View Full Version : WMAQ-TV studio postcard


old_tv_nut
07-08-2017, 06:21 PM
Postcard showing WMAQ-TV studio, Chicago, during "It's Academic" program, some time after August 31, 1964, when their call sign was changed from WNBQ to WMAQ-TV, to match the radio station WMAQ (both owned and operated by NBC/RCA).

WNBQ was touted by RCA as the world's first all-color station starting on April 15, 1956. What they meant was that all locally originated studio programs would be in color. Not all network shows were in color yet, and of course they still showed old black and white movies at times.

The following Tribune article made note of it, and on the same page is an ad for Polk Brothers featuring an RCA 21 inch color set. Polk Brothers was the biggest appliance store chain in the Chicago area, and was a merchandise promotion legend in the business across the U.S. before the advent of the national big-box chains. They claimed to be the first retailer to sell color TV. An online search for their story may be interesting to you.

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1956/04/12/page/54/article/wnbq-becomes-first-all-color-video-station-sunday

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polk_Brothers

EdKozk2
07-08-2017, 07:45 PM
I used to watch "It's Academic" back then, a good show. I noticed the post card was mailed in the later 60's or early 70's. IKE had to have passed away to be on the 6 cent stamp.

old_tv_nut
07-08-2017, 09:48 PM
I used to watch "It's Academic" back then, a good show. I noticed the post card was mailed in the later 60's or early 70's. IKE had to have passed away to be on the 6 cent stamp.

Apparently there was an earlier version using a photo instead of an etching, issued in 1969 a few months after his death. This version appears to have been first issued in 1970.

Eric H
07-08-2017, 10:04 PM
The Postmark is dated Nov 24 1970.

Here's the house it was sent to:

https://goo.gl/maps/1Jt884gwWKS2

Dude111
07-09-2017, 07:37 PM
Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!