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Televisions

TV sets in the early 60's were hellishly expensive; my dad paid £98.00 of a black and white TV set around 1962, it would only receive two channels, ITV and BBC. BBC 2 was launched not too long afterwards, but the TV set would not display it. apparently it was a 405 lines set, where BBC 2 was transmitted on 625 lines.
 
I think when colour television hit the UK most of them were rented because the cost was too much for the ordinary working man at around £300 for the smaller sets (£4.617) at todays prices.
 
We rented TV's from Top Rank, Radio Rentals, Gibbs, I remember putting 50p's in one when we had a holiday flat. My late parents TV was rented as was mine, theirs went back maybe to Currys 9 or 10 years ago, mine went back too. It was a 12 or 14 inch. I used to lie on the floor and changed the programmed with my toe. Nan had a portable aerial, A black napolean clock shaoed plastic box with 2 antennae. She got her 2nd husband to hold it and move round the room when the picture went stripey. I used to tell it was still stripey when it wasn't as I neer liked him. We had a Murphy a Bush and a Phillips. I remember too The Potter' wheel, the kittens, and a man with 2 horses driving a threshing machine.
 
About 4 years ago I bought a cheap TV for the kitchen and it worked perfectly until I recently noticed the standby light had started flickering when it was on but it still worked ok. However, on several occasions recently, it suddenly stopped with with a striped green screen and the most frightful noise which could only be stopped by pulling the mains plug out. I had a look round the back but no controls to fiddle with so I tried a problem solving method my dad used in the 1950s with our first 9" Pye set.
I thumped it with my fist - it has worked perfectly ever since - it's amazing the useful tricks you learnt off your dad ....:encouragement:
 
Slide 2.jpg

Here is a photo of our television taken early in the 70's. We never got to see much television, mostly we had a view of dad's backside when he kept adjusting that aerial on the top! It must of been taken around Easter time, there is a couple of Easter eggs on the top, not much chance of them melting though, the tele was not that reliable. In those days the television was only switch on to see a particular programme and then switched off again when the show finished. I also remember my mom shouting at my dad for burning a hole in the television page of the newspaper when he used it to draw the coal fire in the grate, his reply was always "it don't matter there is nothing on worth watching anyway."
 
I am sure I have some photo's of our old TV's over the years. Will sort them out. Lovely photo Dave.:strawberry:
 
crikey dave that photo of your old tv takes me right back..

thanks for posting it...

lyn
 
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