I was looking the site of the Early Television Foundation, and saw this 1944 RCA ad:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/rca_1944_programming_ad.html

That made me think: does anyone here know someone ( or someone related to ) who actually was a TV viewer during the early 1940's? I would love to know the experiences and perceptions of what it was like to watch TV during those days. What sort of programs were broadcast during World War II. You know, just to imagine that during the Second World War period there actually existed people who had a TV set in their homes, and watched programs, well, ir seems almost... surreal. It's more or less something that seems out of context.

I have read and heard the perceptions of early TV viewers when TV began here in Brazil, in 1950. One lady, who was a kid at the time, said that she thought it was just too cool, but that she didn't believe it was going to last - she saw it more or less like it was some sort of science fiction experiment. Other guy remembers that in 1951 he regularly went to a friend's house to watch TV, and that one night the TV was broadcasting a sport event that was happening just a very few kilometers away, but he marveled at that: "wow, how they can show something that is happening in the other side of the city?" he thought. He says that to him, in 1951, it seemed like something from another world.

In 1951 people already knew about the Atom Bomb and jet planes... and still were marveled by television. It makes me think what were the thoughts of those who were lucky enough to watch TV in 1940, 1941, 1942...

I wondered something once, when I was playing Call of duty Finest hour on my playstation 2.

I wondered if the game could be played on a television that existed in early 1945...

I was looking the site of the Early Television Foundation, and saw this 1944 RCA ad



At least in the USA, there was almost no consumer electronics made during the WW2 years. So TV sets were not avaliable, much less radio sets, or repair parts for radios. My father once mentioned being able to obtain a few tubes normally earmarked for the USO for a record player he made for my mom before she stepped into the beartrap of love.

I would love to hear from such people, too, but I believe there was almost nothing to watch . . . and nothing to watch it on. That ad is future-oriented, talking about the "promise of television," etc.

Since no consumer TVs were made during the war, those few lucky viewers watching very limited broadcasts must have been using pre-war sets. Perhaps they would have been TV company executives or engineers, experimenters, or wealthy "early adopters."

Phil Nelson

In my very inexperienced knowledge the earliest series I have seen on tv was the Lone Ranger which began in 1949. I know here in the Quincy IL area the earliest tv station was 1953. But to my point, not many tv stations prior to 1949 for sure.
Dan

IIRC, late in '41 they went to the 525 line system we still use today-before that, it was something like 441 lines, & I think they'd had that since only '39 or so. TV was really "experimental" til after the war. And I think they were really "pushing the envelope" w/prewar TV, the 525 line system was at the limits of what was feasable then.

In my very inexperienced knowledge the earliest series I have seen on tv was the Lone Ranger which began in 1949. I know here in the Quincy IL area the earliest tv station was 1953. But to my point, not many tv stations prior to 1949 for sure.
Dan

Dan,
Are you referring to WGEM?

it was something like 441 lines, & I think they'd had that since only '39 or so. TV was really "experimental" til after the war. And I think they were really "pushing the envelope" w/prewar TV, the 525 line system was at the limits of what was feasable then.

It was 441i, to use today's terms. And I have heard that 525i was once called "High Defination" back then... :yes:

I was just reviewing the "Short History of Network Television" section of the great book "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network & Cable TV Shows". Some highlights: NBC & CBS had commerical licenses for TV by '41 with a number of programs on the air. During the war programming was basically limited to training films. (military? civil defense?) DuMont got its commercial license for the NY flagship station in '44, so things were moving. By mid-46 NBC was broadcasting a regular schedule to a network of east coast stations and DuMont had its DC station fully operating.

Yep, you could rig a pre-war tv to play video games.

The last level in Call of Duty Finest hour takes place in March of 1945. You're at the Remagen bridge and the objective is to sieze it. About 1/3 of the way there you get a sniper rifle which REALLY comes in handy.

Anyway, One time I was playing it and I wondered what it would be like to play it on a TV that existed in March of 1945... probably like playing it on any decent black and white TV, but who knows...

Yep, you could rig a pre-war tv to play video games.

Then, I think, it would be very cool to play a Star Trek classic series videogame ( if there's any ) in something like a Philco Predicta...

A Predicta's easy as it was made post war.

I was kinda unsure of TV's that existed during the war, as NTSC was still being hammered out, and maybe the channel frequencies were different or the resolution different...

What I find fascinating here is what the average 1945 person would think of a video game as we know of today. Back in the early 20th century, many people still believed there were "spirits" inside of technology like machines and radio. Example: gasoline was known as "Motor Spirit". I think it would have been quite a shock to see someone manipulating tiny people on the new-fangled TV screen to someone with no understanding of computers or even how a CRT worked. This is aside from the fact that Japan was fighting to the death against our own people, and the words Sony or Nintendo in your hands would surely land you in Federal custody...

These are a few of the Tv firsts for WRGB which was formerly the GE owned Station in Schenectady NY.

First private, experimental television viewing (1926, USA)



First successful public television broadcast (January 1928, USA)




US Federal Government issues first name to WRGB, with the call letters "W2XB", but the station is popularly known as WGY Television, after its sister radio station. (Spring 1928)



First TV Newscaster, Kolin Hager, broadcasts farm and weather reports three times weekly on W2XB (May 10, 1928, USA)




WORLD's First remote television news broadcast at Capitol Building in Albany, NY., as Governor Alfred E. Smith accepts the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. (August 1928)



First dramatic program on television, "The Queen's Messenger", broadcast to four television sets! (September 1928, USA)




First Network Television Broadcast -- June 1939 -- Arrival of King and Queen of England at the N.Y. World's Fair -- The picture is broadcast from New York to Schenectady.



First NBC affiliate (November 1939)

http://www.tvhistory.tv/W2XB%20WGY%20WRGB%20TV%20Station.htm

Though I wasn't around then, I had many friends early in my TV hobby days who were. I grew up in Los Angeles, and amazingly, most people I know who were around during WWII recall knowing at least one person or business with a TV set during the war. However, I don't recall ANY of those people saying that they had actually watched a program on TV. The clearest account is that of a friend who was a pre-teen during WWII. His Mom worked temporarily as a cook for a millionaire family in the Bel Air district of Los Angeles. In the basement of that house was a mirror-lid TV, and he recalls seeing it demonstrated once by the homeowner. His impression of the TV set was that it was a toy, and was just "something that a millionaire would have to talk about on the golf course".

Another friend who was an adult during the War told me that he watched an afternoon football game at a bar in Hollywood within days of Pearl Harbor, and that the audience was so fascinated with the television set (possibly a DuMont table model, from his description,) that nobody even paid attention to who was playing the game.

Charles

Here is some information on TV during the war, including some links about programming:

http://www.earlytelevision.org/ww2_history.html

Here is some Philadelphia history from the war years indicating W3XE/WPTZ was on the air on occcasions.

http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/earlytv.html

Dave A

Matt, yes WGEM and KHQA both started here in the area in 1953 I believe, but WGEM may have started late 1952.
Dan

What I find fascinating here is what the average 1945 person would think of a video game as we know of today. Back in the early 20th century, many people still believed there were "spirits" inside of technology like machines and radio. Example: gasoline was known as "Motor Spirit". I think it would have been quite a shock to see someone manipulating tiny people on the new-fangled TV screen to someone with no understanding of computers or even how a CRT worked. This is aside from the fact that Japan was fighting to the death against our own people, and the words Sony or Nintendo in your hands would surely land you in Federal custody...

Hehehe... that reminds me of a funny little story I've read, from a guy here in Brazil who was around 8-10 years old when his father bought the family's first TV set, in 1958. He said that one day they caught his grandfather ( who was 80 years old at the time ) looking behind the TV set ( it was an Emerson table model, by the way ). They asked him what he was doing. The old man answered: "I just want to know how all this people manage to get inside this thing" .

I think it would have been quite a shock to see someone manipulating tiny people on the new-fangled TV screen to someone with no understanding of computers or even how a CRT worked. This is aside from the fact that Japan was fighting to the death against our own people, and the words Sony or Nintendo in your hands would surely land you in Federal custody...

I once heard that "Sony" was a misspelling of "Sonny", for Sonny Boy". So it might not be a Japanese word. But "Nintendo" sure is.

Anyway, people back then, like today< would figure that the "small people on a TV screen" was just nothing more than new technology. After all, people then saw the invention and implemetation of radio, cars, airplanes, movies and cartoons (people would guess that the TV was just a minatureized movie theatre screen showing a cartoon show), and various other such things. "What will they think of next?"...

I wondered something once, when I was playing Call of duty Finest hour on my playstation 2.

I wondered if the game could be played on a television that existed in early 1945...


Well, I ran my PS1, the first Playstation, on my 1964/66 Sony B&W TV with no problems, played Final Fantasy VII quite well. It was kind of different though.

Well, I don't know of anyone with any experience of watcging TV during World War II, but IIRC, Washington DC, New York City, Schenectany, New York, and Philadelphia, PA had TV stations. I think Los Angeles had one too along with a few others scattered about. There was one case where the Dumont Station in Washington, DC showed a slide on TV saying the war was over just prior to the official announcement, so the Navy had the station invesigated.

Imagine how hard it was for the folks of 1935-1955 to digest all the changes in their world...In '35, most people had never been on an airplane.The 1st really modern airliner, the DC-2, was just coming on the scene. By '55, I think Boeing had announced the 707, the 1st really successful jetliner. There was in '35, as close as does not matter, NO TV..By '55, you could go down to yr local RCA dealer & get yrself a COLOR set..In '35, cars were around, but they were still cantankerous beasts, w/no power steering or brakes, no automatics or A/C, cramped bodies, crappy brakes, etc..In '55, you had the famous small-block Chevy, an engine that's still w/us today. And you could get a car w/most of the labor-saving goodies we have today. There really hasn't been anywhere nearly as much to "Wow !" us since '88, as there were in those 20 years...

Imagine how hard it was for the folks of 1935-1955 to digest all the changes in their world...In '35, most people had never been on an airplane.The 1st really modern airliner, the DC-2, was just coming on the scene. By '55, I think Boeing had announced the 707, the 1st really successful jetliner. There was in '35, as close as does not matter, NO TV..By '55, you could go down to yr local RCA dealer & get yrself a COLOR set..In '35, cars were around, but they were still cantankerous beasts, w/no power steering or brakes, no automatics or A/C, cramped bodies, crappy brakes, etc..In '55, you had the famous small-block Chevy, an engine that's still w/us today. And you could get a car w/most of the labor-saving goodies we have today. There really hasn't been anywhere nearly as much to "Wow !" us since '88, as there were in those 20 years...

I respectfully need to add one BIG BIG BIG thing since '88... The Internet. True it was around in the early 80s for a select few, the masses didn't get on 'til the 90s. I think the Internet has done more for society in general, worldwide, than the automobile or TV & radio. And cellphones: Hate 'em or love 'em, they weren't with us before the 80s, and now even every bum down on S. Los Angeles Street has one in his coat pocket opposite his whisky bottle. But not to belittle TV & radio... That is, afterall, why we're here talking about it :banana:

Charles

What I find fascinating here is what the average 1945 person would think of a video game as we know of today.
I have had video games since the 1970's, and I am amazed by what the latest machines can do. It was early 1982 when the first "cockpit perspective" game was released, Star Raiders for the Atari 2600. ("Cockpit perspective" was the name at the time for what is now called "first person".) That game had a few white dots zipping out from the middle of the screen toward the edges to make you think you were flying through space, and little blob space ships that you shot at with the single button on the joystick controller. It sure was fun on my Sony Profeel monitor, though. After hardly playing for a number of years, I bought a Microsoft Xbox 360 and a driving game. The game has a ghost of your car, from when you drove around the same lap the last time, on screen at the same time as it shows your accurately-rendered Shelby Mustang (or other car of your choice). Incredible.

Regarding playing video games on old TV sets, that same Atari 2600 had a switch to select between color and B&W mode. Using that switch, some cartridges had a separate gray-scale scheme that was easier to see than the color version on a B&W TV. Well, actually, before that machine, most video games were only black-and-white...