I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. I know that I am prejudiced, but I wouldn’t trade with any other generation, before or after. For one thing, the music was the best. This was the years of “Rock and Roll.” We aren’t talking Frank Sinatra here, where the audience stood and listened. We are talking Elvis and The Beatles. We had all the great groups. Remember The Four Seasons, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five and The Righteous Brothers? I could go on forever, but you get the picture. Let’s talk dancing. We had all the great dances. Remember the Twist, Rock and Roll, Mash Potato, Watusi, Locomotion, The Swim, The Stroll, And The Bump. Remember the Sock Hops at the school? It truly was a sock hop. Everyone took their shoes off, and got out on the floor. This was the time that you put on your best pair of socks. I really don’t think kids today have anything like this, these days. In their simplicity there was no need for fancy dress or other expense. Just show up and let go.
In those days we had a lot of time, not very much money, and fewer choices in entertainment options. I remember before television, we listened to the radio. We had the old console radios. They were, in reality, a piece of furniture. The whole family would gather around to listen while accomplishing other activities. It was only necessary to listen, not watch. It could be very absorbing, however. I remember the programs that were very suspenseful. A couple of examples were, The Shadow and Sky King. I can still hear the words, “Who Knows what evil lurks in the heart? The Shadow Knows.” The programs were complete with all the sound effects. This left all the rest to your imagination. Believe me, I had a great imagination. I remember the time that I stabbed myself in the arm with a pair of scissors. I was lost in a very suspenseful program, when I overreacted to a villain who jumped out from behind a curtain. I still have the scar to prove it.
When we finally got television, radio was relegated to listening for news, weather and sports information. T.V. was slow in coming. I don’t remember exactly when it became available in our area. I think it was the mid 50’s. The first one that I remember seeing was carried up on top of a hill in Wallins. It was attached to an antenna that was anchored in the top of the tallest tree available. I remember that it generated a lot of interest because of the heavy weight championship fight that was on. I recall that Rocky Marciano was fighting, but I don’t know who the other fighter was. It was so snowy that all you could see was shadows. It was still a marvel to behold.
After this initial introduction to television, it would be some time before we actually had one for our family. When we finally got a television I was so proud and excited. It was a small screen black and white model. We had an antenna on top of the house. It had a ribbon wire that ran to the back of the T.V. We only received 2 or 3 stations. To obtain the best reception required the antenna to be constantly adjusted. This required 2 people. One person turned the antenna while someone hollered instructions from the set. Reception quality was an uncertainty. It depended on atmospheric conditions. You also had all kinds of interference from airplanes to automobiles.
The sets were comprised of many vacuum tubes. No solid state here. I remember when our set went on the blink. We went for a long time without a T.V. because we couldn’t afford to have someone repair it. I took matters into my own hands. I meticulously copied the positions of each tube before removing them to be tested. In those days you could check your tubes on a tester to see if any were bad. There was only one problem. The nearest tester was in Harlan. I remember taking the tubes out and putting them in a paper bag. I then took them to Harlan for testing. I did this several times with no success in finding the problem.
We eventually were able to have a repairman check the set. After checking it, he informed us that it needed a high voltage transformer. This was the part that sat in the metal box marked, “Danger, High Voltage.” It’s a wonder that I didn’t get electrocuted. I did get quite accustomed to the smell of hot tubes in the back of a T.V. set. There is nothing like that smell. If I were to get a whiff of that today, I bet I would be instantly, in my mind, transported again to the back of that set. Needless to say, we couldn’t afford to get this work done. I remember that we didn’t have a T.V. for a very long time. I am talking years not months. I also recall that the sound worked fine. So there I was listening to the T.V. ala Radio all over again. I guess this was all a part of developing a very vivid imagination.
Finally; do you recall that some people used plastic colored panels over their T.V. screens to simulate color? This worked pretty well by adding some color to the usual black and gray images of black and white only television. Color T.V. was another innovation that was slow in coming to Wallins. Even for the people that had color sets, many of the programs were still only broadcasted in B/W. Remember looking for the NBC peacock. Digital cable and satellite might have been dreams in the realm of science fiction, but not in Wallins Creek.
