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Do you remember black and white TV?

Poll - Total Votes: 126

Yes

I thought TV was always in colour

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1-50 of 97

Justenjoyit · 61-69, M

Dont laugh but when I was a kid I used to put a clear ruler up to my eyes and tilt it up and down, you could see a rainbow color on the TV, me trying to see what a colour TV would look like

bijouxbroussard · F

Oh, yes…and I remember being the remote control for ours.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

Had one in my bedroom until I moved in 1975.

Mom bought a color tv in 1972 with a luxury item called a remote control! 😂

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Sidewinder · 36-40, M

@DeWayfarer A lot of those remote controls, or "clickers" as many of us called them are about the size of 4 or 5 present day cell phones stacked on top of each other.

DeWayfarer · 61-69, M

@Crazywaterspring well my current cellphone definitely is a bit longer and wider why I said a bit bigger than a pack of cigarettes which is about ⅔rds of my current cell phone in both width and height. Thickness you're close.

JimboSaturn · 51-55, M

@Sidewinder My Dad used to call them converters.

jackson55 · M

And I remember when color first started. My dad worked for RCA, so we got a color set early on.

Miklee02 · 51-55, F

We had color in the living room but my mom had a small black and white in her bedroom

ArtieKat · M

You don't say much about your own memories, @RuthW69.

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oldercanuck1 · 70-79, M

@JimboSaturn Yes i remember ,,, lol ,, we do the same now with commercials ,, you can really tell them apart ,,, lol

Really · 80-89, M

@oldercanuck1
i remember when TV was just a rumor; and my fiancée's parent's first set, (7 inch!) purchased for the queen's coronation. My kids were born in the 60s so yes, I was there. Good times but I think maybe the 70's were even better - very open & tolerant and the future was looking hopeful. Changed days!

oldercanuck1 · 70-79, M

@Really LOL you got me ,, our set was not much bigger i was three ,,, yes things have changer some for the good some for well lets wait and see ,,, but does not look good ,,,

Pfuzylogic · M

I didn’t watch color as my main tv until 1971.

DearAmbellina2113 · 41-45, F

I do, because for years my grandma had a black and white tv, even though color ones had already become popular. She watched her B&W one til it finally fizzled out, some time in the 80s.

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

Lostpoet · M

I remember watching TV off of my dad's old compact emergency tv/radio and it was black and white.

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supersnipe · 61-69, M

@OldMan70 They were round for a long time - there were some square-corner sets in Germany in the early days, but if you watched the Coronation on UK TV in 1953, it would have been on a 'goldfish bowl'...

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supersnipe · 61-69, M

@OldMan70 Ha! There was only one channel all the way from 1936 to 1955, with a break for the war. Two hours or so a night to begin with, only within 30 miles of London. It was extended to the Midlands after the war, and a second channel arrived in 1955 - a bunch of people saw the opportunity to make a lot of money out of commercial TV, and did. A third channel (BBC2) arrived in 1964, with a remit to cover more minority interest programming. Channel 4 arrived in 1982...with cable and satellite just around the corner.

PhoenixPhail · M

Wow. I didn't think there were that many older people on SW.

oldercanuck1 · 70-79, M

@PhoenixPhail oh there are a few of us ,,,,, lol

turbineman40 · 80-89, M

I can remember when there was no TV and I listened to the radio

oldercanuck1 · 70-79, M

and rabbit ears to get reception ,,, lol

ArtieKat · M

I remember my parents thinking that other families must have more money than sense when the first colour televisions appeared. Some got them for the moon landings - as if that made the fuzzy pictures any clearer lol

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Nanoose · 61-69, M

@swirlie Oh then how do you explain the Lunar Laser Retro-Reflector that was left on the moon by one of the Apollo missions. Scientist still use those mirrors to this day. Cheers!

This message was deleted by its author.

Nanoose · 61-69, M

@swirlie I don't know I watched a Big Bang Theory epoxide about those moon mirrors so it must be true. Cheers!

stound

for a good while I still had B&W when color was the default. it could weird me out when they would have something about 'the guy in the red sweater', or whatever; double so if I'd assumed the color to be blue or green or some other dark something. 'oh! ... that guy? the one in the bl... ooooooh.'

MarineBob · 56-60, M

watched Perry Mason last night

SW-User

We had one when I was young

MougyWolf · 36-40, M

Yes, I was a child of the 80's-90's. We had a color tv, one, in the livingroom. But black and white tv's were still a thing cause they were cheap. The first TV i had in my own room was black and white, but I got a colored replacement about a year or two later for xmas.

Chattermanuk · 46-50, M

My old man used to hide rhe colour tv ehn the tv man came round to check licence as we had a black and white one as that was cheaper lol

CheekyBadger · M

@Chattermanuk lol same here!

Piper · 61-69, F

Yes. As I recall, we didn't have a color TV until we moved back to the states in 1970.

RuthW69 · 51-55, F

@Piper I think more shows began to be colour about then as well.

Piper · 61-69, F

@RuthW69 Could be, about more shows. I remember when other families in the neighborhood got color TV's though, before we moved in late 1966.

bob01

and foil on the rabbit ears to get better reception on the 5 channels we got

PhoenixPhail · M

@bob01 At first, we got only 3 channels; 4,5 and 9.
Some time later, they added channel 2.

bob01

@PhoenixPhail we got 2,4,7,9 and 11
2 was CBS, 4 was NBC, 7 was ABC, 9 was like a pbs and 11 was for the yankees

smileylovesgaming · 31-35, F

Oh yes i had a black and white tv. At the time I didn't know my original Nintendo and super had color. I didn't know it was just my TV

Tom610 · 61-69, M

I can remember when color TV was starting to become popular. All of us were always talking about friends who had color TV.

In September 1968, my parents took me to the Great Lakes Naval training center . I was 8, and my brother was graduating from Navy boot camp.
The day when we got home, the new color TV was in the living room, and my Grandfather had it all setup, and he was watching it. I was 8 years old, and I loved watching our new color TV

oldercanuck1 · 70-79, M

Yes very much so ,,, and i was watching tv in the mid 1950's ,,,we also had an antenna on the roof ,, lol

Pretzel · 61-69, M

we had a 19" 'portable' that was on a stand with wheels.

then we got the 23" color tv - weighed as much as a VW beetle

akindheart · 61-69, F

I do. My dad bought a curtis mathis console with the tv radio and stereo. What a piece of junk

softspokenman · M

I remember watching:
The Howdy Doody Show (1947)
The Mickey Mouse Club (1955)

Tonyburr6684 · 56-60, M

I was the remote control also for all 4 channels we had ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS

Reflection2 · M

Yes 😔.
That was a lovely lovely time

RuthW69 · 51-55, F

@Reflection2 @Reflection2 I know what you mean.

Reflection2 · M

@RuthW69 It was such simple time. People were so simple around 😔

Strictmichael75 · 61-69, M

There were still B&W in the 80s

PhoenixPhail · M

@Strictmichael75 I enjoy watching black and white movies now.

Sidewinder · 36-40, M

@Strictmichael75 I know. Back in the 90's, I had one in my bedroom from the time I was 6 to the time I was 9.

Alfred22

Like Film Noir some cinema is better in Black and White!

Justforfun65 · 56-60, M

I had a small black and white tv in my bedroom growing up

Mrjingleswilly · 51-55, M

My first telly was a 22 inch black and white. With a tuner knob!!

JohnnySpot · 56-60, M

One of my earliest memories watching the Jack LaLanne show.

Barefooter25 · 46-50, M

Even when growing up in the 80s, I had a black and white tv.

SW-User

Of course... it was our second TV back in the early 70s.

FrogManSometimesLooksBothWays · M

That's racist. We all deserve respect.

markansas

i do and only one channel . times have changed.

SW-User

My grannie had one in 85 or so.

Musicman · 61-69, MVIP

@SW-User I still remember going with my dad to buy our first color TV back in 1975.

Wallflow3r · F

No but I remember the gameboy before it had colour.

SW-User

Yes I do , but we’re dating ourselves

Barny52 · 56-60, M

Yep and when we only had 2 channels

SW-User

Yes, I do... Growing up... we had an RCA/Magnavox color TV in the Living room (the beautifully crafted ones, but you know - you had to get up to change the channel - totally freaks out my kids when I explain that to them...), and a Black and White TV in the kitchen... Loved both of them.

Havesomefun2 · 56-60, M

And the really fine tuning

SW-User

Yes my brother and sis shared a room til I was 10 and we felt very fortunate to have an old portable19 inch black & white in there on top of one of the dressers. I can just barely remember watching Rat Patrol cuz my brother liked it.

Convivial · 26-30, F

I've heard of that🤔

Rose90

Oh yes

PhoenixPhail · M

@Rose90 Oh, yeah.

AbbeyP · 70-79, F

Only too well!

KayIsHere · F

96% of people here remember black & white TV???!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?!?!! Are there that many people 100+ years old???!!?!? I know that in theory there was such a thing as black and white TV but it hasn't been a thing in forever

Melies

I remember b&w snow and test patterns.

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oldercanuck1 · 70-79, M

@Melies we did live close to the border ,, lol

Sidewinder · 36-40, M

@oldercanuck1 I remember one of my High School teachers telling me about those kind of test patterns.

Sidewinder · 36-40, M

@Melies

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