Early TV

Can you remember the first TV show that you watched as a child? For me, the first show was Kukla, Fran and Ollie.  Fran was a nice lady who interacted with the puppets Kukla and Ollie.  Here's a sample from YouTube:
   Kukla, Fran and Ollie

This month I wrote a column on Watching TV in the early years. I've had fun sharing my memories with my sister and other family members and hearing what they remember.

My cousin Stuart comments, "My memory of early television is that your Dad was the first in the family to have a set and that he built it from a Heath kit ... The screen was very small.  My brothers and I  came over at times to see some shows such as Roller Derby, Dagmar, ... etc. Our uncle, Walter Barton who lived in Salem, had a big TV very early on.  His wife was Grace Bill, sister of my Grandmother.  We always went to their house for Thanksgiving and would watch Football while waiting for the dinner to be served."

"It was well into the fifties before they had one at Pine Knoll.  I remember that they especially enjoyed Arthur Godfrey.  Also, they watched the McCarthy hearings and, as a result, changed their viewpoint about the alleged Communists in the Govt."

I too remember the McCarthy hearings. My mother was angry about that TV program, but kept watching it and we couldn't see our usual cowboy shows. So we, as kids, were rather annoyed by Mr McCarthy and his hearings, which we did not understand at the time.

TV Test Patterns

Remember TV test patterns?  In the early years of television, we often had to wait for a program to come on.  All we got was an unmoving test screen or test pattern while we waited and w-a-i-t-e-d...

You can see some examples by following these links:

New England Television stations
Television Test Patterns
That Pesky Television Test Pattern
Indian Head Test Card

I am writing this month about my early experiences with television. Maybe I ought to post a test pattern while you wait for my column to appear in the newspaper. (The severe snow storm on October 29 knocked out power in my entire neighborhood for 3 days and we didn't have Internet service for 5 days, so there has been a slight delay in my production.) While waiting, you can view this photo of the snow woman I created in our yard:

October 30, 2011
in Holyoke, MA

Size confusion

Recently I was shopping for casual slacks and tried on a variety of styles and sizes, starting with what I thought was my size, as usual. I have a strong habit of reaching for size 12 first. In this month's column (submitted to the Herald today), I tell why I identify with that size.

The pair of pants that fit me best was size 8. Huh? That's the second time in two months that size 8 has been the right fit. I thought the first time was a fluke, perhaps a mistake in labeling. Never before had I worn an 8. Occasionally I had bought a 9 or a 10, but usually regretted the resulting tightness and discomfort. Safer to stay in the 11-12 range, I had learned years ago. Sometimes for extra comfort I used to buy a 14 or a 16.  How could I possibly fit into an 8? What is going on? I haven't lost weight. If anything, I've gained a few pounds.

Women's clothing sizes have always been a bit of a mystery to me. I remember two different series:  odd-numbered sizes (e.g., 9, 11, 13) for Misses and even-numbered ones (8, 10, 12, 14) for Women. I had a vague idea that the difference was to accommodate differently proportioned bodies, but I wasn't sure which applied to me. Many stores fudged the difference by putting both numbers on the labels: 9/10, 11/12, 13/14. Or perhaps that was meant to be a 3rd series?  Of course there is also the common series of S-M-L XL, which works reasonably well for loosely-fitting (one size fits many) garments.

Men's clothing sizes --in real inches that can be measured-- make much more sense. Why can't women's sizes be given in inches?  That system would be more precise and consistent. It's the INCONSISTENCY of women's sizing that confuses and annoys me. The numbers seem to be shrinking.

My sister Jean, who is runs UpCycled Fashion, says, “there's now a trend to rename sizes smaller."  Some people call it "vanity sizing." Some in the fashion industry call is "size evolution."  See History of Women's Sizing part 1" (and pt. 2 and pt. 3). 

See my October column: Confusing sizes and body image.

Note:

While creating this blog entry, 
I experimented with a "new improved" format, 

then decided I preferred the original style. 

When I reverted, I noticed that the FONT SIZE had shifted to a smaller size. 

Sorry!   I've been trying to fix it, 

but the Blogger software seems to be as confused about size as I am!