Remembering Tv of the 1950s

Remembering TV of the 1950s By Elton Camp About TV, this little account is told From when I was twelve years old Because it was along about then When TV fascination did begin The programming choices were few The channels we received were two A massive antenna was the only way There existed no cable system to pay A flat lead-in thru the window threaded The possibility of lightning was dreaded My father looked at the sky with a frown “Disconnect it and throw on the ground!” All programs were black and white Which we watched by a TV light Brighter lights were then taboo Only a darkened room would do If the other channel we’d get Get up and walk to the TV set Commercials at beginning, middle, end Just those three so unlikely to offend At midnight, stations signed off the air At six the next morning, they’d be there It was only a test pattern for a while Daily adjusting our set was a trial Controls on the back so we couldn’t see Whatever the results were going to be Horizontal & vertical hold to reset So that a viewable picture we’d get “WBRC now begins its broadcast day” Some disembodied voice would say The national anthem was played Sometimes a preacher then prayed Whatever vile programs, we didn’t care Rather, we’d sit and mindlessly stare Technical interruptions we might get With, “Please do not adjust your set.” The set was costly & likely to break down To houses, the repairman came around Daily life would almost come to a stop If he had to take it away to his shop This situation was inevitable because One TV set per family’s all there was Multiple receivers was then far away We didn’t foresee the present day Flat screens, color or streaming video About such things we didn’t know We never heard of high definition To avoid “snow” was our ambition But any sense of depravation we didn’t feel With Gleason, Berle & Norman Vincent Peale “What’s My Line” was everyone’s delight “I Love Lucy” dominated Monday night By writing this poem, my age I betray “Can this be true?” young folks say Yes, this is the situation we did see Without Netflix, ESPN, or even MTV