Memories- TVs

I was just reading shiplogs latest post HERE. He was talking about the time he lived aboard the Navel Base, GITMO. He mentioned the TV he had there with rabbit ears......then he lost me. My mind drifted back to the 70's. 

 

I know that connection between rabbit ears and aluminum foil. I also remember how we all had a certain place to sit while we watched TV.. If one of us got out of place it would cause a static interference on the screen. Between watching Captain Kangaroo in the mornings and The Muppet Show at night, it was often a struggle. 

And TV dinners were really TV dinners. 

 

I also remember we had four channels. 3, 9, 18 and 36. 
Technology quickly progressed into the 80's. We eventually got a channel box, and so on. 
My dad was always on top of the new gagets so we knew we would have something better as soon as it came out.

I remember my big brother calling daddy from his girlfriends house one evening to say he would be late getting home because she had HBO! Dad thought it was a disease. He quickly learned it was a movie channel.
It was not long until the neighbor got a cable line and had all the cool channels and HBO too. My brother and some other neighbors figured out how to steal from their cable line and get it in our house for free. That didn't last long. The cable company caught on to what everyone was doing and came up with private policies. Needless to say, Dad bought into getting us legal HBO. 

 

Now look at us. About 35 years later, we have TVs that luminate on a wall and can watch channels from all over the world if we wanted to. TVs now will even tell you whos calling or knocking on your door. 

I accidently learned yesterday how to change the TV channels using my iPad from the other room. Yea, I had Nick going there for awhile. It was fun while it lasted. 

With all that said. We only have a 47 inch TV and basic cable. We don't care about all that fancy stuff. Though It would be nice to have a larger TV on the wall, we are saving for a new mattress and a new washer and dryer first. We can save for a TV later. 

And about Dad, he still has the good stuff. Surround sound included!



14 comments

  1. I've had rotary phones, party lines & the Yellow Pages; TV's with a dozen channels which you had to get up & walk across the room to change the station; & a kitchen with no microwave & yet I survived!!

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    1. And you had a number to dial to get the temperature!

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  2. The old way is nostalgic but the best thing that ever happened to the TV was the invention of the remote control.

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    1. I Have trouble figuring out our remote(s)

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  3. Okay, we never had TV early. Sherry had one at her house. My first TV was after we were married, second hand.
    BUT upon buying a TV after the USMC, I certainly remember the numbers : 3,9,18 and 36! LOL

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  4. Amazing how it all has changed SO MUCH.

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  5. I remember getting a portable tv that was black and white with just one rabbit ear. The reception was awful. We only watched it when the power went out. It was almost a radio

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    1. Yep. I had one and thought it was great having my own tv in my room. Lol

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  6. Thanks for the memories. How the TV has developed in my lifetime. I was fortunate not to get hooked on it.

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  7. Jilda's mom and dad lived next door to the cable office and Ruby fed the installers lunch a day or two a week. They were the first in the neighborhood to have cable.
    When they moved 11 miles away (the community where we now live) the cable company ran cable up here.
    Even off in the sticks, we had cable tv and internet long before some of our friends in the communities in the city limits got service.
    Good plate of cornbread and butter beans is a compelling incentive:)
    R

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    1. yum, Yes, Cornbread and Butter beans. Pintos for me though. Now I want cornbread Thanks Rick!!!!

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