Chris' Christian Blog

High Tech?

"High Tech?" 






The 30 DBC prompt for Friday January 27 is "On this day in 1926 a Scottish inventor named John Baird demonstrated a pictorial transmission machine called the television. Do you remember seeing your first television...the one your parents had when you were a kid? What were some of your favorite shows? Do you still watch any of the old programs you enjoyed as a teenager?"

Yes I remember seeing my first television. It was a very high tech 19 inch black and white set, which shows my age. We got a grand total of one channel and if it was windy or you help your breath wrong we didn't get that. We were fortunate because our antenna was within walking distance at about 500 yards up the hill. In those days cable was something not even dreamed about by science fiction writers. If you lived in a rural area as we did you bought an aluminum antenna, put it atop a huge metal pole, and had somebody take it up to the highest point, climb the highest tree on the point, and secure it to the tree. Then you ran conduction wire to carry the signal to your television. Of course you had to turn the antenna in every angle and pray it hit a signal. When it did you yelled up and down the hill, usually with three or four relays between the house and the antenna until it was tuned as good as you could get it. Once it was tuned in it was secured, usually with wire or nails to prevent the wind from turning it. The danger was lightning. if lightning hit the antenna your television would blow at the very least and it may even burn your house down. Mind you this was very high tech back then. lol.

My favorite shows were Flipper, Lassie, Gunsmoke, and others that I can't remember. As a teen I seldom got to watch television for various reasons. Looking back on those days I see a much simpler time and almost wish they were back.