(this is a Googled image- not our actual TV)When I was 5 years-old we got our first TV; that was 1957 or 1958. I’m not sure what prompted this purchase. I am sure that we could ill afford this luxury especially considering that we only had access to ONE UHF channel (KCRA channel 3 from Sacramento). What I do remember is this…
Mom used to pick me up from Mommy Hazel’s, my babysitter, about 5:15pm or so and that was right in the middle of Popeye or Capt’n Sacto and I didn’t want to leave. I can only imagine now the feelings she could have had: she was tired, she’d worked all day, she just wanted to get home and here was this little daughter whom she loved throwing up a roadblock to that end! Mom never showed any impatience with me and my whim but I’ve wondered if that might have been a deciding factor.
I don’t remember the particulars of where we bought this first TV or who installed the UHF antenna that was on a long pole attached to out front porch (if the picture was fuzzy one of us would go out and turn the antenna while the rest stayed inside and hollered, “Stop, right there! That’s better! No, go back some!”
What sticks out vividly in this mental photograph was my kindergarten took a field trip to Joanie’s house to watch Romper Room in my tiny front room! We must have walked the ½ mile to my house from the school and all congregated there to watch Miss Nancy look in her magic mirror and chant, “Romper, bomper, stomper, do. Tell me magic mirror who… is watching today!” And then, just like magic she looked right into her magic mirror and saw my kindergarten class!!!
5 comments:
Ohhhh... I used to love that jingle from Romper Room..... I always had a secret hope my name would pop out.... Guess I didn't realize you had to send your name in, but it was fun hoping anyway.
My Grandma was the first in our family to get a TV in the early 60's. We used to go over there on a Saturday evening, have our weekly baths in her lovely 'indoor plumbing' bathtub -- at that time we were still in the era of the galvanized tub for baths, and the little house out back for the loo). And...after we were all spic and span, we'd laugh through the antics of Granny and her clan on The Beverly Hillbillies.
Fun memories! Thanks for the jog!
It is so wonderful to remember all these old stories! wow! You have a wonderful way of telling them too!
In the early 70's I was a guest on Boozo the Clowns show. I remember Romber Room. Good times.
Hiya, Miss Joanie! Thanks to your visit over at my bloggety blog, I got a chance to look around yours. I was SO incredibly touched by your letter to little-Joanie... I knew you were extraordinary. May the Lord continue to bless your journey. I am in awe.
Our funny old TV and its programs was such a wonderful miracle in our lives, wasn't it? Great, like everything else. Mom sure appreciated every little thing, and I'm glad she shared that with us!
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