We Done Got Us A Color TV!
Since buying my new 65" High Definition TV, I thought back to a time when I had never even seen a color TV. As hard as it might be for some to believe, once upon a time color TV was a luxury, not a God given right. Luckily, my father had the same yearning to watch color TV as I did, so he did something about it!
We had been to my grandparents' house for the weekend and were on the way home Sunday evening. I was about six years old and I clearly remember leaning over the front seat while my father drove us home. I was designated to the left side of the rear seat and my mean ol' sister sat on the right side. There was an imaginary line dividing the seat though I tempted fate repeatedly by touching her side. Each time resulted in her screaming, "HE'S ON MY SIDE!" and my father's arm flailing perilously close to my body in an attempt to "straighten me out". In the darkness of the back seat I moved like a cobra, striking her side of the seat and drawing back into the corner next to the door. On rare occasion his hand might graze my britches leg, but never made any meaningful contact. By the time we got home, he and my mother were so glad to get out of the car they forgot about any punishment for my behavior.
That Sunday night we stopped at the post office on the way home. For some reason I cannot remember, my father had a post office box in the little town of Durant, about thirteen miles from our home. We all waited in the car as my father ran inside to retrieve the mail. When he came back, he had a long round mailing tube. I don't think I had even seen a mailing tube before so even that had me excited (sad, isn't it?). I asked what it was and my father told me it was a color TV. WOW! I was the luckiest kid in the world! I had never seen a color TV and the fact that it was in a mailing tube didn't seem one bit odd. I don't remember the trip from the post office to the house, but I would imagine it was just as long for everybody else in the car as it was for me. I was well known for dancing a jig whenever it was most likely get on people's nerves.
When we got home, we turned on our black and white TV so that it could warm up. Then, my father opened the tube and pulled out a long plastic roll. WOW! He unrolled it and placed it on the front of the TV screen. WOW! It had a big stripe of blue at the top that faded into a pinkish one about a quarter of the way down, then to redish orange just below midway. The bottom was a vivid green stripe. He taped the corners down and we sat back and watched Bonanza...in COLOR!. The sky was blue, even when they were indoors. Everybody had a nice pinkish red skin tone and wore red shirts and orange pants. The horses had pink faces and redish orange bodies, but the grass, hay, dirt or rocky mountain trail was a beautiful green! For some reason color TV didn't seem all that it was hyped up to be. By the time Bonanza was over, we had converted back to black and white TV.
Television technology has come a long way since then. I've been thinking about selling a giant sheet of gray plastic just for those that long for the days of black and white!
We had been to my grandparents' house for the weekend and were on the way home Sunday evening. I was about six years old and I clearly remember leaning over the front seat while my father drove us home. I was designated to the left side of the rear seat and my mean ol' sister sat on the right side. There was an imaginary line dividing the seat though I tempted fate repeatedly by touching her side. Each time resulted in her screaming, "HE'S ON MY SIDE!" and my father's arm flailing perilously close to my body in an attempt to "straighten me out". In the darkness of the back seat I moved like a cobra, striking her side of the seat and drawing back into the corner next to the door. On rare occasion his hand might graze my britches leg, but never made any meaningful contact. By the time we got home, he and my mother were so glad to get out of the car they forgot about any punishment for my behavior.
That Sunday night we stopped at the post office on the way home. For some reason I cannot remember, my father had a post office box in the little town of Durant, about thirteen miles from our home. We all waited in the car as my father ran inside to retrieve the mail. When he came back, he had a long round mailing tube. I don't think I had even seen a mailing tube before so even that had me excited (sad, isn't it?). I asked what it was and my father told me it was a color TV. WOW! I was the luckiest kid in the world! I had never seen a color TV and the fact that it was in a mailing tube didn't seem one bit odd. I don't remember the trip from the post office to the house, but I would imagine it was just as long for everybody else in the car as it was for me. I was well known for dancing a jig whenever it was most likely get on people's nerves.
When we got home, we turned on our black and white TV so that it could warm up. Then, my father opened the tube and pulled out a long plastic roll. WOW! He unrolled it and placed it on the front of the TV screen. WOW! It had a big stripe of blue at the top that faded into a pinkish one about a quarter of the way down, then to redish orange just below midway. The bottom was a vivid green stripe. He taped the corners down and we sat back and watched Bonanza...in COLOR!. The sky was blue, even when they were indoors. Everybody had a nice pinkish red skin tone and wore red shirts and orange pants. The horses had pink faces and redish orange bodies, but the grass, hay, dirt or rocky mountain trail was a beautiful green! For some reason color TV didn't seem all that it was hyped up to be. By the time Bonanza was over, we had converted back to black and white TV.
Television technology has come a long way since then. I've been thinking about selling a giant sheet of gray plastic just for those that long for the days of black and white!
The rainbow plastic sheet didn't do much for Pa Cartwright and the boys, but it did spiff up Lawrence Welk and the lovely Lemon Sisters. And, by the way, I am glad to see that you are finally admitting to deliberately crossing the Line of Death in the back seat. Of course Mama would never believe it to this day. She always said I just hollered to get you in trouble, you precious little lamb you.
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You did holler just to get me in trouble. Think how silly it is that you insisted on having an imaginary line dividing the seat into halves. I'll carry mental scars the rest of my life knowing how unwanted I was. I just wanted to be close to my sister and you shunned me...pushed me away and got me in trouble. It dredges up so many ill feelings I might have to hit you in the head with a cigarette lighter. You know I'll do it!
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And then hide your bicycle in the bushes and sit in a tree all day long to make it look like you've run away from home. Wait...your tree blew down the other night. Now where will you go?
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