If you can remember watching a black and white television

[irosie91]

Did they really advertise cigarettes to kids back in the 50's or are these movie intermission commercials ?

The Flintstones were on in prime time and were initially sponsored by Winston

I think in those days we tended to believe what we saw on TV. The government required stations to make a statement that the following is the opinion of xxxxx and does not represent the views of the station. So we assumed everything else was true. If you can't believe what's on TV, then what can you believe. Most of us assumed some law required advertisers to tell the truth. The 50's and 60's were a awake call for America.

For over 5 years, the cigarette companies knew beyond a doubt that their product was addictive and it was killing people and they did nothing but deny it.

I grew up in the days where half the people smoked and it was considered rude to not allow them to smoke any time and anywhere they wanted

Not only were cigarette companies big advertisers on TV, but beloved characters frequently lit up.

personal anecdote-----I had a black and white TV when it was already a RELIC----
my little boy at age three was VERY ARTICULATE----but somehow he did not seem to understand the concept of COLOR-----he is blue eyed (for those who do not know----blue eyed males are more likely to
be color blind than are the rest of us)----I became convinced that he is COLOR BLIND-------but finally realized that a black and white TV does not conform to the education a kid gets from SESAME STREET. That show taught him to read----but not to name colors. (PS ---until a few years ago I had a rotary phone----but HAD to give up and give in to push button---the computer filter would not ADAPT to my phone--------do not judge me........

I am a blue eyed male and am color blind

I love you anyway----color blindness is not all that rare. It comes in various colors----uhm---types. Some people who are so
"afflicted" do not even know

 

[rightwinger]

The Flintstones were on in prime time and were initially sponsored by Winston

I think in those days we tended to believe what we saw on TV. The government required stations to make a statement that the following is the opinion of xxxxx and does not represent the views of the station. So we assumed everything else was true. If you can't believe what's on TV, then what can you believe. Most of us assumed some law required advertisers to tell the truth. The 50's and 60's were a awake call for America.

For over 5 years, the cigarette companies knew beyond a doubt that their product was addictive and it was killing people and they did nothing but deny it.

I grew up in the days where half the people smoked and it was considered rude to not allow them to smoke any time and anywhere they wanted

Not only were cigarette companies big advertisers on TV, but beloved characters frequently lit up.

personal anecdote-----I had a black and white TV when it was already a RELIC----
my little boy at age three was VERY ARTICULATE----but somehow he did not seem to understand the concept of COLOR-----he is blue eyed (for those who do not know----blue eyed males are more likely to
be color blind than are the rest of us)----I became convinced that he is COLOR BLIND-------but finally realized that a black and white TV does not conform to the education a kid gets from SESAME STREET. That show taught him to read----but not to name colors. (PS ---until a few years ago I had a rotary phone----but HAD to give up and give in to push button---the computer filter would not ADAPT to my phone--------do not judge me........

I am a blue eyed male and am color blind

I love you anyway----color blindness is not all that rare. It comes in various colors----uhm---types. Some people who are so
"afflicted" do not even know

I never knew until they gave me one of those dot tests in High School
People would point at grass and say...what color is that?
Or point to a fire truck and say.....what color is that?

The colors I have trouble with are very light greens that I see as gray and very dark reds that I see as brown

 

[irosie91]

I think in those days we tended to believe what we saw on TV. The government required stations to make a statement that the following is the opinion of xxxxx and does not represent the views of the station. So we assumed everything else was true. If you can't believe what's on TV, then what can you believe. Most of us assumed some law required advertisers to tell the truth. The 50's and 60's were a awake call for America.

For over 5 years, the cigarette companies knew beyond a doubt that their product was addictive and it was killing people and they did nothing but deny it.

I grew up in the days where half the people smoked and it was considered rude to not allow them to smoke any time and anywhere they wanted

Not only were cigarette companies big advertisers on TV, but beloved characters frequently lit up.

personal anecdote-----I had a black and white TV when it was already a RELIC----
my little boy at age three was VERY ARTICULATE----but somehow he did not seem to understand the concept of COLOR-----he is blue eyed (for those who do not know----blue eyed males are more likely to
be color blind than are the rest of us)----I became convinced that he is COLOR BLIND-------but finally realized that a black and white TV does not conform to the education a kid gets from SESAME STREET. That show taught him to read----but not to name colors. (PS ---until a few years ago I had a rotary phone----but HAD to give up and give in to push button---the computer filter would not ADAPT to my phone--------do not judge me........

I am a blue eyed male and am color blind

I love you anyway----color blindness is not all that rare. It comes in various colors----uhm---types. Some people who are so
"afflicted" do not even know

I never knew until they gave me one of those dot tests in High School
People would point at grass and say...what color is that?
Or point to a fire truck and say.....what color is that?

The colors I have trouble with are very light greens that I see as gray and very dark reds that I see as brown

well----you ain't alone-----the dot test is
ISCHIHARA PLATES ----the "defect" is
heritable----but do not hesitate to
procreate

 

[Flopper]

Did they really advertise cigarettes to kids back in the 50's or are these movie intermission commercials ?

The Flintstones were on in prime time and were initially sponsored by Winston

I think in those days we tended to believe what we saw on TV. The government required stations to make a statement that the following is the opinion of xxxxx and does not represent the views of the station. So we assumed everything else was true. If you can't believe what's on TV, then what can you believe. Most of us assumed some law required advertisers to tell the truth. The 50's and 60's were a awake call for America.

For over 5 years, the cigarette companies knew beyond a doubt that their product was addictive and it was killing people and they did nothing but deny it.

I grew up in the days where half the people smoked and it was considered rude to not allow them to smoke any time and anywhere they wanted

Not only were cigarette companies big advertisers on TV, but beloved characters frequently lit up.

personal anecdote-----I had a black and white TV when it was already a RELIC----
my little boy at age three was VERY ARTICULATE----but somehow he did not seem to understand the concept of COLOR-----he is blue eyed (for those who do not know----blue eyed males are more likely to
be color blind than are the rest of us)----I became convinced that he is COLOR BLIND-------but finally realized that a black and white TV does not conform to the education a kid gets from SESAME STREET. That show taught him to read----but not to name colors. (PS ---until a few years ago I had a rotary phone----but HAD to give up and give in to push button---the computer filter would not ADAPT to my phone--------do not judge me........

I am a blue eyed male and am color blind

I too am a blue eyed male. My wife says I'm color blind because I can't tell blue from black. I guess she's right.

 

[Flopper]

It was not until the mid-1960s that color sets started selling in large numbers, due in part to the color transition of 1965 in which it was announced that over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color that autumn. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later.
Color television - Wikipedia
(The first color sets were expensive so most people still had black and white ones into the 70's.)

The old people in that film may have seen Lincoln or Madison or Jefferson... in the flesh.

My great grandfather was alive when I was young and he remembers shaking hands with Lincoln when he was campaigning for president in 1860.

 

[Flopper]

Did they really advertise cigarettes to kids back in the 50's or are these movie intermission commercials ?

The Flintstones were on in prime time and were initially sponsored by Winston

I think in those days we tended to believe what we saw on TV. The government required stations to make a statement that the following is the opinion of xxxxx and does not represent the views of the station. So we assumed everything else was true. If you can't believe what's on TV, then what can you believe. Most of us assumed some law required advertisers to tell the truth. The 50's and 60's were a awake call for America.

For over 5 years, the cigarette companies knew beyond a doubt that their product was addictive and it was killing people and they did nothing but deny it.

I grew up in the days where half the people smoked and it was considered rude to not allow them to smoke any time and anywhere they wanted

Not only were cigarette companies big advertisers on TV, but beloved characters frequently lit up.

personal anecdote-----I had a black and white TV when it was already a RELIC----
my little boy at age three was VERY ARTICULATE----but somehow he did not seem to understand the concept of COLOR-----he is blue eyed (for those who do not know----blue eyed males are more likely to
be color blind than are the rest of us)----I became convinced that he is COLOR BLIND-------but finally realized that a black and white TV does not conform to the education a kid gets from SESAME STREET. That show taught him to read----but not to name colors. (PS ---until a few years ago I had a rotary phone----but HAD to give up and give in to push button---the computer filter would not ADAPT to my phone--------do not judge me........

Something that revolutionize television broadcasting, at least as much as color is the remote control. The first remote came out in 1950. It connected to the TV with a wire and was not very practically because it could not change volume or turn the set on or off plus it was a tripping hazard. The first remote that made it into homes was an ultrasonic device from Zenith in 1956. When you pressed a button on the remote, the button would hit a bar making a clicking sound, thus if became known as a "clicker". So when you pressed a combination of buttons, the channel would change and Fido would bark or at least take note of the sound. Of course other devices produced ultrasonic sounds which would occasional change your channel or even turn the set off. The remote did not make it into most home till the 60's and 70's when transistors lowered the price and improved performance.

So how did the little remote make a big change in TV broadcasting? Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels. Network programmers were well aware of this so they would put their most popular program at a prime time hour followed and preceded by lower rated and less expensive programs of the same genre, knowing many views would just leave their TV on that channel most of the evening. That all changed with the remote that allowed viewers to channel surf without leaving their easy chair. No longer could one program guarantee a successful evening for a network.

 

[the other mike]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

 

[rightwinger]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

A nickel?

We had to do it for free

 

[Wyatt earp]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

A nickel?

We had to do it for free

I used a broom stick with a notch cut out in it, I could reach my little 12" black and white T.V> from my bed

.

 

[Flopper]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

Unfortunately, I was that kid. I remember our first tv with a remote. I would flip channels back and forth trying to watch two programs at the same time.

 

[Flopper]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

A nickel?

We had to do it for free

We see figures on heart attacks due to smoking. I wonder how many are due to tv remotes?

 

[the other mike]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

A nickel?

We had to do it for free

Up in our NE Ohio middle class neighborhood, I learned how to bribe my parents at an early age. ( 60's and 70's)
Leaf Raking $10
Snow shoveling $10 to $20 (depending on how deep)
Mowing $15
Washing the car $5

The other normal chores my 2 younger brothers and I 'had to do', like cleaning our rooms, picking up toys, helping with dishes ...

 

[Dick Foster]

Color was well established by the time I was born, but we did have 2 black and white portables when I was young. One even had a UFH channel that would pick up if you played with the knob and the weather was just right. Never crystal clear but good enough to see more image than snow. We always had cable so they were more a novelty for when camping and such.

It's UHF, ultra high frequency. UHF television began in 1952. Before that time there was only VHF, Channels 2-13. UHF was channels 14 thru 83. Of course all of this went away in the US with the digital conversion which completed about 10 years ago. It met a lot of resistance but is now seen as one of best things the FCC has ever done for television.

My dad said little battery power TV's were all the rage when he was in school because they would let students bring them to school during March Madness to watch games during lunch, etc. Of course he also said a lot of the teachers would just check TV's out from the resource center and they would watch them in class while they were doing an "in-class reading assignment" those days.

I remember they used to wheel TVs into the classroom so we could watch the 69 Mets during day games
That was before the games went on till midnight

The only thing I remember seeing on TV in the classroom were the early Mercury launches like Shepard. Later launches became so common they'd just barely rate a mention in the 6 oclock evening news broadcasts. The moon landing didn't happen until I was in the Air Force and married the first time.

 

[Dick Foster]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

A nickel?

We had to do it for free

Up in our NE Ohio middle class neighborhood, I learned how to bribe my parents at an early age. ( 60's and 70's)
Leaf Raking $10
Snow shoveling $10 to $20 (depending on how deep)
Mowing $15
Washing the car $5

The other normal chores my 2 younger brothers and I 'had to do', like cleaning our rooms, picking up toys, helping with dishes ...

The only thing I got for doing that kinda stuff was a swift kick in the ass if I didn't get it done. For the most part any money I got I earned doing work outside the home. I had my first paper route at 12.

 

[rightwinger]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

A nickel?

We had to do it for free

Up in our NE Ohio middle class neighborhood, I learned how to bribe my parents at an early age. ( 60's and 70's)
Leaf Raking $10
Snow shoveling $10 to $20 (depending on how deep)
Mowing $15
Washing the car $5

The other normal chores my 2 younger brothers and I 'had to do', like cleaning our rooms, picking up toys, helping with dishes ...

I used to get 25 cents a week

 

[irosie91]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

A nickel?

We had to do it for free

Up in our NE Ohio middle class neighborhood, I learned how to bribe my parents at an early age. ( 60's and 70's)
Leaf Raking $10
Snow shoveling $10 to $20 (depending on how deep)
Mowing $15
Washing the car $5

The other normal chores my 2 younger brothers and I 'had to do', like cleaning our rooms, picking up toys, helping with dishes ...

I used to get 25 cents a week

like circa 1955? how many baseball packs did you buy>

 

[the other mike]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

A nickel?

We had to do it for free

Up in our NE Ohio middle class neighborhood, I learned how to bribe my parents at an early age. ( 60's and 70's)
Leaf Raking $10
Snow shoveling $10 to $20 (depending on how deep)
Mowing $15
Washing the car $5

The other normal chores my 2 younger brothers and I 'had to do', like cleaning our rooms, picking up toys, helping with dishes ...

I used to get 25 cents a week

like circa 1955? how many baseball packs did you buy>

My buddies and I made some pretty good change shoveling snow
in the winters up there. It was good exercise for spring training too (Little league baseball )

 

[Flopper]

Color was well established by the time I was born, but we did have 2 black and white portables when I was young. One even had a UFH channel that would pick up if you played with the knob and the weather was just right. Never crystal clear but good enough to see more image than snow. We always had cable so they were more a novelty for when camping and such.

It's UHF, ultra high frequency. UHF television began in 1952. Before that time there was only VHF, Channels 2-13. UHF was channels 14 thru 83. Of course all of this went away in the US with the digital conversion which completed about 10 years ago. It met a lot of resistance but is now seen as one of best things the FCC has ever done for television.

My dad said little battery power TV's were all the rage when he was in school because they would let students bring them to school during March Madness to watch games during lunch, etc. Of course he also said a lot of the teachers would just check TV's out from the resource center and they would watch them in class while they were doing an "in-class reading assignment" those days.

I remember they used to wheel TVs into the classroom so we could watch the 69 Mets during day games
That was before the games went on till midnight

The only thing I remember seeing on TV in the classroom were the early Mercury launches like Shepard. Later launches became so common they'd just barely rate a mention in the 6 oclock evening news broadcasts. The moon landing didn't happen until I was in the Air Force and married the first time.

The Mercury launch days were a time when America went nuts over having a Russian satellite flying over our head. The fear of Russian missiles raining down on us propelled the US into the space race. Today dozens of foreign satellites including Russian and Chinese fly over our heads everyday and it's rarely mentioned.

 

[rightwinger]

It was not until the mid-1960s that color sets started selling in large numbers, due in part to the color transition of 1965 in which it was announced that over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color that autumn. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later.
Color television - Wikipedia
(The first color sets were expensive so most people still had black and white ones into the 70's.)

The old people in that film may have seen Lincoln or Madison or Jefferson... in the flesh.

My great grandfather was alive when I was young and he remembers shaking hands with Lincoln when he was campaigning for president in 1860.

My great grandfathers brother was in Fords Theater when he was shot

 

[rightwinger]

Prior to the popularity of remotes, viewers would set their TV to a channel to watch their favorite program and would leave it set to that channel. They would often leave it there all evening simply because they hated to get up and walk across the room to change channels.

One of the advantages of having kids...

"Jimmy !! "
"Yeah , Dad what's up ?"
I'll give you a nickel if you go change the television to channel 3.
The Ed Sullivan Show is on in a few minutes. "

A nickel?

We had to do it for free

Up in our NE Ohio middle class neighborhood, I learned how to bribe my parents at an early age. ( 60's and 70's)
Leaf Raking $10
Snow shoveling $10 to $20 (depending on how deep)
Mowing $15
Washing the car $5

The other normal chores my 2 younger brothers and I 'had to do', like cleaning our rooms, picking up toys, helping with dishes ...

I used to get 25 cents a week

like circa 1955? how many baseball packs did you buy>

Baseball cards were 5 cents for a pack of five and a stick of stale bubblegum

I would buy two packs of baseball cards, a comic book for 12 cents and some penny candy for 25 cents in the early 60s