I've been thinking about our television watching habits when we were children of the 1960s. Of course, we didn't
have a color TV right away and I can remember watching shows in black and white on Dennison Road in our hometown of Silver Creek NY.
The sunflower clock on the wall would wind down to 7:30 precisely as a signal for The Monkees to make their appearance. We liked to watch Daktari, I Dream of Jeannie, Flipper, Gilligan's Island. It was a special treat to stay up to watch The Wizard of Oz or Peter Pan.
When Jackie Gleason said "And away we go!" it meant bedtime (very
clever Mom!). I remember hating having to go to bed so early especially
when it was daylight but I can understand it better now that I have children. I
also understand that was probably pretty standard at the time--even so,
I think we had a pretty early bedtime.
Our mother was probably typical of the time and liked to watch the soap operas, though I don't know which ones. I
would sometimes help her put the rollers in her hair so I could sneak a
peek at the forbidden shows. There was no such thing as turning on the
TV in the morning before school or work.
There were only the 3 major (ABC, NBC, and CBS) network channels to watch after careful adjustment
to the rabbit ear antenna so no small wonder you didn't have it on very
much.
I remember watching JFK's funeral on that TV on Dennison Road; the
prisoners of war returning home from Vietnam on the TV in the den on
Buffalo St in Silver Creek after we moved into town, but nothing historic comes to mind for later high school years. Mom liked to
watch Mannix and Kojak and I liked watching them with her. Today, my son
and I watch movies together and I hope this will be one of his fond
memories.
I suspect our children will remember coverage of September 11 as it was
certainly a turning point in our history--you knew it as you watched it
unfold. I am surprised at how closely television is tied to childhood
memories and how it evokes certain feelings.
No comments:
Post a Comment