See yourself on Color TV at the Museum in Chicago, 1959

[old_tv_nut]

In the late 50's, the Museum fo Science and Industry in Chicago had a color TV exhibit sponsored by RCA (who else?). (It had been preceded by a black and white TV exhibit also sponsored by RCA.)

In 1959, Queen Elizabeth visited North America including Chicago and the Museum. (The Queen and her party came to Chicago via the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes.)

As has been posted elsewhere here, this exhibit used the very insensitive and high-lag three-vidicon RCA color camera that otherwise saw use only as a closed circuit camera for medical operations.

The following two black and white shots are scanned from newspaper negatives that were recently sold on ebay.

I have posted straight scans and also with the shadows boosted so the images on the TV set are more visible. In the image where the prince is walking across the stage, you can see how much the TV image is smeared by the vidicon lag.


Queen Museum negative1 by old_tv_nut, on Flickr


Queen Museum negative1 shadow boost by old_tv_nut, on Flickr


Queen Museum negative 2 by old_tv_nut, on Flickr


Queen Museum negative 2 shadow boost by old_tv_nut, on Flickr

Here for reference is a scan of an old museum guidebook showing the exhibit in color. Note tht for this image a lot of light was added to the foreground and walls to make the models visible as more than silhouettes. Also, the picture on the TV was faked by copying cutting and pasting part of the direct image of the scene.

MSI Color TV crop by old_tv_nut, on Flickr

[Eric H]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

Also, the picture on the TV was faked by copying cutting and pasting part of the direct image of the scene.

I was noticing that, the angle is exactly the same as the picture we see, not at the angle the camera would be seeing.

Note you can see the angle difference in the "Live" B&W photos above.

[old_tv_nut]

I forgot to identify some of the other people.

The man following the prince is Daniel V. McMaster, long-time president of the museum.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...museum-exhibit

In the picture with the Queen, left to right:
Lenox Lohr, Director of the museum; an NBC executive who probably had a lot to do with the RCA exhibit's existence.
[the Queen]
Governor Stratton of Illinois;
[two on right unknown to me]

[NewVista]

Phil the Greek checks himself on monitor, Liz avoids.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by NewVista

Phil the Greek checks himself on monitor, Liz avoids.

Yes, she happened to look away and blink.

The lights were extremely bright, making it nearly impossible to actually see yourself. The lights were placed very high, reducign the direct in-your-face glare, but that caused shadows about people's eyes that looked a bit ghoulish with the TV system's limited contrast range. Just the light reflected from the background was enough to wash out the picture on the monitor facing the subject. People viewing the exhibit from the photographer's position could see the picture fairly well.

[Sandy G]

I remember they had a somewhat similar set-up at the NYC 1964-65 World's Fair....IIRC, they had a "Moving Sidewalk", which ran you by a gaggle of TK-41s, I guess, & you were facing a bank of RCA color sets-I THINK they were all Roundies, & you could see yrself on Color TV ! But, it looked like nobody had checked the set-up for quite awhile, most of the sets were BAD out of kilter-Purplish screens, terrible alignment, etc-altho they also had a few clunky ol' B&W sets, which were fine...

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

I remember they had a somewhat similar set-up at the NYC 1964-65 World's Fair....IIRC, they had a "Moving Sidewalk", which ran you by a gaggle of TK-41s, I guess, & you were facing a bank of RCA color sets-I THINK they were all Roundies, & you could see yrself on Color TV ! But, it looked like nobody had checked the set-up for quite awhile, most of the sets were BAD out of kilter-Purplish screens, terrible alignment, etc-altho they also had a few clunky ol' B&W sets, which were fine...

OK, I see it's time to post the link again

http://www.nywf64.com/rca01.shtml

[Sandy G]

Well, I WAS just 8 at the time...The WHOLE Fair thing, New York City, the Subway, gazillions of PEOPLE, were just a TAD overwhelming to a hillbilly kid from NE Tennessee..

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Well, I WAS just 8 at the time...The WHOLE Fair thing, New York City, the Subway, gazillions of PEOPLE, were just a TAD overwhelming to a hillbilly kid from NE Tennessee..

OK, but I thought you would catch on to my avatar, that's right there in every message.

[Sandy G]

Well, Duhhh..I Get it now...(grin) Seems like I remember that, yeah, TV cameras "Back in the Day" weren't nearly as good as what we have today, they were easy to "Overload", had lots of "Artifacts", etc. That said, if somebody came 'round here wanting to sell me a TK-41 chain complete & working, would I wave him off ? NO.....

[julianburke]

Same identical exhibit that was shown at the world's fair. Camera is an early TK41 w/o the viewfinder, not the medical unit

[sampson159]

lazarus dept store has a setup like this in the very early 60s.2 days i think.we were all enthused about this but i wouldnt participate.bowed at the last minute.got cold feet.still do to this day.have to wear multiple socks to be comfortable.the picture on that monitor was amazing.i remember how crisp and detailed it was.

[cbenham]

Originally Posted by old_tv_nut

OK, I see it's time to post the link again

http://www.nywf64.com/rca01.shtml

Thanks Wayne. I had never seen the link and all the interesting stuff hidden in the index.

Cliff

[Penthode]

In the second photograph fourth and fifth from the left was the then Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and his wife. They must have taken the tour on the St Lawrence Seaway which opened in '59.

[Sandy G]

I always liked ol' Phil, kinda felt a little sorry for him...How would YOU like to be basically a permanent Second Banana, never really able to have an identity of your own, just "Prince Philip, Royal Consort"...Basically, a high-class Stud Muffin...Thought he was basically a reasonably Nice Guy, though...You wonder what those people are REALLY like, when they're NOT having to be THE Prince, or THE Queen...I bet they'd BOTH be fun to listen to their tall tales, after they'd had a drink or 2 & all that "Royal Highness" shit had gone by the boards...