Lee Ayres
When did your family acquire its first television and first car? Lee Ayres remembers and invites you to add your memories in the Comments below.
When we lived in Oaklyn, New Jersey, my dad, an electrical engineer, worked for RCA Victor and rode the bus to work. We had a coal burning furnace in the basement. I started kindergarten in the fall of
1946. In 1947, my brother Larry was born and the Bob Smith and Howdy Doody television show began.
Click this link to watch original Howdy Doody episodes: Howdy Doody – Where to Watch Every Episode Streaming Online | Reelgood
My dad used to joke, “Who is going to be the first on our block to have a TV?“ Trying to “keep up with the Joneses” was already a suburban America phenomenon. Dad made our first television from a kit on his workbench in the basement. It had a black and white picture with an 8” screen.
By the time we moved to Wichita,
KS, in 1953, there was a raging consumer firestorm. A car was in every driveway and color television became the norm.
Facebook Post:
“69 years ago today, December 30, 1953, the first color TV sets went on sale for about $1,175. This is the equivalent in purchasing power to about $13,114.76 today.”
Above: Ed Sullivan moved smoothly from black and white to color TV productions. When did your family get its first color TV? And was a car like the one below in your driveway?
My parents were not the first to buy a TV in the neighborhood. Down the street, Diana had a TV and invited my sister Guyna and me to come on Monday nights to watch I LOVE LUCY. It was our first experience so we made sure to play with Diana on Monday afternoons! By Tuesday I was back to being snotty to her and pulling her long curls. She grabbed my braids and we tangled like cats. Diana was a year younger so I had to keep her in her place. Guyna was a year younger so she sucked up to Diana. To me, it was practical. I would play nice on Mondays if she invited me to watch LUCY. Guyna played nice all the time. Finally Dad bought us a TV and I never had to play nice again!