February 3, 2025 9:04 am
I’m a boomer, which means I grew up with television. I remember that freestanding television set that sat in the room off my parents’ bedroom. There was a couch and a coffee table which I guess would make it a den.
Shows were black and white, channels were three, and times were 6 am (farmer’s report) to 11 pm (news). Then nothing played except the sign off signal and this:
Color TV was for the income bracket above ours. My uncle had one.
I remember being mesmerized seeing Lassie in color.
It didn’t take long for our family to get a color console. I think my mom and her brother had a friendly competition going about keeping up with the latest.
I grew up with shows like “Dobie Gillis,” my older brother’s liking. My faves were “The Mickey Mouse Club,”“Romper Room,” and “Soupy Sales.” And sometimes “Captain Kangaroo.”
Locally we had JP Patches. Yes, among my first celebrity crushes was a clown. This was before Stephen King changed our perspective about them.
Of course there was “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” hosted by Uncle Walt. It was a highlight of the week.
Television sounds like a huge part of my childhood and yet I have more memories of being outside playing than being inside watching.
As I grew up so did television in depth and presentation. There were more channels, more programs, more dedication to certain shows. Instant access to world events, which wasn’t always a positive.
Setting up a college dorm room involved packing a portable TV. These were black and white, but hey, it beat having to go to the dorm lounge and have to watch the show of whoever got there first.
Young married life had other priorities besides buying a TV, yet somehow we bought one.
Without cable or a dish the access to stations remained limited to the basic three stations: ABC, NBC, and CBS. We mainly tuned in to PBS. My kids were “Reading Rainbow” fans. Since I worked at a library books were a bigger focus than TV shows and we watched our fair share of VHS movies.
Once we became an empty nester household there were more evening hours and more income. PBS and DVD movies were still the norm. Buy into cable or dish? Pay to watch TV?!?
Then our oldest son convinced us to buy his old flat screen. Very nice. Then with my government economic boost check I invested in my own smart TV with a soundbar and installed it in a vacated kids room (now my office or Mom Cave). The hubs was shocked. Considering how much I wasn’t into watching programmed television suddenly I had more stations than I could possibly imagine at the tips of my fingers.
Choice and availability didn’t change my habits though. I still watch PBS, being annoyed with commercial TV,I still abstained from paying for TV. That is until T-Mobile came up with such a customer deal: free Netflix and Apple TV. Couldn’t resist.
At first I binged on all those shows I had heard about (sure beat having to check them out as DVDs from the library, if that had that series and if they weren’t too scratched to play). Then I realized I often spent a half hour or more trying to find something to watch.
With winter’s early evening darkness I tend to retreat into my Mom Cave around five or six and zone out until bedtime. Not my best use of time, I admit.
I read in the morning and afternoon, preferring natural light. And dislike working on my computer at night (too much of a throwback to those nights of grading papers and creating lesson plans). I even tried resurrecting my interest in playing the recorder (I didn’t want to disturb my husband’s restful reading time so have that up).
I’m open to suggestions of how to spend those long winter evenings without resorting to streaming (which induces that inner scream of “turn it off—you can do this—just set down the remote).
Maybe I should move somewhere that doesn’t get dark until 9 pm. Then again that would invite a different sort of problems.
Posted by Pam Webb
Categories: Family, memories, Reflections, Relaxation, Television series, winter
Tags: adult life, childhood memories, habits, Television watching
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No UHF stations? San Francisco had three good ones, KBHK44, KOFY20 and KICU36 (the perfect 36). It was on those channels I learned about early horror and comedy movies, and 1950 and 60s TV re-runs. God bless UHF. I wouldn’t trade them for any current cable station (except TCM). The only thing I watched on regular TV was Disney (of course) and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.
By Geo. Raymond on February 3, 2025 at 11:00 am
If we had UHF I was clueless. How could I forget Omaha’s Wild Kingdom?😳
By Pam Webb on February 3, 2025 at 11:10 am
You’re right. All those old Tarzan movies and John Waynes were on UHF in those days. I remember tuning in PBS to watch ‘Twilight Zone’ and ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus.’
By firewater65 on February 3, 2025 at 6:08 pm
I grew up in the rural midwest. We had one channel that came in clearly and another one that was usually snowy. Our television had rabbit ears. They helped somewhat, but I also remember one of the brothers sometimes hovering a hand over the top of the TV as this seem to improve reception.
We’ve had Netflix for years (my wife loves it), but I never started watching it until the past couple of years. I have to admit there is a lot of good programming. Similar to you, I began watching old series I had heard others talking about for years but knew nothing about.
By petespringerauthor on February 3, 2025 at 7:11 pm
Good old rabbit ears. Television sets have come a long way, eh?
By Pam Webb on February 3, 2025 at 8:14 pm
I don’t know why reader works when commenting directly on your blog doesn’t. Technology is strange. Perhaps Jigsaw puzzles? Crossword puzzles? But you’d probably prefer natural light for those, too. How about an electric piano with headphones. That way you’re the only one who can hear what you’re playing. I have one and love it!….though I haven’t played recently because of house renovation disorder.
By Jilanne Hoffmann on February 3, 2025 at 10:20 pm
You’re right about natural light needs. Headphones and my recorder probably wouldn’t work. Good idea though.
By Pam Webb on February 3, 2025 at 10:31 pm
You have just described my life with TV, including the childhood shows!
By Jennie on February 6, 2025 at 8:49 am
Even JP Patches?🤭
By Pam Webb on February 6, 2025 at 1:56 pm
No, that’s the only one because I didn’t grow up in New England. I’ve heard about the show.
By Jennie on February 6, 2025 at 4:24 pm
JP Patches was from Seattle, Washington. A well-known celebrity for years.
By Pam Webb on February 6, 2025 at 5:51 pm
Thanks, Pam. Many people here in New England somehow know or remember him. He wasn’t on TV in West Virginia when I grew up.
By Jennie on February 7, 2025 at 3:28 pm
I remember memorizing the ads which would come on between my favorite TV programs, simply because television in itself was such a novelty and even seeing the ads was entertaining. Childhood memories like that tend to stick, and I can still recall the background music from some of the commercials! Like you, I have more memories of being outside or with my nose buried in a book, but TV was definitely an exciting new introduction to my youth.
By Damyanti Biswas on February 10, 2025 at 7:58 am
Old commercials were almost an art form, weren’t they?
By Pam Webb on February 10, 2025 at 9:12 am