In Bloom...

From what the books say, television developed from the radio. People would sit around as a family and listen to talk radio shows, variety shows, FDR’s fireside chats, and even advertisements. Picture was eventually incorporated, first in black and white, then in color. Over the course of my 28 years, technology has evolved more than ever imagined. I remember a time when there was no remote control and no VCR, much less a DVD player. Now, the 3D TV is the next big thing, something I have absolutely no interest in by the way.

The first television set I ever remember watching was the one we had when I was a very little girl. I guess it was from the ‘70s because it was old-school. I believe I remember 2 dials, one for the sound and one to change the channels. We had the foil-wrapped bunny ears to help us pick up our 3 or 4 channels. Our TV couldn’t have been more than say, a 14 or 16 inch. The TV sat on a rolling stand, and it was the only one in the house. There was no VCR or remote control even. Back in those days, we actually had to get up off of our butts and change the channel or turn the volume up. Do you think it’s possible that the TV is the cause of the obesity epidemic in America?



As time passed, my parents brought home one of those giant wooden console TVs, the type that makes you cringe today. The TV screen was embedded in a giant wooden frame that housed the speakers. I guess the goal with this type of TV was to make it look like a piece of furniture. It sat on the floor since the wooden frame created support, and back then, we thought we had hit the big-time. Today I just remember how so many of my friends had newer TVs that sat on top of the console TV when the console TV went out. People utilized its furniture-like qualities and turned it into a TV stand. I would have at least put a sheet over the thing so as not to confuse visiting viewers. Sometimes I wondered if they had so many TVs because they had surveillance cameras.



Over time, the console TV eventually went out, so my parents brought the old-school TV on the rolling cart back out of their bedroom. This just goes to show, the ‘80s was about the time they stopped making things the way they used to. Of course, I was so young back then, I have no idea what the time-line was, but we eventually got one of the new modern, black tube TVs that sat on a stand and (gasp!) had a remote control! I guess times were getting better for my parents, so we started acquiring things like a VCR and cable. Cable brought so much variety; we had no idea what to do with our 17-20 channels!



Over the next 10 years or so, my parents traded the TV out at least once more, and my brother and I got TVs and VCRs in our bedrooms. Of course, my family was a little behind the times. We weren’t in the position to run out and buy the next great thing. I actually value that because I don’t feel the need to run out and buy the next big thing now that I’m the adult. In my opinion, this is the time when families all across America began to separate from the family togetherness that was valued from the Leave it to Beaver days. That darn TV became so addicting, and it was too easy for everyone to go to their own room and watch whatever they wanted to, since the tastes of 4 people were never the same in our house. I remember my brother and me fighting back in the wood TV console days about whether we were going to watch GI Joe or Gem. I don’t remember who won, but I’m pretty sure my mom made us alternate and…share‼ My, how times have changed.

For the last 7 years, since I’ve gotten married, my husband and I have gone through a few different TVs, still utilizing the TVs from our childhoods…imagine that! A couple of years ago, we were tired of watching the 18” that I got when I was in junior high, since our bigger TV went out to that big scrap yard in the sky. We bit the bullet and went out and bought a large flat-screen TV, nothing too extravagant but a big deal for us. We’ll have it probably as long as it keeps on working. These days when you buy something new in the electronics category, it is obsolete by the time you get it in your door, since the techies are out there constantly designing the latest and greatest! This means our 2-year-old TV is already ancient.



I have a love/hate relationship with my TV. I really enjoy watching so many different programs and movies, but all too often, it keeps me from enjoying more cultured and thoughtful activities. Thank you Philo T. Farnsworth for inventing the deal that started the thing that lead to the invention of the contraption that contributes to the state of mush our brains are currently in now!

“Television: Chewing gum for the eyes.” –Frank Lloyd Wright

“Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.” –Alfred Hitchcock

“I believe television is going to be the test of the modern world, and that in this new opportunity to see beyond the range of our vision, we shall discover a new and unbearable disturbance of the modern peace, or a saving radiance in the sky. We shall stand or fall by television - of that I am quite sure.” -E.B. White

I guess this gives us something to think about besides American Idol, One Life to Live, and CSI…