Wednesday 5 August 2015

Our first TV set, and others


This week's prompt photograph is of a showroom full of older style free standing television sets. Nothing particularly family history related comes to mind, but as it is the second anniversary of my blog this weekend, I thought I would post this photo of one of our sons, taking early steps in 1983. At the time he had been walking for just three weeks, so naturally he was very excited, and when growing up he loved all ball sports. Behind him however is our first little television set. It was a Thorn model, and was operated by remote control, that is if you can call a control connected to the set by a cord remote. You just had to sit close enough for the cord to reach the set, which had been given to us a couple of years earlier by my mother-in-law Mary. We had been married for seven years at the time and had managed fine without a TV up until then, and I planned to continue the same way, but I think Mary thought we might need some distraction, or perhaps that our one year old might need more entertainment. The set wasn't free-standing, but we found a suitable spot on top of the wall unit, plugged it in and were a TV-owning family from then on, although I tried not to let the children become addicted. That little set lasted for over 30 years. Eventually it became a second set in the corner of the front room, handy if you really wanted to watch something different. When analogue reception was finally phased out, we put it out on the nature strip for the council rubbish collection, but before the collection date arrived, it was picked up by someone who was probably planning to use some of its parts. Nice to think that it could be recycled in that way.




Here's another photograph of a baby not watching television, in this case our English granddaughter, when she was very young. The photo is courtesy of her father, who was engrossed in watching a game of Australian rules football, broadcast live in the UK in the early hours, while babysitting at the same time. If you zoom in, you can see that the right team was winning, at least at that point. 


We now have three TV sets but we still don't watch it a lot, or at least I don't. I may be sitting there to be sociable, but I'm often concentrating more on something on the lap top or Ipad rather than what's on  'the box'.

With regard to our prompt image of a room full of television sets, here is a link to an interesting installation called Küba that I saw last year, not in Canada but at the Museum of Old and New Art, in Hobart Tasmania, the island state below the Australian mainland. The article also describes another tv room exhibit by the same artist Kutlug Ataman, but Küba was the only one of his works that was on display at MONA.You view this installation by relaxing in assorted old armchairs placed in front of forty old sets, each playing different interviews with a group of Turkish refugees. The photograph below from the national newspaper the Australian shows the multimillionaire founder of the MONA Gallery, David Walsh, with some of the sets behind him. Apparently he said it was his favourite exhibition in the whole gallery. Some of the other exhibits are very confronting to say the least, but art takes all forms, doesn't it? Everyone who visits Hobart visits MONA.


                                                                              David Walsh

For more blogs of all kinds and possibly television in particular, just click the remote to change channels directly to Sepia Saturday #291. 

15 comments:

Kristin said...

An interesting link, the exhibit sounds interesting. We got along without a television fine too, until my sister gave us a little portable one so we could watch a show she produced in the 1970s.

Jofeath said...

So we can both blame relatives! Your sister is very accomplished.

La Nightingail said...

I was 16 when our family got our first (B&W) TV. Until then I often chose babysitting jobs by who had TVs! Only 4 years later I had my own (still B&W) TV in my own room so I could watch whatever programs I wanted to. I didn't have a color TV until 12 years later when I was married with a 3-year old son. It was my birthday & the color TV was a birthday gift from my husband. :)

Postcardy said...

Most of the time my old TV works better than my HDTV. I have one of the converter boxes on top of it and use it in my bedroom. New TVs aren't as well made as the really old ones.

Jofeath said...

We tried using a set top box on another TV but had problems getting it to work, and I don't think there was anywhere on the old Thorn for it to be plugged into.

Wendy said...

Happy Blogiversary! At 2 in blog years, you are well beyond the baby steps.

We always had a tv whether we liked what was on or not. I was thrilled we had gotten cable before baby #2 came along. I didn't mind getting up for wee-hour feedings because I could watch tv at the same time. Now there is nothing on in the middle of the night except infomercials.

Little Nell said...

I rarely watch the actual programme either; my head is usually bent over my latest craft project.

Jofeath said...

Yes, and programs with subtitles are not much use when you're not watching constantly☺

Joan said...

Happy blogiversary! Is that a real word --- well, if not, it should be. You know for as much as I gnash about tv, I can tell a story about every tv we owned. Now after reading your delightful story, I wouldna even be embarrassed to tell you a story or two.

Barbara Rogers said...

That's super that you've reached 2 years on blogger. I may have been that long on Sepia Saturday, now that I think about it. Wonder how I first heard about it anyway...mmm. I was also a teen when our first B & W TV came into our lives. I've now been a year and a half without TV service, but thankfully have the computer for entertainment on screens. I do read a lot!

diane b said...

You would never pick David Walsh as a millionaire by his clothes. It does sound an interesting installation.

Unknown said...

The Walsh installation looks intriguing; the baby shots are the absolute best, though -- such an interesting take on the TV theme (children by television). I was about twelve when we got our first set -- a huge thing with cafe-style doors that opened to a tiny window of tv...

Little Nell said...

That’s true; I usually ask my husband what I missed, but he has to break off from Soduko to answer!

Jofeath said...

No, but of course those patchy looking jeans are probably some designer label!

Helen Killeen Bauch McHargue said...

Kiddies and TV is an interesting combination. Fortunately I was in my teens when we got our first TV and had learned to read for entertainment. Because of the Cancon laws requiring Canadian content, of which there wasn't much, we couldn't get addicted. Currently we watch a number of the excellent serialized stories on our cable networks which have become the best entertainment around - original, good writing, great actors.