How did people watch 7" sets?

[Sandy G]

Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted

Being born in 1947 I have vivid memories of my first television viewing experiences.

I was somewhere between 2 and 3 years old. Our family didn't have a set until 1951 when they purchased the Halicrafter 820 you see in my avitar.

A good friend of my father, Sam Sapaznick, already had a small screen tv set. It was a 7 incher but I can't recall exactly what brand it was.

SO......Every Friday night we would all go over to Sam's home for a gathering of several families to watch boxing on "The Friday Night Fights" which was sponsored by "Gillette Blue Blades"

The set up of the room was as follows: Dining room table was removed from the dining room. The tv set sat on top of an old fashioned china sideboard that was about 6" higher than a kitchen counter. IN front of the sideboard were 2 rows of kitchen and dining room chairs placed in curved rows, one behind the other and stagered like theater seats would be. Front row was probably no more than 6 feet away from the sideboard. All the kids sat on the floor in front of the sideboard looking up at about a 45 degree angle at the little tv screen several feet above our heads.

Watching tv was a big time social event in the early days of television, when the vast majority of homes still did not have a set. The host would prepare snacks for everyone and there would of course be plenty of Milwaukee's finest for the adults and soda for the kids. When the show came on, the lights in the room were turn off and we sat in the dark watching this tiny little screen. It was exciting! Live boxing from Madison Square Garden, every Friday night.

Certain things in life make an impression on you that sticks in your mind all your life. Watching The Friday Night Fights at the Sapaznick home in the early days of television, was just one of those things that made an indelible impression on my mind when I was just a little kid. I also remember the first "Color tv" I ever saw in 1956 in the home of one of my fathers freinds. I guess I was born in the vangard of the television revolution and probably has something to do with being a collector/restorer today.

Bob, do you remember if they put on their "Sunday-Go-To-Meetin'" duds when they all met up at Sam's place ?

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by kx250rider

I have no problem watching TVs that size. In fact as I write this, I'm watching the news on a 9" Sony Trinitron; 12 feet across the room.

Charles

I think, I have four of those right now. When watching one, it's about arms length away.
I can't seem to stay away from small screen color sets. I'll buy all I can get.
The 9" Panasonic white kitchen sets, turn yellow after a while. I understand, they're made of flame-proof plastic. Probably U/V discoloration.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by egrand

At that time, TV was only on in the evenings . . .

That was a good idea. I sometimes wish TV stations would go back to that schedule, as daytime programming on television these days isn't worth watching; as we used to say in the '70s, it is strictly from hunger. Talk shows, game shows (one network station in Cleveland carries a syndicated version of Family Feud, while another has Jeopardy! just before its four p. m. newscast), and other ho-hum fare are all that's on daytime TV anymore (at least here in northern Ohio) after the soap operas. NBC is only showing one, at one p.m. Eastern time, while the other two networks still have three or more soaps before the first newscast of the day.

News at four p. m. is also something no US TV station had until a couple years ago. I wonder how many people actually see these late afternoon newscasts, as most people are still at work at that hour of the day. (Cleveland has two early newscasts, on channels 5 and 8.)

Of course, with all the cable channels available today (including retro digital subchannels), I guess people are finding a lot more entertaining stuff to watch during daytime hours outside of the broadcast networks, including older shows from the days when television was fun to watch.

TV Guide magazine used to publish local and national TV schedules, with listings from 7 a.m. through the end of prime time (11 p.m. Eastern), but not any more. Today, TV Guide shows only prime-time listings for the major networks and cable. The network listings are identified by network, not by local channel numbers as they were years ago. These listings are sometimes seriously incorrect if the networks have unscheduled programming changes, such as Presidential speeches or other special programming that preempts or moves regular shows to later time periods. This happens quite regularly in the summer when local stations preempt some or all of a network's prime-time programming for baseball or other sports; channel 3 in Cleveland, the NBC affiliate, does this without warning. They fulfill their obligation to the network by videotaping the preempted shows and showing them at unearthly hours of the morning, but tell me honestly--who is going to stay up until three a.m. to watch an NBC show that was telecast live during prime time? Digital cable makes it impossible to tape shows on standard VCRs for later viewing, and not everyone has or wants a DVR. Shucks, I don't even have the TV cable connected to my VCR anymore--I have the cable going directly to the set's antenna-cable jack, and I use my VCR strictly for watching old tapes. My DVD player gets far more use than the VCR nowadays. Haven't recorded a TV show in a long time and don't intend to, as, IMO, there is nothing on TV these days worth watching twice.

Isn't there an FCC rule stating that television stations must provide a notice that network programming will be preempted by local shows? TV stations used to do this years ago, in this form or something similar: "[Program title] will not be seen tonight, in order that we may bring you the following [station name] special presentation." The other network stations in Cleveland do just that, but channel 3 just preempts network shows almost at will, without saying a word beforehand. Don't get me started on NBC's habit of preempting their weekend evening news with sports programming. I have often wondered whether NBC feels sports on weekends is more important to their ratings than their own nightly newscast; it must be, otherwise they wouldn't let the sports programming slop over into the six o'clock news hour.

[Sandy G]

The local stations down here start the "6 o'clock" news at 4 or 5. They have Live at 5 on 5, then rehash the same dopey stuff at 5.30, regurgitate it AGAIN at 6, the networks take over a 6.30, then quite a few of 'em rerun the same 3 stories of a Horrible Wreck on the Interstate at 7 & 7.30 that we've heard about EVERY 30 minutes since 4 or 5.... And just in case you missed it, they dutifully repeat it AGAIN at 11 PM..The ads are even worse-down here, there's some bucktoothed guy w/a cheesy beard/stache who has been the spokesperson for "Johnson City Honda... Johnson City" for AGES, to try to get you believe that you'll get less of a screwing at the JC Honda emporium than you would if you went to the Dastardly cutpurses in Bristol or Kingsport.

[ohohyodafarted]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Bob, do you remember if they put on their "Sunday-Go-To-Meetin'" duds when they all met up at Sam's place ?

Yes Sandy everyone including us little kids, wore nice clothes. People did that sort of thing back in the day. I didn't like getting dressed as a toddler, and I still don't lit to dress up to this day.

[Sandy G]

Me neither. I had to wear a coat & tie ALL THE TIME at the private school I went to. HATED it.

[Dude111]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Yeah, just HAVING one of those "Majickal Boxes" that had radio AND pictures was the Marvel of the Age.

Indeed so Sandy!!

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Me neither. I had to wear a coat & tie ALL THE TIME at the private school I went to. HATED it.

I don't like to be around people dressed like that, especially if they're wearing a black nametag with white lettering. One approached me this evening and before he could even start speaking I said "Sorry, I'm not interested". He then moved onto the others standing around.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

The local stations down here start the "6 o'clock" news at 4 or 5. They have Live at 5 on 5, then rehash the same dopey stuff at 5.30, regurgitate it AGAIN at 6, the networks take over a 6.30, then quite a few of 'em rerun the same 3 stories of a Horrible Wreck on the Interstate at 7 & 7.30 that we've heard about EVERY 30 minutes since 4 or 5.... And just in case you missed it, they dutifully repeat it AGAIN at 11 PM..The ads are even worse-down here, there's some bucktoothed guy w/a cheesy beard/stache who has been the spokesperson for "Johnson City Honda... Johnson City" for AGES, to try to get you believe that you'll get less of a screwing at the JC Honda emporium than you would if you went to the Dastardly cutpurses in Bristol or Kingsport.

Yup. My sentiments exactly, Sandy. It's the same thing as what goes on (or seems to) everywhere on TV news these days. As I mentioned in my post, channels 5, 8 and 19 in Cleveland have 4 p.m. newscasts, followed by the usual 6 p.m. local news and 6:30 network newscasts. (Channel 3 would probably have a 5 or 5:30 p.m. newscast if not for Dr. Phil at five.) At 11 they basically just repeat what they said five hours earlier. If that's not enough, many cities now have a 4:30 a.m. (!) newscast that runs until 7 a.m., then the networks run their own newscasts until nine or 10 a.m. (Channel 3 in Cleveland, I swear, has five-plus straight hours of news five days a week, counting local and network newscasts, but next to nothing as far as news goes on the weekend anymore.)

I am so tired of this that the only thing I will watch on channel 3 local news anymore is the weather forecast at 6 or 11 p.m. I do watch NBC Nightly News at 6:30, though, mostly live, although every once in a while I'll miss it for one reason or another and will pick it up on my tablet from NBC's streaming video. Some nights I don't even do that, and frankly, I don't miss it. Bad news is what makes ratings for these broadcasts; I realize that, but I am thankful I have the choice of either not watching it at all or shutting it off if I don't care to see any of it.

[Sandy G]

...And at LEAST 90% of the so-called "news" the local yokels put on is "Feel Good" BS, or something I, & I suspect a lot of others, couldn't care less about... But YOU can get a GREAT DEAL from Johnson City Honda, Johnson City..

[Kamakiri]

Interestingly enough, seems that those that use the 7" sets regularly choose Motorola as their "daily driver".

At the moment, I have 2 working, an Admiral 19A11SN, and a Motorola VT-71. The Admiral has such a razor sharp clear picture, the Motorola isn't quite as crisp but I seem to gravitate to the Motorola. The Admiral's picture is so sharp that it might as well be a more modern transistor BW set, the Motorola....you watch it and it reminds you that it's still an old television

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

...And at LEAST 90% of the so-called "news" the local yokels put on is "Feel Good" BS, or something I, & I suspect a lot of others, couldn't care less about... But YOU can get a GREAT DEAL from Johnson City Honda, Johnson City..

There hasn't been too much "Feel Good" news around here lately.
The only good news is the young girl, that was stabbed multiple times by her "friends", is home and recovering nicely.
The bad news is three shootings, with one fatality, overnight.
Fox6 news, "Fair and Balanced".
During the day, I'll turn on "Touch TV" for a while. They show the important historical facts of the day and old newsreels, plus local weather and news briefs. It's a digital sub of the CBS channel.

[kx250rider]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

I think, I have four of those right now. When watching one, it's about arms length away.
I can't seem to stay away from small screen color sets. I'll buy all I can get.
The 9" Panasonic white kitchen sets, turn yellow after a while. I understand, they're made of flame-proof plastic. Probably U/V discoloration.

I like 'em too. Not sure what the fascination is, but I've always had to buy them when they show up ...

Charles

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by kx250rider

I like 'em too. Not sure what the fascination is, but I've always had to buy them when they show up ...

Charles

For the most part, they have to be color, although I have a few B/W sets.
I have to take inventory, as I have four Zenith 9" cube sets, one badged Heathkit.
Small, Sears, Goldstar-built sets. Funai-built 9" Magnavox undercabinet set.
Everyone grumbles about Funai sets, but their small screen TV only models are really reliable. The VCR combos, not so.

[vts1134]

Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted

Watching tv was a big time social event in the early days of television, when the vast majority of homes still did not have a set. The host would prepare snacks for everyone and there would of course be plenty of Milwaukee's finest for the adults and soda for the kids. When the show came on, the lights in the room were turn off and we sat in the dark watching this tiny little screen. It was exciting! Live boxing from Madison Square Garden, every Friday night.

Although I am too young to have witnessed this first hand it is one of the stories I tell people when showing them my collection. Bob- I may print quotes like this out someday to display for people to get an idea of how television used to bring people together instead of driving people apart as it does today.