Nor do they listen to political advertisements on TV. The first TV I ever saw (I was in high school) was in June Frankland's house. Her father had made it, as I remember. The screen was very small and he had built a wooden cabinet. Because we lived near Schenectady, there was actually some television broadcasting then. But at night there was just a "test pattern" on the screen. My parents said we could get a TV when we kids could pay for it. We had a big jar for savings. What we called "found money" --money on the floor or ground or whose ownership was in dispute--went into this jar, along with any contributions we cared to make. I don't remember that I made any. The TV was not earned until after I had left home for college; thesummer I finished high school, however, my parents went on a business trip and left us with another family who did have a TV. They brought it to our house and lived with us until the folks got back. So then we watched Your Show of Shows. It was better than what's on now and there were many fewer commercials. And now you see why I believe in the memory thread.
You should know that in the photo album my mother made of my early childhood, there is a card testifying that I was televised at the World's Fair in 1939. But I don't remember anything about that.
I made some progress on the postcards for the swap today. AND, I got a lot of other things finished while I was avoiding them. Wrote letters and postcards, went to the post office to mail a gift, and took the cardboard and newspaper to the recycling center. We had someone over to inspect the roof and he said we don't need a new one yet. A relief! So, today was not a total loss, just not heavy on the production of art.
The fall of 1950 my older brother Harold and older sister Mary taught me to keep chanting his line to Mom and Dad: all I want for Christmas is a Motarola TV. I had never seen a TV but they told me I would love it if we got it and I did. But we were not allowed to watch until after 7:00 P.M. when the news was broadcast live from WLWD TV in Dayton, Ohio. I discovered Lassie and loved it and discovered Howdy Doody and hated it. My Mom liked the Ed Sullivan Show and my Dad liked The Midwestern Hayride. My brothers liked televised sports, especially baseball and the fights on Friday night. My sister liked Daddy Knows Best. We all stopped whatever we were doing to watch I Love Lucy. That was the treat for the week till along came I've Got A Secret.
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