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You first TV set ?

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Young people today with the cyber world at their fingertips can't realise what a revolutionary thing TV was back in the 1950's. Older member will recall going home from school seeing yet another 'H' or 'X' aerial having appeared on a neighbourhood chimney since the day before. The Coronation was the main impetus for most of the first families to get one, with friends who had been invited to watch the event soon getting their own. My dad was reluctant to invest until 1957 when our first set was a stylish Murphy with the controls under a flip-up lid on the top. Unfortunately the aerials ( BBC and ITV ) were not aligned correctly and the picture would bend annoyingly. Dad was again reluctant to pay the 17/6d for it to be re-adjusted and we suffered with it for around 6 months. Years later I was told that this may have been a trick by the aerial erectors whereby they aim the aerial to pick up a weaker, reflected signal from some large building or gas ometers etc. knowing they will be called back to rectify the problem. Any truth in that ? For those who remember those glory days ( providing they weren't Picture Palace owners !), there is an interesting 1930's film on You Tube of the conversion of Alexandra Palace into the first TV center with footage of the construction of the famous mast, a shot of which was used for the BBC TV Newsreel with the words circling it to the tune of 'Girls in Grey' . Tap in 'Television comes to London' and 'Girls in Grey, BBC Newsreel film' to enjoy for yourself. What other sets were there ? I remember 'EKCO' and 'Ultra', but forget the others.

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there was radio rentals grundig, ferguson,

my dad got his from wigfalls double speakers on it, and when it broke he converted it into a fish tank.

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1956 and Dad bought a B & W 14 inch Pye TV from Wilson Peck on London Road. Cost £60 and that was a hell of a lot of cash then !!

The ITV reception for a while was terrible and I remember watching Wolves play Honved at Molyneaux and there looked to be a hundred players on the pitch i.e. each player had a ghost image at the side of them. We invited our next door neighbour in to look at the set. He seemed bemused because he hadn't even seen a Cinema movie with sound.

Champion the Wonder Horse was my favourite !

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Likewise Runningman. A 14" Pye. Mid 1950s. Remember the picture slipping and had to use the vertical hold button to re-adjust it. Also, reception would frequently be stopped and replaced by a blank screen with the words and voice over "Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible." There was only bbc, so you couldn't switch the channel.

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Forgot what make the telly was as it was so long ago, but our family got their first telly from Wigfalls in Fitzalan Square, a walnut highly polished cabinet with a 12inch screen.

 

The set only had two knobs.....one to turn it on / off and adjust the volume and the other

a multi number one to change the channels, which in those days was just ITV, BBC1, BBC2.

 

Being a child at the time, use to think it was a novelty watching TV and would sit glued to the set coming home from school and watching programs like Popeye and Blue Peter right through the evening until Z Cars came on, then it was time for bed.

 

Whilst I'm not against advancement, with the old TV's you had to get up to switch them on and off - nowadays everything is with remote control and it makes people idle.

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Ours was an Ekco and was bought for the Coronation. It had a very small screen, as did all sets in those days and looked like a piece of furniture, floor standing and finished in highly polished walnut veneer. In addition to the telly it contained a radio (or should that be wireless) and under a lift up lid on top there was a turntable to play records on at 78 rpm.

 

Remember the Interludes in the early days that filled in time between the live broadcast programmes? The potter's wheel, the windmill turning, the woman spinning, the weir and the river were some that I recall. They harked back to a time gone by even in the '50s.

 

echo.

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I was 18 when we had our first telly from Wigfalls.

I came home from work one day and noticed the piano was missing ,when I looked across the room there was a telly! . My old Ma had put the piano in as deposit on the T.V.

Still miss that old gleaming black piano that she used to polish ever day till you could see your face in it.

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Ours was a Philco bought in 1953 for the Coronation. A table model and ,yes, polished walnut with two knobs on the front.

 

Mother would let kids on the street crowd around the window to peer inside the front room and watch for a little while. Then she would close the curtains to signify the end of their treat, to sounds of groans etc. No nastiness though in those days. Not long after, most people had aerials up.

 

Happy Days.

Edited by PeterR

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ours was a pye about 10 inch screen it had a sloping front with 2 knobs at the front one was volume the other was for brightness on the back was knobs to adjust contrast and horizontal and vertical hold. my dad was always up on the roof adjusting the aerial

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Young people today with the cyber world at their fingertips can't realise what a revolutionary thing TV was back in the 1950's. Older member will recall going home from school seeing yet another 'H' or 'X' aerial having appeared on a neighbourhood chimney since the day before. The Coronation was the main impetus for most of the first families to get one, with friends who had been invited to watch the event soon getting their own. My dad was reluctant to invest until 1957 when our first set was a stylish Murphy with the controls under a flip-up lid on the top. Unfortunately the aerials ( BBC and ITV ) were not aligned correctly and the picture would bend annoyingly. Dad was again reluctant to pay the 17/6d for it to be re-adjusted and we suffered with it for around 6 months. Years later I was told that this may have been a trick by the aerial erectors whereby they aim the aerial to pick up a weaker, reflected signal from some large building or gas ometers etc. knowing they will be called back to rectify the problem. Any truth in that ? For those who remember those glory days ( providing they weren't Picture Palace owners !), there is an interesting 1930's film on You Tube of the conversion of Alexandra Palace into the first TV center with footage of the construction of the famous mast, a shot of which was used for the BBC TV Newsreel with the words circling it to the tune of 'Girls in Grey' . Tap in 'Television comes to London' and 'Girls in Grey, BBC Newsreel film' to enjoy for yourself. What other sets were there ? I remember 'EKCO' and 'Ultra', but forget the others.

 

Ours was a PYE - continental no less - from Wiggy's .It was a 19" thing which looked rather small in a large lounge .

Your picture experiences are familiar to those which I remember with ours which , have the undertones of the Spike Milligan demonstration of the ritual of the box in the corner of the lounge .

Spike stood at the side of the T.V. smacking his hand on the top of the set shouting out " BLOODY THING WON'T WORK " .

 

Ring any bells?

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Ours was also a PYE a 9-inch model, bought from Wiggy's in 1951 for 40 guineas (that's £42 to youngsters who don't remember real money.;)). At that time my dad was earning less than £10 a week so it was quite an investment. It looked like this. There was only one channel, and the set was pre-tuned by the Wiggy's to the frequency of the local transmitter (Holme Moss). Dad put an 'H' aerial on the roof, and to get the angle right we were positioned at intervals down two flights of stairs and into the living room, so that whoever was watching the 'test card' could relay information up to dad on the roof. I well remember the Coronation in 1953. Aged 5, I sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the TV while my mum served tea and biscuits to the five of us and at least an many neighbours, as ours was the only TV in Dykes Hall Road..:)

Edited by hillsbro
Speling :-(

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My parents bought a 14" KB from Mr Curtis who lived near us and had a shop (on the Moor I think). Our house was pretty full on Coronation day as few people had sets then. We bought one of my grandmothers a 9" Pye table model.

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