Seventy-five years ago this month, the December 1945 issue of Radio Service Dealer depicted what was to become a ubiquitous postwar scene–a family watching television.

But in 1945, this was probably a hypothetical family, since there were still very few sets in operation. As of 1947, there were on 85,000 sets in private homes, tuned to a handful of stations in a half dozen cities. As of 1947, New York still led the nation in televisions, with about 40,000 in private homes, with another 4000 in bars.