Reactions to old TVs

[Carmine]

Best is showing someone one of these old sets for the first time. When I lived in CT, my regular TV was a B&W Bendix console. The maintenance people, when they showed up to fix the perpetually broken a/c system, always did a double take when they saw the thing.

"Is that a REAL TV from the 50's?!?!?!?!?"

I thought this deserved it's own thread... What are some of the reactions you've had to your old sets?

Years ago I had a young lady (born in 1982) in my bedroom as a guest, When we got into bed, she noticed my "eyeball" Zenith B&W set, and said "What is THAT?" I laughed and turned it on, after it warmed-up, she excalimed "OMG, that's a BLACK AND WHITE TV!" I said, "Come on, you've seen B&W TV before." to which she replied, "Yes, but never on an actual B&W TV."

For a while, I was using a 23" 1966 Rectangular Zenith color set that Doug gave me as a daily-watcher (before I had re-modeled the living room). I had a few friends from work over, and they just fell out laughing! One of the funniest guys said I was starting my own religion... H.A.A (Half-Ass-Amish) This probably had something to do with my lack of Cable TV, DVD player, and because my 200K 1993 5th Ave is the oldest car in the plant parking lot! The theory goes, you can have a TV, but it's got to be old. You can have a cell phone, but no color display, and so on. (I did finally get a DVD player)

Later, I moved the set over to a house I'm selling because I thought it looked cool in the knotty-pine basement.

http://eastsidehomes.5u.com/photo4.html

Many people have come through the house with kids, and some of them do not even recognize this large, wooden object as a TV! When their parents answer thier question "What's that?" The reply has often been "That's ugly" , or "That's stupid". (I'm not kidding. Most modern kids lead such sheltered lives that the presence of something even slightly out of the norm, like a wood cabinet or knobs, causes them to loose all perspective. These are generally the bratty, ill-mannered kids that have to be reminded NOT to kick walls, etc. There have been a SMALL number of well-behaved kids who do realize it's a TV. Their reaction is generally positive and curious. I even let those kids turn it on. No doubt these are the kids with a bit more IQ and better parents.)

Unfortunately, my house isn't big enough to have rarely used rooms (like a formal living room) but when I eventually get a larger home, I plan to set-up a big ol' roundie for occasional watching and to generally "F" with people.