go “on air”. And we didn’t dare sit too close to the TV because Mom warned us it would ruin our eyesight!
World news shows on television was a very new innovation and lasted only 15 minutes. At 6:45 PM every evening, John Cameron Swayze, a leading news reporter of the 50’s, appeared to read the lastest news report. He sat at a very impressive desk and frequently glanced down at his notes. There was no accompanying film footage of the daily news events. I can still remember his commercial message: “A Timex watch takes a licking and keeps on ticking!”
My family never missed the broadcasts each night from 7 to 9 PM. Here is a sample of our weekly line up:
Monday – 8 PM – I Love Lucy with Lucille Ball – 8:30 PM – December Bride with Spring Byington
Tuesday – 8 PM – The Texaco Star Theater with Milton Berle
Wednesday – 8 PM – Father Knows Best
I can’t remember any favorites from Thursday nights.
Friday – 8 PM – I Remember Mama with Peggy Wood – 9 PM – Friday night wrestling matches with “Gorgeous George” and other wrestlers with grandiose names
Saturday – 8 PM – Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca
Sunday – 7 PM – Superman with George Reeves – 8 PM – The Loretta Young Show with Loretta Young sweeping through an opening door wearing a beautiful gown to introduce that evening’s story.
There were many other programs I remember from the 50’s such as The Jackie Gleason Show, Sky King, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Hopalong Cassidy, Lassie, Dragnet and the Cisco Kid.
I can still remember how my family would sit in our favorite seats to watch the little round television. Some nights Mom would let us turn off the lights and we would pretend that the television was really our own private movie screen. We laughed and cried together as we observed our favorite characters come to life on TV. Those were great family nights that I will never forget!
Keep smilin’!
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