TV Wonderland: The Enchantment of Early Television

Do you remember when your family got your first color television set? Do you remember fighting with those silly rabbit ears for hours trying to get a better picture? Do you remember watching Howdy Doody, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Bonanza, or The Twilight Zone? TV Wonderland: The Enchantment of Early Television takes the reader on a tour of remembrance of the early years of television from its conception through its various evolutions such as colour, bigger size, mobility, and cable television to how this invention transformed the average family. On every page, surrounding the text of this book, are the collections of hundreds of television advertisements showing the gradual changes in both television and in advertising. All of these aspects put together bring back long forgotten memories of a slower gentler time in our lives and in our communities.

Remember the episode of Seinfeld where Kramer wrote a coffee table book about coffee tables? Well this is a TV book about...TV's. Not TV shows or TV actors, but that glorious box from which we derive so much entertainment. Specifically this is about TV of the 50's and 60's and one of those retro, pop-culture books that Collector's Press does so well. Through this collection of vintage advertising and lively bits of trivia, we see the development of television throughout TV's golden age. We'll see as TV's develop from tiny 10" screens in mammoth, radio-type cabinets, to 21" color TVs in the 1960's. Along the way you'll revisit long forgotten brands such as Spartan, Capehart Farnsworth, Arvin, Air King, and Crosley. You'll chuckle at what passed for a portable TV with the large, box-like models from Philco and G.E. The ads tell the story of TVs advancement as they tout new antennas designed to give better reception in those pre-cable days and Westinghouse's new models for 1954 which were supposed to cut down on glare if watching in a dark room. In those days, the TV was as much a part of the décor as any other piece of furniture and manufacturers gave customers a wide selection of different wood cabinets to choose from like cherry and maple. Some even housed radios making the first entertainment centers. TVs came in a rainbow of colors in the 50's and 60's too, especially the portables coming in bright reds, light blues, and yellows. Tacky? You bet...a lot more fun than today's cookie-cutter models. And don't forget color pictures! TV Wonderland presents the very first color TVs such as the RCA Victor Color which started at a whopping $495.00, quite a sum back in the 1950's. The book is also sprinkled with interesting bits of trivia. As a testament to the popularity of westerns in the early days, during the 1958-1959 TV season seven of the top ten shows were westerns. This is a marvelous little book. Well written with hundreds of classic advertising that will make you yearn for the days of your black & white Zenith!