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5 Responses to “The Lost Art of T.V. Repair”

1. daughterofthedean Says:
   February 21st, 2009 at 7:42 pm

   I remember being really, really excited to spend my entire $800 income tax refund on my first video cassette recorder. It recorded for one whole hour! When I brought it home and hooked it up my brother and I immediately videotaped “MASH” — that should give you an idea of how long ago it was! It just seemed like magic.

2. wittnebert Says:
   March 11th, 2009 at 11:05 am

   I was born in 54 and my parents didn’t get a TV until I was actually old enough to sit up and take notice, which was probably around 57 or 58. When I was halfway through kindergarten in 60, the picture tube blew; we had sound but no image. So, to the extent that my parents paid attention to it at all, they listened, instead! And rather than take it to a repairman, my father eventually took it down to the cellar and disassembled the entire TV set. Since he understood about crystal sets (radio) he figured a TV should not be too different. Guess what. The TV was in a bajillion pieces all over an old table in the basement, where my father spent many hours poring over it and was really very sulky about it not working. He was so disgusted with the “innovative technology” that he wouldn’t replace it, and we had no TV for 7 years, not until about 1967. This was not good for me at the time, as I got mocked out steadily for 7 years at school when the kids said “Did you see ‘Car 54, Where Are You’ etc etc and I said “No”, and they said “Why?” and I said “We don’t have a TV”, at which point they invariably reacted as if I was somewhere between a Martian and a congenital idiot. However, in the long run, I buried my head in books, which are a lifelong passion and addiction, and to this day I would rather read! Seems strange to remember there actually was a time when TV was a — an option, I guess, not a necessity — still more, when there was actually a profession devoted to fixing them (that is, before “planned obsolescence”). But I also used to be acquainted with a fellow who began by fixing TVs and went on to start his own cable TV business and make a fortune — the opposite end of the spectrum!

3. kaforeman Says:
   March 12th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

   wittnebert, your post made me laugh really hard. I can just see your dad down in that basement with the TV set in pieces everywhere, fuming about newfangled technology. I was also born in 1954 so I can really remember how central to kids’ lives TV was, and how big a part of socialization it was to discuss the current shows. Back then there were only a few channels so the odds were much higher that most kids in your class would have watched the same show the night before.

   I remember watching “Car 54, Where Are You?” with my family, and loving the fact that we were all laughing at the same thing. It was a very cozy feeling, especially since we often had tension and arguing. Other shows we all watched together were Get Smart and Lost in Space; these are very warm and happy memories. I’m a bookworm like you are, but I also love TV and I’m really glad we had a TV for those growing-up years.

4. sidorski Says:
   April 11th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

   These comments were especially pleasing to me and Wittenberg had it right by calling it planned obsolescene, i haven’t repaired a TV for money for the last 20 years.
   I am 89 now and I am amazed that I lived so long, heck I expected to be killed in ww2 but studying radio saved me from all of that.

5. kaforeman Says:
   April 12th, 2009 at 12:34 pm

   Well, Sidorski, I’m very glad you studied radio too! I’m glad you’re still here with us to share your photos and memories.

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