For Milwaukee residents lucky enough to own a television, here were the programs they could watch 70 years ago this week, as shown in the Milwaukee Journal, October 23, 1949. (From most browsers, click twice on the image for an enlarged version.)  The only station on the air yet was WTMJ-TV (owned by the newspaper), and here were some of the program highlights:

The “Televison Playhouse” program for the week, 8:00 PM Sunday was an adaptation of the novel “Because of The Lockwoods” by Dorothy Whipple. Before that, the station signed on at 2:45 PM with a special discussion of the United Nations. Panelists were Robert Hansen, Mrs. Martha Klein, and Bruno Bitker, with Dr. J. Martin Klotsche serving as moderator.

At 9:00 PM was the 25th chapter of “Crusade in Europe.” This week’s discussion was Eisenhower’s postwar visit to Russia and his meeting with Stalin. The special guest for the program was former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, then president of the University of Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, the “Salute to Industry” program was a tribute to the Milwaukee police department.

Sports was a part of the programming. On Saturday, October 29, the Marquette-Colorado State football game was aired (Marquette won 68-13), and that evening the station carried the Milwaukee vs. Toledo hockey game.

If you didn’t have a TV yet, you had many options. You could get an RCA Victor console starting at $269. Or if you were really in a hurry, you could call Samson’s, and they would dispatch a special service car to your house within an hour, where they would install a new Hallicrafters set on approval, with no obligation. Hallicrafters prices started at $189.95, with no money down.