Category Archives: Television History

1928: First Television Drama

1931SeptTVNews1

Today, we take a look at one of the more pleasant events that took place on September 11, namely, the first television drama, which was aired 88 years ago today, on September 11, 1928.

28. On that date, radio station WGY in Schenectady, New York, carried the audio, with the visual broadcast carried by W2XAD, of the play The Queen’s Messenger by J. Hartley Manners. The play was chosen since it had only two characters, but still pushed the limits of the medium. Despite only two characters in the play, four actors were used, along with three cameras. Two of the cameras were focused on the main actors, and to remain in focus, the actors had to maintain a very exact position. The other camera focused on the hands of two other actors, who served as doubles and handled the props. When one character sipped a glass of wine, the hand doubles first poured into a glass in view of one camera. Then, another camera cut to the main actor’s face as they sipped from an identical glass.  The hand doubles, along with the props, are in the foreground of the picture above.

The “cameras” actually consisted of stationary photocells, and the subjects were lit by a “flying spot” projected through a spinning disc.

1931SeptTVNewsMakeupIn the photo above, the director, in the white shirt, can view all of the actors, and switches from camera to camera, viewing the end result on the monitor. Considerable experimenting had to be done with makeup until the choices shown here were settled upon. In addition to using colors that provided suitable contrasts, another problem was maintaining focus as one part of the face moved.

The entire process is described in detail in an article in the September-October 1931 issue of Television News.  The article also recounts a second production done a couple of years later, after which time the technology had advanced to a point where a more traditional stage could be used.

Outside the studios for the 1928 broadcast, the station had a series of radios and televsion receivers to allow as many members of the press as possible to watch. The broadcast was repeated, first during the day, probably for the benefit of the press, and then again at night for more distant televsion entusiasts to be able to pick it up. The station reported reception reports from as far west as the Pacific coast.

References

 



1931 Television Image

1931SeptTVFor an idea of what kind of picture quality was available with early mechanical television, here is an example from 85 years ago, from the September-October 1931 issue of Television News.

The photo was sent to the magazine by H.E. Burket of 819 Center Street, Chicago, Illinois, who reported that he captured the image from the broadcasts made by the Chicago Daily News station.

Burket’s receiver consisted of an 18″ scanning disc, driven by a synchronous motor with gear transmission. He had been experimenting with various glow tubes. While neon tubes were most commonly employed, Burket noted that spot and crater type glow tubes with white or green light gave superior images.

He reported that the photographs were made with exposure times of between 2-1/2 and 10 seconds. He also noted that while lines were visible on this image, he had recently switched to a different scanning disc with which the lines were no longer visible.
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How Television Benefits Your Children

MotorolaTVBenefitsChildren

Sixty-five years ago today, Motorola explained in this ad, appearing in the Pittsburgh Press, September 5, 1950, how parents could benefit their children. Of course, there’s only one possible answer, and that was television!

The ad shows the happy children watching Howdy Doody, and the caption proclaims, “home, sweet TV home! Peace! Quiet! No more ‘rainy day riots’ with television keeping small fry out of mischief, and out of mother’s hair.”

The ad even quoted one child psychology expert who noted that “taking away television from children who act up is a punishment that really works. The very thought of missing some pet program turns little lions into lambs. And incidentally, those favorite programs in the late afternoon are the world’s finest magnet for getting tardy youngsters home on time for dinner.”

And there were more benefits to television. Educators, religious and social workers all agreed that TV was a strong force for bringing parents and children together to enjoy clean, wholesome entertainment right in the home.

There was apparently a rumor going around that TV caused eyestrain, and Motorola nipped this in the bud by quoting the Journal of the American Medical Association in stating that television in itself does not produce eyestrain. It noted that if television seemed to tire a child’s eyes, the probable answer was that the child needs an eye examination.

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Dyna-Scan Flying Spot Video Generator, 1956

1956SeptRadioElectronics

This ad for an interesting piece of test equipment appeared 60 years ago in the September, 1956, issue of Radio Electronics magazine.

It shows an early pattern generator for the TV serviceman, the Model 1000 Dyna-Scan video generator from B&K Manufacturing Co., 3726 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago. The device was quite ingenious, and had a number of applications besides service.

The principle of operation was quite simple. The image which was to be converted to video was printed on a transparency. This could contain the test pattern or bar or dot patterns that were included with the unit. The transparency was placed in front of a CRT which served as a “flying spot” generator, in much the same way as a “flying spot” was employed by some early mechanical television systems.

Since the CRT did the scanning, a 931A photomultiplier tube placed on the other side of the transparency would pick up the video signal, synched with the scanning of the CRT. This model apparently used the ultraviolet images emitted by the CRT, so it appears to function even with the tube exposed to other light. Images of one of these in operation can be seen at this link.

The unit could also transmit an audio signal, and had a built-in RF modulator which could be tuned to any VHF channel.

Because the unit was a relatively low-cost method of generating a TV signal, it had other uses besides the serviceman’s shop. It could be used at the head end of a community antenna TV system to send an audio or video signal. Since any message could be put on the transparency, this allowed video announcements to be transmitted. It was also billed for use as a paging system for use in a hospital or similar application. Messages could be written on a transparency, and viewed by a standard television elsewhere in the building.

The device sold for $199.95, but the advertisement also showed a less expensive version. For $69.95, you could buy the Model 950, which included the pickup and RF generator only, but without the CRT. This could be used along with a “properly modified 10-inch TV set which acts as your external flying spot scanner.” This version also came with a set of three transparencies.

Some good pictures showing the device in operation can be found at this link, and some more pictures and a schematic can be found at the Radio Museum.

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1941 Car TV

1941AugustRadioCraft

New York probably didn’t have a distracted driving law in 1941, and the August 1941 issue of Radio Craft proudly proclaimed that “Car Television is Here!”  The first commercial TV broadcasts took place on July 1, 1941, and according to the cover photo, the gentleman shown here was able to tune them in, even though he was driving around the city.

But upon closer examination, it appears that the motoring public wasn’t in any danger when TV hit the airwaves.  According to the magazine, the cover photo is a “composite illustration,” and car TV was a coming thing.  The magazine promised, however, that a future issue would show how to build one.

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TV in New York Taverns: 1941

1941AugRadioRetailing1

Seventy-five years ago, television was making its appearance in New York taverns, as reported in the August 1941 issue of Radio Retailing magazine.

In the photo above, the set is placed at a spot in the bar “where it keeps feet on rails longer,” while some other highbrow establishments had built the set into the wall.

1941AugRadioRetailing2The article noted that hundreds of Du Mont sets had been installed in public places around New York. The public intitially flocked to them out of curiosity, but when commercial broadcasting was authorized on July 1, 1941, having a set in a tavern or cafe became a practical trade benefit.

The biggest draw was sports, with boxing, wrestling, baseball, basketball and football being the most popular, in that order. However, other programs proved popular, such as news events. “Some taven and cafe owners even advise that fashion programs have brought in some ladies!”

Sets were typically placed in the bars on a trial rental basis for a month or two.  Almost invariably, after the initial term, owners discovered that the sets were paying for themselves in increased trade.  They then had the option of continuing the rental, or applying rental payments to purchase of the set.

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First Televised Wedding, 1931

1931JulyTVNews

The first ever televised wedding took place 85 years ago, as shown here from the July-August 1931 issue of Television News.

The bride and groom, Grace Jones and Frank Du Vall were wed by Dr. A. Edwin Keigwin of the West End Presbyterian Church over the airwaves of W2XCR-WGBS. The video was transmitted over W2XCR, with the synchronized audio being transmitted over WGBS. The magazine reported that thousands of visualists were trilled by this marvel of modern science.  Du Vall was apparently a station engineer

The television studio and 500 watt transmitter were located at 655 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The station used a mechanical system employing a strong arc light with a rotating disc with a “flying spot” to do the scanning. The visual pickup consisted of fixed photocells. The more conventional system at the time placed the spinning disc in front of the photocell. The system used by W2XCR essentially consisted of a beam of light that scanned the subject, synchronized with the spinning disc on the receiver. The system used 60 lines and scanned 20 pictures per second.  The general idea is shown in the illustration here:

1931JulyTVNews2

The sound was sent by wire to WGBS at Astoria, Long Island.  According to the Spring-Summer 1931 issue of White’s Radio Log, WGBS operated on 600 kHz with 250 watts of power.  The station’s call sign represented its owner, Gimbel’s Department Store, and the station is the predecessor of WINS.

 W2XCR, licensed to Jenkins Television Corporation, operated on 2000-2100 kHz or 2750-2850 kHz.

According to the 1940 census, the couple was happily married and living in Essex, New Jersey, on their ninth anniversary.  The clergyman, Dr. Keigwin, appears to be the author of the 1899 hymn, The Someday By and By.

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Commercial TV Turns 75

Today marks the 75th anniversary of commercial television broadcasting in the United States.

On May 2, 1941, the FCC issued the first ten commercial television licenses. (Many of these stations had been operating under experimental licenses prior to this date.) Under the license terms, the stations were required to broadcast fifteen hours per week.

The first television commerical is shown in this video. It aired on WNBT New York before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadephia Phillies.

References

Radio Today, July 1941, p. 28.

 
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TV Pioneer Eleanor Thomas, W9XBY/W9XAL, Kansas City, 1936

1936JuneModernMechanEighty years ago, this month’s issue of Modern Mechanix, June 1936, featured eighteen-year-old Eleanor Thomas, the assistant engineer of stations W9XBY and W9XAL, Kansas City, Missouri. Billed as a “mathematical genius for a girl,” Miss Thomas reportedly found life on a college campus too prosaic, and instead entered an engineering school, namely the training division of First National Television, Inc.

First National Television was the licensee of the two stations. According to its 1934 QSL card, W9XBY was one of four “high fidelity” stations operating in the United States, just above the top end of the standard broadcast band, which then extended to 1500 kHz, at 1530 kHz. The 1000 watt station operated from the 29th floor of the Power and Light Building, and had its transmitter near 86th and Wornall Road.

W9XBY operated as the voice channel for television station W9XAL, one of the first television stations to operate on the VHF band, licensed to operate on 42-56 MHz. While the station was initially a mechanical television station, it had both electronic and mechanical equipment in 1936. By 1939, it was all electronic.

The article noted that Miss Thomas was the “youngest member of her sex ever to pass the difficult examinations for a first class operator’s license from the Federal Communications Commission.

More information about the station can be found in the July 1991 issue of Popular Communications.

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1931 Electronic Television

1931ElectronicTVImageShown here is one of the very earliest examples of an image sent by electronic television. It appeared 85 years ago, in the May-June 1931 issue of Television News, in an article by Baron Manfred Von Ardenne, whom the magazine identified as the “famous European televsision expert.”

Von Ardenne noted that the cathode-ray tube had “long been proposed for television reception and has been used in many more or less successful laboratory experiments. In spite of these extremely
advantageous characteristics, television has thus far been obtained only with mechano-optical means.”  He then went on to discuss some of his improvements.

His system involved using a cathode-ray tube as part of the transmitter.  A film was placed between the tube and a photo-electric cell.  Thus, the tube in the camera could be synchronized with the tube in the receiver scanning at the same rate.  Depending on the configuration of the electronics, the resulting image would be either the positive or the negative of the original film.  A diagram of the system used for transmission is shown here:

1931ElectronicTVtransmission

Von Ardenne made the first public demonstration of this system in August 1931 at the Berlin Radio Show. He successfully transmitted pictures in 1933, and his system was used in the German television service starting in 1934. Regular broadcasting began in 1935 and continued throughout the war.

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-K0917-500, Prof. Manfred v. Ardenne.jpg

Von Ardenne in 1930. Wikipedia photo.

After the war, von Ardenne made contacts with the Red Army and found his way to the Soviet Union, where he was made head of Institute A. He was initially asked to participate in the Soviet atomic bomb project, but declines, realizing that his participation would prevent his return to Germany. Instead, he worked on isotope enrichment. His work included development of an electron microscope, for which he was awarded the Stalin Prize. With the prize money of 100,000 rubles, he purchased the land for a private institute in East Germany, where he was allowed to return in 1954. From 1963 to 1989, he served as a member of the Volkskammer, the East German parliament.  At the time of his death in 1997, he held about 600 patents.

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