More Television Stuff

I've wondered for some time when color television was developed. More importantly, when did it become commonplace and when did my family get our first color TV?

I think the first time I ever saw a color TV was in the mid '60s at a J.C. Penney's in Santa Ana, CA. I remember walking by it and my mom pointing at it and saying, "I want one of those". Funny thing is, I don't recall being as baffled by that TV as I've been over other tech developments. And I can't remember when we bought the first one.

Another funny thing is I remember watching what were likely black and white TV shows as if they were in color- the Ed Sullivan Show being an exception. I still remember seeing The Beatles on that show the first time in black and white. But other shows- The Monkees being one that comes to mind- I remember in color, even though someone pointed out here a while back that show was probably in black and white at the time. Maybe because of reruns that were colorized?

We might have got our first color TV in the mid- 60s when we lived in Tustin, or maybe we bought it a bit later when we lived in Irvine. My memory on that is confused as I'm pretty sure I saw some black and white shows when we lived in Irvine in the early '70s.

I was surprised to read on Wikepedia that color TV was actually developed in the '50s although not being widely sold until the mid- 60s. Maybe we did get our first one in the '60s but I remember watching black and white TV shows long after that. In fact, I still have my small, black and white, portable broadcast TV that I used for years after I moved up here (similar to the picture). I was watching black and white on that into the early '80s, I believe.

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I've also wondered when we first got cable TV? Seems to me I remember adjusting the antennas on the TV we had in Irvine. That, and placing a fork or spoon on just the right spot on the top of the set to optimize reception. I don't know if we ever had cable while we lived there, but it would seem in a new development, as Irvine was then, we might have been among the first to get such a thing.

Wikipedia says cable TV first became available in this country in 1948(wtf?), with the first commercial systems being developed in the '50s.

I believe the first time I subscribed to cable was in the early '80s when I lived on Trinity Street in Myrtletown. It was Cox Cable back then and was probably around $18.00 a month. Still black and white, though, as I only had a black and white TV.

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Then there's the Video Cassette Recorder, now on its way to the dustbin of history if not already there (although we still have a VHS recorder hooked up to our TV). Wikipedia tells us those were developed in the mid '50s. That doesn't surprise me.

I was surprised, though, when I started seeing those "instant replays" on sports shows. I'd be baffled. How the hell can they do that, I'd be wondering? Up until then you had to make a movie, take it to be developed and then run it through a projector. I had no idea how you could replay something right away as they'd learned how to do.

That was probably in the late '70s. Not long after that the first commercial VCRs started becoming available but they were pricey. I had a friend at work who was a big TV fan. He bought himself one right away for around $700.00- a sizable amount of money at the time. It didn't take long, though, for the prices to come down. Not six months after that I ended up buying my first VCR.  

I was living in Myrtletown at the time. I watched a fair amount of TV but some things I wanted to watch just weren't on when I wasn't working. I'd seen the old movie Clash of the Titans advertised but it was never on when I had a chance to watch it. I decided just for the heck of it to rent a VCR just to record and watch that movie. Just seemed like a fun thing to do. I'd make a party out of it.

On Myrtle Avenue and McFarland where those two domes are, that used to be the Video Connection. They rented Beta video tapes and machines. I wasn't planning on buying one right then, just renting. I went down there and noticed they had a couple machines for sale at around $250.00. Still a bit pricey, but a lot less than my friend paid for his.

I got to thinking and realized I could pay off that machine in a month or two. I went ahead and bought it, thus beginning a rather fun run of recording and watching videos with that VCR. I paid that off real fast and my TV loving friend was still trying to pay off the one he bought for a lot more.

Funny thing about that VCR, in thinking back about it. I had no problem hooking it up to my old TV after I bought it. Simple stuff that took less than five minutes. Nowadays, I'm totally lost in trying to hook up a DVR to our TV. Had to have a nephew come over and hook it up for us last time. Maybe it's an age thing?