1950's REMEMBERING WHEN NBC NEWS REPORTED THE NEWS

"Goodnight, Chet; Goodnight David!" And then the last of the real newscasters went into retirement. I remember when NBC was the stalwart of news reporting. Today, the peacock has morphed into MSNBC, a progressive medium whose agenda like the NY Times, presents "All the news that fits." Are you old enough to remember Huntley-Brinkley, John Cameron Swayze, Douglas Edwards, Edward R. Murrow, Frank Singizer, and other newsmen who were in the national spotlight from WWII up until the mid 1960's when America's social values began to change?

1944: HERE COMES TELEVISION!

I remember it well; that a network connection of TV stations from Schenectady, to Philadelphia, to Washington D.C. It was the true beginning of  television coverage along the northeast coast. Channel 3, WPTZ, Channel 6, WFIL the Philadelphia Inquirer station, and channel 10, WCAU. Aluminum and primitive aerials began to appear on rooftops all over the area. It would be 3 or 4 years before the Glover family journeyed over to Bond's Electric on Hamilton Avenue and purchased a 10 inch Admiral "Consolette," thanks to my brother Bud's Navy mustering out pay. What a thrill it was! Every afternoon WPTZ ran old "B" westerns on their 1 hour "Frontier Playhouse" program. Saturday nights were set aside for Sid Caeser and Imogene Coca and "Your Show of Shows." Sunday afternoons in the Glover house included a then popular program called "Super Circus." In those very early years of commercial television, programming began around mid day and went off the air before midnight. The non broadcast hours were filled with what we all found was called a "test pattern" which television technicians used to adjust focus, clarity and the complete definition of the many horizontal and vertical lines that were part of the design.

1951: VERY EARLY TELEVISION

I was one of the early fans of television back when there was very limited programming. In 1946 or perhaps 1947, "Mac" McEwan from the "corner store" about which I have written numerous columns, set up a television room in the back of his store and opened it to us kids. It was a perfect combination: We would sit and watch what was the first or nearly first TV set in the area, and Mac sold a lot of Kern's soda, Coke, Pepsi, potato chips, etc. I remember watching "Frontier Playhouse" on channel 3, WPTZ. Every afternoon at 5 we would watch Ken or Kermit Maynard, Bob Steel, the "Three Mesquiteers" and other class "B" westerns followed by "Burn 'em up Barnes, a 12 chapter serial. It was here that we watched the news casts of John Cameron Swayze or Douglas Edwards. The scan above shows a very early "TV DIGEST." In the very early years of commercial television, the programming started around 2 in the afternoon, and shut down around 10 or 11 PM, the rest of the hours we watched what was known as a "test pattern" which was transmitted for station identification, and so that television installers and service people could adjust sets and antennas. Our very first television set was an ADMIRAL with a 10 inch screen. Try as we might, we could only get channels 3, 6 and 10, while Art Sneath our next door neighbor got the same channels plus New York channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 11, and a less clear WATV channel 13. We called Bond's Electric on Hamilton Avenue where we purchased the set, and they called Pierce Phelps in Philadelphia to rectify the problem. Bottom line: Art Sneath's Philco was a more sensitive set, costing about 100 dollars more.

Ralph Lucarella said...

HI TOM....THOSE EARLY TV SHOWS FROM PHILLY AND THE TEST PATTERNS WERE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR 7 INCH TV SET IN 1946. I REMEMBER ED McMAHAN SELLING KITCHEN APPLIANCES IN FRONT OF THE 5 AND 10 CENT STORE ON THE BOARDWALK IN ATLANTIC CITY. ERNIE KOVACS HAD A COOKING SHOW AND THE OTHER BIG ATTRACTION WERE THE FIGHTS. I RECALL THE MAGNIFIERS THEY SOLD TO ENLARGEN THE SCREEN. YOU COULD NOT WATCH AT AN ANGLE WITH THEM. IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE HOW FAR TV HAS COME THRU THE YEARS. REGARDS.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Michael said...

Hey Ralph:

You forgot the everpresent multi color plastic sheet you put over the TV screen; gave you instant color tv.

We got our first 11 inch tv in 1946
when dad had his first stroke, and lost his legs. When the championship fights came on we had standing room only not only in the house but looking through the door,and front window.

Ike Williams in laws were neighbors, and had easy access to our living room each time Ike fought.
I luagh today at the 52" behemoths they are selling as home tvs today.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Jersey friends and family

Mike Kuzma

Monday, November 21, 2011

Tom Glover said...

FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS AND ALSO FRIDAY NIGHT MIDGET CAR RACING FROM FREEPORT RACEWAY IN LONG ISLAND NEW YORK ON WPIX CHANNEL 11.I REMEMBER GILLETTE "BLUE BLADES" AS THE SPONSOR. REMEMBER THIS JINGLE: "TO LOOK SHARP EVERY TIME YOU SHAVE,
TO BE SHARP AND BE ON THE GO,
JUST BE SHARP, USE GILLETTE BLUE BLADES FOR THE QUICKEST SLICKEST SHAVE OF ALL." WOW, WHAT MEMORIES.

TOM GLOVER

Monday, November 21, 2011