How did people watch 7" sets?

[Tubejunke]

Originally Posted by Coshi

Thats what I'm talking about, All of my 'antiques' As my freinds say are just the only thing that I have found that was cheep enuf/Good enuf for me. There all every day use stuff. IN fact the only thing I own that was made AFTER I was born is my cell phone and my computer. Everything else is pre-1993 and used everyday...

I think the oldest thing I own would be a toss up between my late 40's tostmaster toaster and my late 40's kirby vacuum cleaner.

WOW! We should start a thread on age and its effect on what one sees as an "antique" or simply common household goods. People I think tend to look with nostalgia at things from their childhood and back as the good stuff; the cool stuff; the better built stuff. I wonder how much of that is true.

Certainly products made in America were once build with pride, quality, and craftsmanship, along with good engineering aimed at making a product that is serviceable and if maintained would last a long time. I would say that this concept runs from anytime back in our history until the start of its downfall somewhere in the mid 1970s. It's a linear decline from there on and the worst part is that we started engineering products toward planned obsolescence and limited lifespan without serviceability.

It's just interesting that it appears that that Coshi is about 21 years old. Many things from just before he was born and throughout his childhood up to today to be honest are not of the superior quality that some of us decades older look back to. This is especially true with electronics and automobiles. TVs, stereos, VCRs, DVDs etc, have been the same Chinese made plastic crap since the 80s for the most part. Off course someone younger may say compared to what as they have never known or seen anything different. It's probably easier for them to see the quality changes of automobiles as there are more of them to see on the road or at shows, but vintage electronics are not readily available and cheap like they were when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s.

Thrift stores and flea markets were always full of lots of old radios. Aging 50s and 60s TVs were everywhere for a song if not for free. That's the thing; that was junk then! LOL!! I used to get these "roundie" color sets when I was taking electronics in high school and do a little repair work with my limited skills; watch them till they gave trouble and part them out as I had another waiting to take it's place. I had a basement full of those sets and parts along with a slew of 50s black and white sets. Heck, we had a Predicta in our school electronics lab! Just another old donation set for us to destroy.

So, will some young man in 2034 look back at the superior quality and nostalgia of a 2014 LG flat screen TV, or perhaps an I phone. Maybe he will use a Dell PC and a dial up modem! Will he be restoring his 2012 Hyundai Elantra. Hopefully he will have a little money and at least be able to go for the neo-retro muscle cars like Dodge Challenger or a Camaro. Maybe he can just find one of those Spencer Gifts Tesla globes to keep the electronics history interesting, or maybe a WalMart coffee percolator! LOL

[Coshi]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

It's just interesting that it appears that that Coshi is about 21 years old. Many things from just before he was born and throughout his childhood up to today to be honest are not of the superior quality that some of us decades older look back to

Yea I know the new things I had when growing up where plastic Chinese junk, Thats why it all ended up being thrown out. It just happens that I learned that most things made before 1970-80 was the most reliable and the cheapest. Hell I whent through 3 refrigerators in 3 years, Then I said screw this and when to the junk shop and bought a pale green 1960's ish Frigidaire! its been with us for years since.

And this does seem to be derailing... (Sorry)

[peter scott]

The kids sat on your knee. ....or stood respectfully at the back.



..but not everyone got a good view!



More..

[decojoe67]

I really enjoyed reading this post! - and the pics too. I think it's like with early radio. You tweak an old three-dialer and then get a flat tinny sound out of the horn. You have to realize that with something so new and amazing, it was all a total thrill. Same with all the issues of TV when it first appeared. I heard many people would turn their sets on and just look at the test pattern in amazement. In Queens, NY around 1948, my father said a neighbor bought a projection set (guess he had a few bucks!) and Tuesday night was a big event for the him and the neighbors to go over and watch the Texaco Star Theater. My father remembered being facinated by it.
Joe

[Sandy G]

I dunno-I kinda got the same feeling when I got MY 1st 3-dialer about 10, 15 yrs ago... I thought it was pretty amazing. And by then, I had several R-3XXs, a JRC NRD-535D, buncha other stuff. My dad said he saw his 1st TV when he was in the Army in 1949-50 or so. This one couple who were friends w/my parents & another couple would all gather in Stan & Elaine's TINY apt, pile up on the bed & stare at this little box..I think the apt basically had 2 or maybe 3 rooms, a bath, kitchen, bedroom/living room & that was it.

[Electronic M]

I have the same model of GE fan in the last picture. It was my grandfathers shop fan, and it likely would not exist today if I had not saved it when my mom and aunts were cleaning out grandmas house.

[wa2ise]

The Philco TV my grandparents had back in 1951 would be reasonably watchable compared to a 7" screen.

Their living room was about 12 by 14 feet, and had a couch and an easy chair.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

That's EXACTLY what I think of every time I see Jimmy Roberts on the Lawrence Welk show. ...
Every time I see him, I wanna say TAKE A BATH WILL YOU?

A bit late for this, but now I recall from 40 years ago back in college a foreign student in our undergraduate English class mentioned to one of our hippie looking classmates (in raggedy jeans and tattered Tshirt saying "The Grand Wazoo") "You look like a bum.". I pointed out to him that our classmate may look raggedy, but his clothes are freshly laundered and he showered this morning as well. Bums aren't like that...