Category Archives: Television History

Davey & Goliath 60th Anniversary

Today marks the 60th anniversary of Davey & Goliath, the iconic children’s religious claymation series, which premiered in syndication on February 25, 1961.

In 1958, the United Lutheran Church in America, which later became part of the Lutheran Church in America, and later the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), budgeted $1 million to fund production of a children’s television program. The denomination contracted with Clokey Productions, the creator of Gumby.

The resulting claymation series starred Davey, a boy who aged somewhat as the series progressed, and his dog Goliath. Goliath was able to talk, often making futile warnings about some peril Davey was about to get himself into. For some reason, only Davey was able to hear him.

Clay figures were used, but as the series progressed, the scenes became somewhat more realistic, with fabric clothing used rather than clay. Solid heads were used throughout the show’s production.  Interchangeable heads with numerous facial expressions added a somewhat realistic look to the characters.

Luther rose. Wikipedia image.

After the duo survived some adventure, the program would often conclude with a Christian moral lesson delivered by Davey’s father, although occasionally the family’s pastor would deliver a sermonette.  While I don’t believe Davey’s family had any denominational affiliation identified during the program, the Luther Rose was displayed during the credits, and the show’s theme song was A Mighty Fortress.  I’m sure there are millions who identify the quintessential Lutheran hymn primarily as the theme song from Davey and Goliath.

Numerous episodes were made until 1975. After a hiatus, the ELCA decided in 2001 to bring the characters back. To finance the project, Davey and Goliath took on part-time jobs as commercial pitchmen for Mountain Dew. They went on to star in a 2004 Christmas special.

You can find a complete history and timeline of the series at LivingLutheran.org.  For those who wish to delve deeper into the theological significance of the series, the site also offers an excellent 8-page study guide.

 



1951 Arvin Model 4162 CM Console TV

1951JanRadioTVRetailingThis ad for Arvin Television appeared seventy years ago this month in the January 1951 issue of Radio & Television Retailing.

It highlights their top-of-the-line console, the 16 inch model 4162 CM, which retailed for $349.95 (or an extra $20 for a blond cabinet), plus federal excise tax and warranty. Other sets started at $129.95, and the ad reminded dealers that the company had America’s most complete radio line, starting at $15.95, all of which rolled off the assembly line of Arvin Industries, Inc., of Columbus, Indiana.



1945 Television

1945DecRadioServiceDealerSeventy-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.



Pulling In Blacked Out Games: 1970

1970NovPMcoverI don’t remember if I saw this particular magazine, the November 1970 issue of Popular Mechanics, but I did see magazines like it, and I was intrigued. I had absolutely no interest in sports, but I was interested in pulling in distant TV stations. We had it pretty good for television signals in Minneapolis-St. Paul. We had 5 VHF stations, and if you moved the loop antenna just right, you could pull in channel 17 on the elusive UHF dial. Our local newspaper and the local edition of TV Guide listed only these channels. In the paper, channels 2-11 were shown in a grid, with the schedule for channel 17 printed in small type in a corner of the page.

But occasionally, we would travel to surrounding areas, and when we did, if I could scrape together enough change, I bought a copy of TV Guide. The Minnesota edition listed all of the Twin Cities stations, but it was also chock full of listings of other stations. By and large, they were all the same programs. But some of my favorites were on at different times. I just needed a way to pull in these stations.

We never did it, because the rabbit ears worked just fine for our local channels. But I dreamed of putting up an outdoor antenna to pull in those elusive signals. Articles like this spurred my dreams.

This particular article was penned by prolific electronics writer Len Buckwalter. The target audience was sports fans. Games were “blacked out” in those days. Football was particularly affected by these “blackouts”. Today, sports is a television event. But then, the thinking was that if the game were on TV, attendance at the stadium would suffer. They figured that nobody over a hundred miles away would drive to see the game, so it was safe to put it on TV there. But unless the game was sold out, it wouldn’t be televised locally.

So if you were in the team’s city, if you wanted to watch the game, you had two choices. Either you could buy a ticket and see it in person, or you could watch it on a distant TV station. Some people drove to other cities to watch the game. It was cheaper to rent a hotel room and drive there, so that’s what some people did. But some people put up a big enough antenna so they could watch the game at home, and that’s what Buckwalter’s article told you how to do.

He explained a number of possibilities. If you already had an outdoor antenna, then what you needed was a rotor, so you could steer it toward the city where the game was playing. Of course, your picture might still be full of snow, so putting a pre-amp on the mast might do the trick.

1970NovPMantennaswitchParticularly avid sports fans could purchase a separate yagi antenna tuned to the channel carrying the game, and point that toward the out-of-town station. They could install a knife switch like the one shown here. On game day, they would switch on the yagi. On other days, you would switch back to the antenna receiving the local channels.

To demonstrate the art, the article carried screen shots showing a baseball game broadcast on Channel 8 in New Haven, CT., being pulled in by an antenna in New York City. With an outdoor antenna a pre-amp, the picture quality was actually better than a New York channel with an average antenna setup.



A Preview of Postwar Television

1945AugSepNRNWhen this issue of National Radio News, August-September 1945, went to press, the war was still raging in the Pacific. But the end was in sight, and despite the cynicism of skeptics, the editors of the magazine knew that television’s role in the postwar electronic era was a foregone conclusion, “witness the rapt attention of these comely lasses as they view the screen of the General Electric receiver.”



The Class of ’20

23June1920Shown here is the Class of ’20 (1920, that is) who graduated from the Furness School of Philadelphia on this day a hundred years ago, June 22, 1920. These girls are performing the “Welcome to Summer” dance as part of the commencement exercises, and this picture appeared in the next day’s issue of the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger.

Since the school was a junior high at the time, these were probably eighth graders, probably born in about 1906. Their older brothers very well might have gone to war, and we hope that most of them came back to attend the graduation.

A few years after this picture was taken, their families probably got their first radio. They were 23 years old when the stock market crashed, and they lived through the depression as young adults. Then, another war came. They were a little too old to go to war, and most of their children were too young. All of them, boys and girls, undoubtedly fought on the Homefront.

When they were in their 40s, they saw their first television, and probably bought one soon thereafter. They worked hard and retired with more wealth than their parents. A handful of them bought a computer and sent e-mails to their grandchildren. A few of them lived to see 9/11 on their television screen.

Welcome to Summer, Class of ’20.

A few weeks ago, I recorded this message to the Class of 2020:



Printed Circuits: 1959

Screen Shot 2019-12-04 at 11.45.38 AM
These two television servicemen, pictured on the cover of Radio-Electronics, December 1959, realize that printed circuits are here to stay.  Fortunately for them, as the magazine explains, the boards are becoming very reliable, and are designed to make servicing of television sets easier.



Rose Ann “Tex” Barbarite, W3FUS

Screen Shot 2019-11-14 at 11.33.00 AMShown here 70 years ago this month on the cover of Radio-Electronics, November 1949, is Rose Ann “Tex” Barbarite (nee Longnecker), described by the magazine as a “lady television engineer.” The magazine contains a brief autobiography of her as a pioneer in engineering.

She writes that radio had been her hobby since her youngest days, when she built crystal sets with her brothers. When those were outgrown, they moved to vacuum tube circuits.

When she started a private girls school, however, she found herself unhappy, since the school viewed science and math as unnecessary for a girl. Undaunted, however, after graduation, she started at the Texas College of Mines in El Paso majoring in math. She was offered an electrical engineering scholarship at Purdue, where she found that the engineering profession was opening up to women, due to wartime labor shortages.

At the time of the magazine article, she was employed by RCA at its Exhibition Hall in New York. She had also taught basic radio theory and code to Civil Air Patrol cadets.

Ms. Barbarite eventually stopped working to raise four children. However, from 1985 to 1987, she was a member of the Peace Corps and taught at a high school in Belize. She died in 1998 at the age of 73 in Columbia, Maryland.

She was licensed as a ham in 1957 as W3FUS.



Philco Safari Portable TV – 1959

1959NovPM1959NovEISixty years ago, Santa was getting ready to deliver something new–a transistorized, battery operated television, shown above in the November 1959 issue of Popular Mechanics.

The Philco “Safari” model played a full four hours on its built-in rechareable battery, and could also operate on standard AC power. The set had a 2 inch picture tube, but optical magnification increased the size to 80 square inches.  You can read more about the set at this link.

The November 1959 issue of Electronics Illustrated, shown at left, also chimed in with a feature about the set, as well as a battery operated 17 inch set which Emerson expected to have on store shelves the next year.



1949 Milwaukee Television

1949Oct23TMJ1949Oct23TMJrcaFor 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 police1949Oct23TMHallicrafters 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.