As analog TV disappears forever today, some among us can remember when it was the hot new thing. You could get a beautiful 1950 Philco or RCA, with a big 12 and 1/2 inch screen, over at Shaefer's for $240--$2,050 in today's money. Black and white only. In 1950, just one of every eleven Ypsilanti homes had a TV. Programs were broadcast for only a few evening hours. Prime time was the only time. Here were your choices according to the September 22, 1950 edition of the Ypsilanti Daily Press:
NBC8:00 Quiz Kids (pictured; originally a radio show)
9:30 The Clock with Raymond Massey (suspense show; also from radio)
CBS
9:00 Friday Theater "The Married Look"
10:30 By Popular Demand (Talent)
ABC
8:30 Pro Football Program (I love how they don't bother to name the teams--TV was such a novelty that any old football game was just fine)
10:00 Betty Furness Party (the Westinghouse lady; her show "Adventures in Mystery" was sponsored by the Kaiser Frazer car company based at Willow Run)
Dumont (the "Forgotten Network," a one-time rival to NBC)8:30 Hold That Camera Quiz (quiz shows were cheap to produce!)
10:00 Cavalcade of Stars with Jackie Gleason (vaudeville-style variety show not unlike an early "Tonight Show").
Farewell, analog.
p.s. Kind reader, does your home have Two Ford Freedom?
2 comments :
Discussing this at the A2B3 lunch on Thursday, we concluded that a fitting farewell to analog would be to play the Star Spangled Banner with a video of a flapping flag. Followed by the test pattern you posted, of course.
jml: That's perfect. The video should be a little grainy...
(Sigh) I'm already nostalgic and I never even watched much TV.
One interesting difference is that digital is binary--you either get the signal, or you get nothing. Very different from old analog where even if the signal wasn't 100%, you could twiddle the antenna and still get *something*, even if the image was imperfect.
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