75 Years Ago Today

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On this date in 1949, the Lone Ranger TV show premiered. We didn't get a tv until several years later, but I remember many Saturday mornings watching the Lone Ranger and other such TV shows. I do remember sitting in front of the radio with my dad an listening to the show prior to our having a television.

I am sure this is where my love of firearms started, especially handguns. Not to mention my belief in the concept of one honest man with a gun.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Saw my first TV about 1960. On a shelf behind the bar where my dad and uncle stopped for a beer during trips to town. Tiny screen, fuzzy images, snowy looking screen, frequent lines rolling across the screen (horizontal, vertical, diagonal), black & white of course. My brother and I were completely mesmerized!

About that time we got electricity on the farm (Rural Electrification Program). Power for the chillers in the barn first, keep the fresh milk cold until the dairy truck came to pick up. Added a line to the house later, a few incandescent lights (Edisons they were called), a radio in the parlor room (tube model probably 40 lbs., sat on a shelf and became the focus of attention! Grampa exercised complete control over the programs selected.

Exposed knob & tube wiring in the cellar (be careful not to touch it and blow the main fuse), wall-mount conduits for wiring up the walls to outlets and light circuits. We still had to keep fresh 6-volt batteries on the telephone line, so low-voltage transformers hadn't come to us just yet.

As I recall Gunsmoke was still a regular radio program, Matt Dillon voiced by William Conrad (later Frank Cannon and Jake and the Fat Man on television series). Amos & Andy show. Baseball games, mostly from St. Louis and Pittsburgh, usually with Dizzy Dean announcing. Mom and Dad still liked the "big bands" and "swing" music. The morning Farm Report was a daily listen along with the weather forecasts.

 

[fordson]

Mom and Dad got their first TV around 1956. It was a Norge (sp?), with a BW round 9” screen in a beautiful cherry wood cabinet, as I remember. Dad saved up to buy it for my mom. When it was delivered, they installed the antenna on the roof which was the signal for all the neighbors near by to come and watch THE TV. That first night it was standing room only in our living room. Mom was to busy making coffee and light snacks for all our visitors to even see her own TV. Folks were sitting on the floor, in chairs from all about the house, standing in the hall, craning their necks looking around the walls corners and over the tops of other folks just to see this tiny spec of dancing light and hear crackling sound that for most of the evening just showed a test pattern because the two local stations only broadcast certain hours of the day. Yep, for several weeks, my family had friends we never knew existed. Then the neighbors down the road got a TV with a 11” rectangular screen and it was their turn to be the epicenter of the local tv world.

 

[boykinlp]

Mom and Dad got their first TV around 1956. It was a Norge (sp?), with a BW round 9” screen in a beautiful cherry wood cabinet, as I remember. Dad saved up to buy it for my mom. When it was delivered, they installed the antenna on the roof which was the signal for all the neighbors near by to come and watch THE TV. That first night it was standing room only in our living room. Mom was to busy making coffee and light snacks for all our visitors to even see her own TV. Folks were sitting on the floor, in chairs from all about the house, standing in the hall, craning their necks looking around the walls corners and over the tops of other folks just to see this tiny spec of dancing light and hear crackling sound that for most of the evening just showed a test pattern because the two local stations only broadcast certain hours of the day. Yep, for several weeks, my family had friends we never knew existed. Then the neighbors down the road got a TV with a 11” rectangular screen and it was their turn to be the epicenter of the local tv world.

Great Story.
Larry

 

[Birdgun]

I too remember my dad listening to Dragnet on the radio. Then in 1954 or 55 we got a TV!!!! I remember watching the Mickey Mouse Club (MMC) after school and my favorite MMC series was "Spin and Marty." My favorite Disney series was "Davy Crockett." All of us kids wore a coonskin hat. And of course, Dad would never miss "Gunsmoke." For Mom, her show was the "Lawrence Welk Show."

Good memories.

God bless,
John T.

 

[Greyman50]

I forget the year in the 50s when we got our first tv. Lived WAAAY out in the country, forgot what antenna there was. Watched Captain Kangaroo, Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and few others .Early cartoons, Mighty Mouse and the Mikey Mouse Club. Found tv in attic when I cleaned out the home to sell. Asked everybody if they wanted it as it had the round CRT tube screen but no one was interested. Went out 3rd floor window.

 

[MaricopaKid]

I forget the year in the 50s when we got our first tv. Lived WAAAY out in the country, forgot what antenna there was. Watched Captain Kangaroo, Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers and few others .Early cartoons, Mighty Mouse and the Mikey Mouse Club. Found tv in attic when I cleaned out the home to sell. Asked everybody if they wanted it as it had the round CRT tube screen but no one was interested. Went out 3rd floor window.

Darn near profound, Sir.