Every night I sit down to watch TV there are endless number of cable channels and I have my choice of several hundred movies and tv shows. Between Netflix, Prime, You Tube, and You Tube TV I am sure to find entertainment to my likening. That was not always the case. When television came first on the scene there were only 3 networks NBC, CBS and ABC. My neighbor downstairs was the first to purchase a tv on our block. It was a Dumont, a large piece of furniture with a 14 inch black and white cathode tube in its center. That was around 1948.
The popular show at that time was The Texaco Star Theater starring Milton Berle. It was basically a vaudeville show with slapstick comedy, dancers, singers etc. Our neighbor would invite us to watch the show. The adults sat on the sofa and chairs and we kids on the floor. We were thrilled with the novelty of having entertainment in our own homes. It was this show which caused thousands of tv’s to be purchased and earned Berle the title of “Mr. Television”.
I remember television was only shown during prime time. For the remainder a pattern was televised to allow adjustments to the tv. Foolishly we even watched that because we were so thrilled to have television in our homes.
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