The Irony is that the quality of information transmitted by TV has been declining for some time. That in turn causes the discerning viewer to seek internet channels like The History Guy.
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TV isn't the only game in town anymore. At least 90% is unwatchable hot garbage. Of course , the internet is full of idiocy also...
@@roberthurley3941, point of clarification: the average public library. Academic, research, and special libraries still overwhelmingly carry nonfiction over fiction with one exception: Libraries dedicated to fiction writers, as you might expect, have a large section of the writers' work. But they also carry research material about the writer timself and tis life.
Agreed. I just discovered it yesterday. Excellent presenter, good topics, and it is made for our modern limited attention span! I've started spreading the word.
History Guy, I’ve been a Television engineer for over 40 years and my mentors were some of the earlier post-WWII pioneers. It’s a topic with a rich and complicated history. You nailed it my friend. Your chronology was spot-on and you also included multiple threads beyond terrestrial TV into cable, satellite and internet TV services. Nice job.
In 1980 my father sent me to town to buy a new television to replace our old black and white that finally died. I came back with a new color set and he threw a fit about me wasting money on color when black and white was good enough. I listened to his rant and when he stopped I told him They had quit selling black and white sets because everyone wanted color. He shook his head and said, "This country is going to Hell!". There you have it History Guy, the moment the country started down the road to perdition as predicted by my father.
Oh boy but I could just about hear that conversation word for word in my head! I bet lots of us heard a similar conversation like that sometime or another.
Fathersnsaid that when the popular dance of the day was the "Turkey trot". And don't forget ELVIS!! We had a BW tv until 1961 or so. The old color sets had a real hard time producing a decent grass green color. You had to adjust to color guns, the red and the green, to get yellow and that would send the green gun nuts trying to give a decent green. It always looked like mud because the brightness had to be adjusted also. What a mess. And don't forget that the crt had a flat-ish screen so the rays had to be bent to allow them to hit the right dot. That was the convergence and depending on the brand of tv, the convergence could be a headache!
We had B&W sets up until the mid 70s, when Dad brought home a 19" Philco-Ford color set, a used one apparently bought cheap from a motel. The green gun was essentially shot, so everything that wasn't red, blue or magenta looked very odd. I remember visiting the neighbors and they had a Trinitron. They were watching football. My jaw hit the floor when I saw the field was green!
@thomas fraley I get information overload at times with 3 monitors and HSP internet...THG is one of the best factual and entertaining at the same time, lots of morsels not necessarily seen in the school textbooks.....
I used to be a TV repairman, when I first started fixing TVs they were still using tubes and about half of them were using transistors, I am amazed by how much they have changed
"I likes to work with nobody around. No silly questions like, uh, ‘What are all the tubes for?’ As if anyone *knows."* -Huckleberry Hound, "Two For Tee Vee" (1962)
Like Sir I can remember when stations shutdown their broadcasts at 12am with a picture of our flag and the playing of our national anthem. Have times changed! Great lesson History Guy!
david vogel - sometimes we just need to decompress! But I always felt bad for my mom when she would get home late from working and she needed to unwind. She would quietly read and slowly drift off to sleep on our couch. Maybe that was for the better.
I remember in 80's we still had local TV stations shut down near midnight. They was nothing on TV until 6 am if lucky . And God bless if President was on TV across All channels was his ugly face no matter what.
Oh, I sure do remember those days! I was a child in those days. To me, when the TV went off the air, it was like the end of the world! Now TV is broadcast 24/7
The History Guy is discussing factual, verified history, and releasing his content for free via TH-cam. The paid cable counterpart of The History Channel is creating content about ancient aliens and conspiracy theories. No wonder why more people are getting becoming cable cutters and getting their content from History Guy/Veritasium/other quality TH-cam channels. Great stuff HG... keep up the good work!
:D ... Yeah ....... Even the weirdo conspiracy stuff has better (much less BS) equivalents on youtube (Dark Docs)... Another superb totally legit history channel is World War 2 in real time (/Timeghost). They're producing superb content... I think it's much better than what the History Channel produced even back when HC were producing war documentaries based on actual history :D
@@ianfarr-wharton1000 He designed a mechanical 'telephany' video transmitter and receiver system, but it was never built as it relied on wires for transmission because the radio had not arrived. A brilliant Australian.
@@normanmazlin6741 It did work, He filmed the Melbourne cup, he also invented the light bulb. If you look into his work, he rewrites history.. he is the inventor every one forgets.
@@normanmazlin6741Arguably his most famous invention, the telephane, was used to transmit an image from the Melbourne Cup along telegraph wires to Ballarat in 1885.. www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-04/why-have-we-forgotten-australias-edison/10567060
Here is for all the dumb as dog shit people. :- Arguably his most famous invention, the telephane, was used to transmit an image from the Melbourne Cup along telegraph wires to Ballarat in 1885.. www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-04/why-have-we-forgotten-australias-edison/10567060
What I miss the most about modern TV, is that back in the old 1960 days, the networks were like our good friends and we went to visit them. Our family would say, "What's on NBC tonight?"" and we would all sit down together and watch whatever the program, and no matter what it was, we were always interested and entertained and we never felt dull or bored or like we'd rather be watching something else. Today, when you can watch anything you want, you feel like most everything on TV is dull and boring
@@SamPanamaOfficialIt did work, He filmed the Melbourne cup, he also invented the light bulb. If you look into his work, he rewrites history.. he is the inventor every one forgets.
@@ianfarr-wharton1000 Sutton NEVER demonstrated his idea for mechanically sending images. Sutton did develop the use of galena crystals to detect radio waves which was a great step forward for early radio.
Me again? Why don't you send ..... (insert the name of a younger sibling ). Hahaha.... The same story all over the world up until the invention of the remote control!
@@georget8008 That or else whoever was in the doghouse. Another residing factor was some good or not so good competition factor. Other times, maybe a threat of change it or else!
I enjoyed this content reminiscing of an old portable black and white AM/FM/UHF - weather band TV that over the years required balled up aluminum foil to aid in its reception but in todays age; I don't even own a TV. Being able to build my own PC and watch what I'm interested in over the internet suits this 56 year old man just fine. Thank you for your contributions so even my 27 year old son might understand that back in the day we had to get up and cross the room to change channels of which there were only four to choose from...
@@Bulgeofpersuasion I would rather know the history behind milk and sugar. Also I like coffee and history. The Bible Project has lots of history to learn on their channel too
Being born in 1984. I remember this “older times” well. I even had a family console tv with just locals, then C Band, then finally cable. I had to go to a relatives house to see channels I didn’t get at home. I never even saw Cartoon Network til 1998. I grew up on afternoon Wonder Years, Saturday morning cartoons, and PBS for everything else. Explains my love for This Old House. This channel by the way is amazing. Watching videos of yours sir is like sitting next to a warm fire on a winters night. Or A/C on a very hot day. lol
If studying history in high school had been as entertaining as it is watching The History Guy, I would have enjoyed high school so much more. Doesn't matter what the subject is, you make it fun, thoroughly enjoyable. At that point, learning becomes easy.
Thats true! My family in general loves history, but my elementary school history teacher really secured my love for the subject. I passed that love along to my daughter, whom upon 8th grade graduation, was given a newly created award from the history teacher for her advanced understanding and passion, (and she went to a private school so awards did not come easily!).
Schools seem compelled to leave the "fun juice" out of most books and lessons, though good teachers can add some back in. But THG is free to go his own way. Thankfully so much of what I disliked in school is enjoyable with the spices of interesting tastes. .
@@markmarkofkane8167 I stumbled across the "Half As Interesting" channel. Let's just say, that channels name is a stretch. Too much goofy content and not enough history. (They could cut their videos in half and they'd still be too long for what they include). THG is interesting and informative without being silly, and he makes me want to learn more. And, I'm in my mid-50s and never thought I'd find history so fun.
I watch about 2 hours of broadcast TV every day, one hour of which are old MASH reruns. I'm embarrassed to tell you how much time I spend watching The History Guy every day!
I just got a pop up from a website that I subscribe to. The headline says "Is Your Smart TV Spying On You?" Remember when tv sets were just "stupid" rather than "smart"?"
Del Evans think about why Napoleon didn’t take over the world....he tried to fight a land war in Russia and wasn’t prepared for the intense cold and couldn’t get supplies like he needed. He lost over 300,000 Troops and had to retreat. So, why did hitler lose world war 2 over a 130 years later ? History repeats itself if you don’t learn from it. That’s how we know
As Mr. Rogers was to children's television, so you are to TH-cam- you make content worth watching and help to legitimize what might otherwise be a wasteland of cat videos, epic fails, and "hold my beer" moments of stupidity.
Yet another valuable and interesting episode. Viewing this on my solid-state flat screen computer monitor, I was reminded of my first encounter with television. It was 1958, so I was age 9 or 10, and it was in Canada. One day in the coming week my father was going to be interviewed on a Toronto TV station, so the family rented a set for a week so we could watch at the proper time. (Everything was "live" in those days.) The screen was round, probably about 10 inches (254 mm) in diameter, and everything was in shades of GREEN. (Years later I became very familiar with that particular shade of green because of a long career in electronics, using and maintaining instruments such as oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers. That made me realize that the old round TV receiver probably used a single green phosphor on the screen, just like the electronic instruments.)
For me, history become much more interesting in video form, especially History Guy-style. I can look at relevant photos while listening to history. And on the History Guy TH-cam channel the history is rationed out in just the right size portions.
It’s not just the history but the way you present it that makes this such an amazing channel. Thank you for sharing your love with us and helping me like learning history.
The earliest I remember was a few channels and bunny ears. The remote consisted of my father telling me to get up and change the channel, and when the knob broke, we used a pair of pliers. Does anyone remember when stations used to sign off each day for a few hours?
When, some decade or two from now, we look back and judge the "screen time" bloat of today, I believe that time spent with The History Guy will deserve to be remembered as time spent well. Thank you!
I remember my brother and I being so excited one Christmas, our parents bought each of us our own 12” black and white tv’s for our bedroom. I still think that was the best thing I have ever gotten as a gift. It was a Montgomery Wards Airline brand and I watched every episode of Gilligan’s Island and F troop on it as well as every western they broadcast.
Aren’t good parents wonderful? Byron’s parents gave their loved kids color TV’s that I’m sure was a struggle to afford. My parents bought our family of four kids Pong the first Christmas it came out, for the astronomical fee of $125! It was wonderful and we were the hit of the neighborhood, we had more friends that winter then we ever wanted!
Early on in 1948 I remember one family having a commercial sold magnifying glass in the front of a TV and also does anyone remember Hotpoint TV's with a light area around the TV to make the picture look larger?
One thing we lost with the internet was the fun of anticipating the Sunday night TV shows when the family would gather together sometimes with food and drinks. miss that so much. We would be out playing or trying to finish our homework which we should have done friday afternoon when Mom would call us to say our show was on.
When my TV broke I would take the tubes to the 7-Eleven store to test them. K-mart sold the tubes cheaper. Does anyone remember having to SMACK the TV when it went wonky?
I miss just hitting things to make them work better. Those crazy baby boomers & their shell shocked parents, the g generation used the same solution for everything; just smack it till it does what you want. There is a certain “elegance” to that simplistic thinking.
I've had an antenna on the roof for many years now, but do remember the days when I was thee antenna(with tin-foil in hand). Back in the day I was the remote too. I can still hear the clunk of the channel changer.....lol Love the History Channel because it helps me remember.
Yep, I remember being my dad's remote control! I didn't have to go on the roof, but I did have to adjust the rabbit ears. After 5 minutes of messing with it you'd hear, "Right there! Perfect! Don't move!" LOL.
I am old enough to remember the day I first heard of television I was about 4 yrs old...there was only one channel and it didn't come on air til three o'clock pm..my neighbors had bought a new TV...and I can also say that the inventor of TV is my dad's cousin.. Mr Farnsworth...but that's dating me bad enough I guess...I love your channel and hope to see a lot more of your smiling face
About twenty- five years ago, one of my favorite programs was Connections with James Burke. I loved it because of the connections of History and Science tied together. If the History Guy had been a program back then, I'd of loved it too. You do a fantastic job making history interesting. One of the very best things on the internet!
Interesting history. I tossed my widescreen TV when it broke down ten years ago. I didn't replace it and I've been without a TV for all that time. Don't miss it at all.
Another story: over the past 10 years or so, I have accumulated three flat screen T.V.s. My Mom gave me one when she downsized, my nephew gave me one when he bought a new one, and a neighbor gave me one that he said "took-up too much room". All three work perfectly - the only issue - I already had a perfectly good T.V. that was in this house when I moved in. It must be from the early 2000's and works very well. I cancelled my cable about three years ago and don't miss it either. It is still hooked-up to my VCR and DVD players so I can watch my nearly 1200 titles on tape and disks anytime.
I tossed my TV can't remember how many years ago..at least 10, or more. I got sick of paying for cable, satellite, etc and WATCHING ADS. I was watching a Steelers football game and timed the amount of time for the game, vs the amount of time spent on ads. It was like two minutes of game vs five of ads...constantly. Got up, called the company and CANCELLED IMMEDIATELY. So sick of paying to watch ads! I too never regretted it.
I actually had a tv in my bedroom in the 80's, but it was an old black and white tv. Not sure how old it was, but amazing that tv's could last so long back in those days.
@@JimmyMon666 I had the exact same setup. We had a big color set in the living room, and I had an old black and white hand-me-down in my bedroom. I used to watch Star Trek on it 5 nights a week just after dinner.
I finally packed my TV away about 3 months ago, everything I watch now is via my computer. And yer, I'm old enough to remember a time that if you didn't get home in time for your favourite program... you completely missed it, no rewind, no on-demand, no way, no how! 😱 Though they would probably repeat it in a few months time, so that's ok... 😁
Enjoyed this history. As an 8 year old boy in 1955 Amsterdam, we had Saturday and Wednesday afternoon off from school. I can clearly remember going to the house of a rich school friend whose dad ran a shoe store. We,were all invited to watch cartoons..it was magic at the time!
So you had school on Sundays too? I know when we lived in Germany for a year they had school on Saturdays, but only mornings, not a full day. Sunday was off. But if you were in grade school, you didn't have Saturday morning school like when you went to the Gymnasium. Back in the U.S. we had both Saturdays and Sundays off, and summer break was three months long.
I remember taking a bus ride with my dad in 1963 to buy our first TV. It was a big day in our house. He went all out and got the rabbit ears tv top antenna to. I think it was a 14" B&W. The first big thing I remember watching was a Mercury space launch. Romper room was one of the first kids shows I ever saw. When that lady said my name looking through the magic looking Glass, I lost my mind. Later that year I watched the funeral procession of JFK on that TV. When people ask,"where were you when that happened, I remember that TV, the bus ride to get it and my dad.
I was the remote control for my dad growing up as he would just yell, “Hey Kevin, come change the channel,” I also remember the TV repair guy coming by to fix the set with his bag if vacuum tubes while my dad grumbled about how much it was going to cost.
My mom taking the tubes out and going to the corner drug store to check them on their tube tester. The tester was free to use and the new tubes were beneath the tester to buy. Made it much cheaper and easy to fix.
My uncle was a ham radio operator. He provided us with our first TV around 1956 or so. We received three stations, the towers for which we could see from our house. The TV (B&W, of course) would work well for a couple of weeks after he visited, then gradually get worse and quit altogether after a few months. My uncle would visit, check the various tubes and usually find one that was dead (no glow) or "seemed weak" to him, open the trunk of his car to see what he had. Often he didn't have the same tube, but would think for a few moments and decide that "this one would probably work" and try it in place of the offending tube. Usually he was correct. The TV would work again, and the cycle would repeat. What amazed me most was how long and reliably the CRT worked. That one never gave out. My parents finally bought a new TV in the seventies, and it worked fine.
@@cliftondean4333 My late maternal grandfather was the same way. He got his ham license in the 1920s and worked for the military Evans Signal Lab until retirement as a GS-14. He was self-taught but had a "feel for things" that defies description, always brought his tool box with him when he visited and could fix anything, electronic or otherwise. He was a true man of the world, collected coins and stamps and was well-read on almost any subject. He died in 1974 and I will miss him forever.
Can remember my buddys father who repaired TV'S said that the Philadelphia area was a hot bed for development of TV. Philco had a large plant in philly and across the river in Camden NJ think it was RCA that had a large plant. I still have a tube radio in the garage and built a tube & transister tester from Healtkit back in the 1970's. Its a shame young kids never picked up a soldering iron to build something. 48 years ago I can remembering saving up to purchase a 25" when it went on sale for $500. 2 weeks pay. Was told back then that there would never be a TV larger then 25" due to CRT limitations. Was true for at least 25 years. I got a Sony 32 or 35" Triniton TV that weighed 168 #'s. Now a 55" LED only weigh about 35#'s .
I just shared your channel a few hours ago to my friends on Facebook. The whole channel is amazing, your content is better than so many channels, even other history based channels. Always looking forward to your releases!
One of the key reasons youve gotten 6 mil in view hours is your ability to present to an unseen audience information in a manner which makes each individual feel that your are speaking directly to them. This is a talent very far underestimated and under appreciated in todays fast pace technology driven "3 minutes of attention" world. So salute yourself sir for doing on bang on job of presenting us your knowledge of the world we live in.
Remember my dad taking the back off of the B & W 21” TV, removing all the tubes, carting them to a Pep Boys where he could use a tube tester, the errant tube was replaced, all put back together and viola! TV again. It seemed like it was an all too common problem. Ever try to open an i-Phone? LOL
my last job was repairs and programming ptt radios. haven't opened one since! so complicated not sure i could repair one now. can latest ones be programmed by laptops?
When were are told someone invented this or that what we are often actually saying is someone took existing ideas and found a new way of using them. Back in 1978 the was a BBC television series, appropriately, called Connections, created, written, and presented by science historian James Burke. The shows demonstrated how various discoveries, scientific achievements, and historical world events were built from one another successively and this interconnectivity brought about modern technology. The BBC was producing television programmes before WW2 and when war was declared on 3rd September 1939 they were broadcasting of a Disney cartoon. The cartoon was halted part way through and when broadcasting was resumed after the war ended the rest of the cartoon was shown. No mention of a caption card saying 'Sorry for the delay but there were technical difficulties what with the war and everything.' I forgot to mention we had cable locally from a company called Rediffusion which began broadcasting 22 September 1955. As well as renting out the cable they also ran a rental chain for TVs and radios and later VCRs and hi-fi systems. They were bought out in 1984. Just last week as I walked down the street I came across a small manhole cover which said Rediffusion on it.
I remember James Burke. He was a bit of a legend in his time. I had forgotten that a lot of people rented TVs. They were branded with the company name, Granada or whatever, just to let your friends and relatives know you couldn't afford to buy one 😯
@@caw25sha I knew someone with a pay as you go rental where it went off if you didn't put 50p pieces in the top. This was in the 80's obviously when everything was 50p, gas, electricity, etc. If you ran out of 50p pieces you were shit out of luck - you could have ten grand in the bank but you would still be eating a cold supper if someone didn't go to a neighbour's house and ask for change.
When my great-grandfather passed away in the 1950's, my grandmother inherited his tv. My Mom remembers being only apartment in her neighborhood to have two tv sets in their home - a rarity for the late 1950's.
This is a challenging topic to fit into your short video time limit. Intercarrier sound was actually developed during WWII. The 2 biggest things that prevented Television from becoming established in the US Pre-WWII were lack of standardization and lack of permission for commercial broadcasting. Television stations prior to the FCC creating the NTSC standard (which solved both issues) could only opperate in the capacity of an Amatuer/Ham radio station experimenting with the technology, but not broadcasting commercials or opperating in a capacity in which the station could earn revenue from it's service. One of the first major public demonstrations of electronic television in the USA was the 1939 Worlds Fair...At that point RCA had an 411 line AM video AM sound TV system, Philco had an 800 line system and other companies (like Zenith and Dumont) experimenting with TV pre-war had other systems. The line count, frame rate, sync signals (to time start of line and frame), use of interlacing, and RF modulation had to all be the same or close between transmitter and reciever for things to work. The FCC was slow and reluctant to adopt a standard believing the technology was not yet mature. RCA believed it to be mature after the World's Fair demo and started selling its 411 line sets to the public which provoked the FCC into working with industry to create the NTSC standard. The NTSC standard and the commercial broadcasting it allowed did not commence until June of 1941, and the NTSC standard did not conform to any manufactuer's existing experimental systems requiring new engineering for compatibility...Electronics then had a similar model year release and development cycle to cars and Pearl Harbor happened while our electronic industry wa sgearing up for TV. Had WWII taken another year or 2 to start or the NTCS standard been created earlier, then pre-war electronic TV would have been atleast as popular in the US as in Brittan where it had been standardized and and made a service of the BBC in the mid-30's. TV if standardized for commercial broadcast would have taken off even in depression era America. In the opening years of the depression radio was one of the only growing industries in America. Yes many of the small brands especially ones with finances tied to the stock market died at the beginning of the depression, but the companies that remained flourished. A family with little disposible income could save money and get unending news entertainment by cutting off spending on newspapers, movies, phonograph records, etc and instead purchasing a radio. The history of color television development in the US especially at the technological and market level I could write a book on...At the global level there were interesting geopolitical and technological stories behind the later PAL and SECAM systems and bizzare cross polination between the european and US monochrome and color standards.
As always, fascinating information! My biggest and most significant memory about television happened when I was twelve years old. We were basically poor and while most of my school friends families' had color television since about 1963, we didn't. I remember being fascinated when I first saw color television for a few minutes at a relative's home, and now and then by those running in appliance stores. Shortly before Christmas 1969 my Mother called about an ad in our local newspaper for a used color television. She asked if I would go with her to take a look at it and I couldn't say yes fast enough. It was one of the rare times my Mom drove our car and just after dark too, so this was a big deal. I was excited about the possibility of us having a color television, but I never expected my Mom would actually buy one because they were so expensive. We arrived at the seller's home and the television for sale was on at a low volume when we walked in. It was playing the educational channel on UHF band, the forerunner to public television. A lady about my Mom's age showed us how it worked. I remember my Mom got the price down as best she could and then being shocked that Mom actually bought it. For a lot of money, $160. It was a seven year old RCA that had rounded screen sides. I recall RCA had some reason for making the sides of the screen rounded but I don't recall why after all these years. It was a long wait for my Dad to return a few days or so later with the help of my uncle to bring it home. It had a beautiful mahogany cabinet that I'm sure was weighty. I remember the excitement my family had when we turned it on the first time, and waiting with great anticipation of what it would be like as the screen stayed black while the tubes warmed up. When the picture finally appeared it was glorious! I recall the wonderful warmth and richness of the picture, and seeing what colors things were in the shows that I was familiar with. I was amazed by it, and so happy that we really had a color television. And that after watching black and white television my entire life, I now knew what the NBC Peacock looked like in color. I recall being completely impressed for at least two years and it took me a long time to reach the point that color television felt ordinary. Amazingly that television lasted about five or six years for a total of about twelve to thirteen years old, so my Mom did good. I don't think that the picture of any televisions I've had throughout my years has ever been as good as that 1962 RCA and its rounded screen sides. Thanks for bringing back that memory, History Guy!
Neat story! That's back when console TV sets had personality--they were considered as furniture, and the wood gave a feeling of warmth and quality. The small numbers of channels meant what was broadcast was good viewing. Growing up, we had only VHF on our B&W "RCA Victor" set, and of the channels from 2 through 13, only seven of them came in. Nowadays TVs are lumbering, black flat monstrosities mounted on the wall like an impersonal eye staring at you. And with literally a thousand channels to choose from, there is almost nothing worth watching.
@@jpsned In addition, the wood cabinets provided wonderful warm sound. Now TVs require a sound bar or a surround sound system that are usually too boom-ie.
@@discerningmind Our TV had a plastic casing. I can imagine how nice a wood cabinet must have been, not only to look at but to hear! Yup, things are very different now. Oh, and one other not so insignificant change--back then, TV was free!
The reasons picture tubes were round in the early days was because the tubes are under extreme pressure...the more a device is rounded, the less stress on the tube. So they had to design the tubes as round to accommodate the pressure. As time went on technology allowed the tubes to square off some but the pressure was still intense. By the time we got to flat screen tube TV's the pressure was at an extreme, but again advanced technology in tube technology allowed for this.
When I was a kid, we had two stations that we could get with any regularity. WHBF-TV in Rock Island, Illinois and WOC-TV in Davenport, Iowa. WHBF was the first Illinois TV station outside of Chicago. And WOC was the first tv station west of the Mississippi River.
I rotated my antenna to get Richmond, VA on a foggy night. I could also get Petersburg in I went a little more south. Aim up north to get Charlottesville. Doing this, I could get around 7 channels with 2 being UHF.
Don't forget about the 4th channel which was "Public Broacast Station" which was only aired a about 8 hours a day! I remember having to turn the antenna to get a clearer picture and antennaes were on every home!
I'm also twisting the antennae these days. Got so tired of the big companies jacking up the price for shows I never watched, not to mention the pure stupidity of most series on the air. Cancelled everything, and now I watch the same old channels, including PBS, and head for You Tube for better world coverage and interesting people.
@@FiferSkipper - My Dad was a WWII Marine and had a very unique way of saying "PLEASE". (It loosely translated to - Get up off your penguin butt and change the G.D. channel or I will whoop your ass good.) I think he learned it from a Drill Instructor. Oh, I had forgotten about the "machine-gun sound". Had a lot of fun with that.
I love to watch historical documentaries. Ever since Discovery, TLC, and History channel went full reality TV shows, I stop watching TV. I appreciate channels like yours to watch historical documentaries.
0:32 as my grandfather once said: "Back in my day we had two channels ON and OFF" Jokes aside my great uncle had two broken TVs he used. He got them from the landfill. He had one stacked upon the other. One provided the sound and the other one gave him the black and white picture.
When our cable company scrambled some channels, I discovered the sound was at one end of the fine tuning while the picture was at the other. Simple, use a little portable set for the sound, adjust the main set for the least bad picture! Free pay channel!
@@luislaplume8261 I remember that if i got it right enough, the picture was good enough to watch, but was drifting from color to B/W. But hey, I got to watch free HBO!
I hadnt expected to actually enjoy your show and continue watching it so often, you don't have the cheesy fake persona that feels forced like many channels and your doing a good job.
We had only two channels until I was 8 or 9. Receiving TV signals back then was an art form. I kinda miss the rigid schedules that shows used to adhere to. Some shows you watched when you could. Other shows you planned your day or week around. But I am glad to have control over my TV. I hope more folks get to watch the History Guy. He's producing good stuff. Quality stories. This would've been a perfect Sunday afternoon TV show back in the day.
I remember when my parents got their first television about 1956. They were able to try it out for a few days before the sale was finalized. The dealer brought a large portable antenna and set it up in the yard. We had to have an antenna installed on the house and it was quite a big deal to have it in our own home.
When I was a kid in the '70's, out TV was a huge piece of furniture with real walnut trim and a remote with actual mechanical buttons that physically made the channel knob turn with this heavy clunk-clunk-clunk noise. If I watched TV after my parents went to bed, I couldn't use the remote lol. Now, I watch everything on a laptop the size of one of those business-size padded shipping envelopes, and everything I watch is on a streaming service or here on YT.
Yeah i still remember my family's TV when i was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s. It was literally a fancy piece of wooden furniture with a TV built into the middle and no remote. That thing had to weigh a ton. I remember most families had something similar and when they got a new TV they just set it on top of the old one lol!
They had a remote control in the 50s that was essentially a flashlight with a momentary switch that was pointed towards one of the corners of the screen depending on what you wanted it to do. I have wanted a working version for years.
No remote but I remember turning the channel knob quietly late at night or early Saturday morning instead of fast, that machine gun jundt jundt jundt sound to go half way around from 6 to 13!
Great video. As an electrical engineer I love seeing this and it makes me happy that you have brought a better technical understanding to an audience consisting mostly of non-engineers. I do feel you should have added a paragraph about the future of television and mention the current transition over to ATSC 3.0.
I remember when we got our first color TV.... after having tiny B&W sets. A huge wooden console thing with giant speakers. Then we got a little color set for a bedroom, we thought tech had hit the wall and never could get better.
I remember in the mid sixties when my uncle got a color console TV, half the neighborhood was packed in the living room to see Bonanza in color! OOOOOOOOH!
@@znentitan4032 Bonanza was the first program I remember in color and Disney after that. Dad bought the set around '61. I think we almost starved while he was paying for it. We had neighbors come over too.
As a child I had 4 channels available to watch - ABC, CBS, NBC, and independent WGN here in Chicago. WGN was owned by the Chicago Tribune newspaper. We lived in an apartment building and had a roof antenna hooked to the TV set. Like you I am amazed at all the changes that have happened. That TV shown at 8:20 could pass for the one I watched TV on if only it was a blond cabinet Sentinal TV made in Evanston, Illinois and sold by Marshall Field, sitting on that wrought iron stand BTW I celebrated my 75th birthday last month.
We had the first Cablevision on our block in Iowa 1979, and WGN was one of the offerings. They showed legendary shows like the our gang shorts and the original flash gordon. Great stuff.
I was expecting to hear in the conclusion “And that’s history that deserves to be remembered.” It left the presentation unresolved so I thought I’d help by writing it.
The History Guy, regarding your introduction, congratulations. But perhaps more importantly, it is us, your viewers, who should be thanking you, not the other way around. Thank you and I look forward to seeing more of your exceptional history lessons.
As a recent subscriber I greatly enjoy each episode of The History Guy. While watching this episode the comment about only having 3 channels reminded of my youth where our evening entertainment was not the watching of TV, but the constant attempts of rotating the outside antenna to the right position to be able to watch a show. My 3 older brothers were responsible for the manual turning of the antenna. My dad would be setting in the recliner and 1 brother was at the front door, second brother at the corner of the house, and the 3rd brother stood at the antenna with a pipe wrench. By the time my dad would say stop and the last brother at the antenna heard stop, the reception was distorted and the scenario would start over again. I don’t think we completely watched a full episode of any show for quite some time.
I can remember the excitement in my family when we actually brought home our first TV. Yep; black and white on a glorious 15” screen. I also remember going to neighbors house to watch Alan Shepard’s 61’ trip into space in color. Hate to say it but I got a 60” Plasma TV with 200 channels sitting fallow with nothing of value being broadcast today. My TV’s highest function today is reserved for my Xbox game play. Pew Pew.
my grandpa was a repair man.mit grad in the 30's.he always fixed our huge tube style tv.that tv still worked when i threw it away in2006.ty for the video explaning how they worked.
In the California Central Valley, we needed a fifty foot flagpole for our antennas ... in communities of a few thousands, it looked like a porcupine at a distance ...
When we moved to the current house in the late 1960's, I noticed two things about broadcast TV reception: 1. The house lies under an aircraft flyway, which guarantees an "airplane flutter" TV picture 24/7. 2. Surrounded by tall trees, analog TV signals were weak or ghost signals. Later on, the TV also became a "VW iron core ignition" detector, which produced colored snow. When an Oceanic Cable TV salesman showed up in the 1970's , we signed on and all of those problems vanished overnight. When digital TV replaced analog TV, NONE of the broadcast TV channels could be picked up via antenna. Oh well, that's progress.
Karla Kirkpatrick , nope. It was to adjust from one CBS affiliate (based in the middle of Iowa) to the one based out of La Crosse WI. I think it was so my folks wouldn’t miss any of Dallas or Falcon Crest.
@@Otokichi786 Thanks for mentioning the interference from some automobiles. We could tell if certain neighbors were driving by just because some vehicles had their own particular type of interference.
I can remember when our family had no TV. I did not miss it. For a while we listened to a radio and being out of doors instead of sitting in front of a TV certainly never heart my health.
There are a couple of "modern" devices and conveniences that have theoretically existed for decades that today are based on almost an entirely different technology. In the case of the telephone, it essentially is an entirely different technology when compared to the desk and/or wall phone of yesteryear. The TV is very similar in its technological evolution.
If you look back 100 years or even 50 or 60, and examine the technological advances that were predicted for the year 2019, most of them never came to pass. We do not live on Mars. We do not drive personal automobiles that hover and travel 300 MPH. But if you look at the typical smartphone, the capabilities of that device far exceeds the person communicator seen on Star Trek.
The Brilliance of Martin Teboski: You are so right and they have both now, dumbed down America. Which I would have never dreamed of happening 60 years ago.
Loved the 8-track history! I bought my first 4-track in 1966 followed by an 8-track a few years afterwards. I loved the format, I installed it in my 1957 Chevy. I eventually moved to the cassette technology and sold my 8-track collection, but always looked back on those days fondly. Watching your presentation brought back many great memories! Thanks.
With that said; by the "History Guy," the "History Guy" will be forever a part of history. A part of history that deserves to be remembered. Quality will always trump quantity.
@@getredytagetredy Be it story telling with a fable like quality, a factual historic event, or even a tool to manipulate people, humans will always enjoy the consumption of information and will wonder about the past and the future. People will be the judge of the information they consume. Again, be it factual information in its entirety, be it a fire side story of a Sasquatch quality, or even a snippet of an actual event in the "History Guy's" opinion; the fact is people love stories true or false / real or fake. Fake or real; history has shown that those in power and powers to be have always underestimated the abilities of the people they wish to manipulate. Never underestimate or assume people (a person) as stupid, or your sheep. Try as "they;" (Gov., CEO's. Kings, Queens, Gang Leaders, Your Boss and even your Spouse) or anyone for that matter, to control another and he / she / they may find they are the one controlled. Give to them what they think they take, only to be turning the round table back on to "them." Never squeeze the soap for it will pop out of your hands. Collect seemingly harmless snippets of factual pieces of the puzzle and it will complete itself and offer up a story told to you, this is the story of history. This is the joy. If it repeats in different sources it may just be true. If you are unable to allow an open mind to multiple resources you are then a prisoner of your own way of thinking ... hence, your own sheep. Are you watching yourself on your home made movies? All that said; I have no clue on how my compliment and appreciation for the "History Guy's" work as to be interpret as something more than a thank you and I enjoy the show. "History Guy's" snippets of history have given me more joy and knowledge be it real / fake / accurate or not than I received from my lame education system (public school). Thanks to the powers that flock us when child sheep.... right? Take "TV" or any other means to convey as you will. I choose the "History Guy." I keep an open mind and I give nothing of myself other than time. Know that in the past, present and future can an event or said event be recorded as fact with 100% certainty. It's the games people play and poor communications that lead you here to give your opinion for all of history. How you consume "history" is yours to manipulate. Enjoy! Thanks for the response.
I get it and I understand why you should be thankful for us viewers but at the end of the day it's us who should truly and seriously be thankful for you because we just have this dense collection of some of the coolest little pieces of history right at our fingertips that have been carefully curated for us to easily and quickly digest awesome information that can sometimes be useful and if it's not that useful it's definitely entertaining. So thank you dude!!!
I remember when we only had one TV channel in the UK, and the excitement when colour TV came out. Banging the telly on the top to stop the frame sync from slipping was a daily ritual in most households, and people developed one arm longer than the other so they could adjust the various knobs on the back of the TV whilst still being able to see the screen.
I went to buy a paper at a gas station......2 dollars? Since when? I thought it would be 25 cents. I just wanted to light the barbeque. I didn't even bother bringing any more money.
I remember, around 1979 or 1980, being with my grandmother visiting older friends of the family one afternoon, when I realized, importantly, that "The Brady Bunch" was about to come on (5 p.m. on channel 48 in Philadelphia.) I reminded my grandmother that I needed to watch the Bradys, only to be informed that our friends' TV did not have UHF! There was no UHF dial. I had never heard of such a thing. I was absolutely horrified. The man whose home we were visiting decided to try to entertain me then by playing 78 rpm records of fairy tales ... in German. My 6ish year old self was not pleased!
In 1965 the FCC required sets to have both bands. Her TV was rather old. Cheaper sets were VHF only. Even at that time some areas were all UHF and buyers beware!
Back when i was a kid i wondered about channel one. It had to be one since it fit between 13 and 2. I had also wondered what that clicky knob was that we never used for anything. One day i tried putting it on channel one and fiddling with the clicky knob. Imagine my joy when i discovered two more channels! When i told my dad he called me a liar. I must be mistaken. A bit of triumph for my 12 year old self when i showed him and they announced channel 24. Wasn't long before they were watching Both channels. (-:
Thanks so much for this. While there have been countless news, retrospectives, and documentaries about the history of televised content, I don't know of many shows on television about the invention and development OF television itself. This is arguably the most important invention of the 20th, or at least in the top 3, in that it irreversibly changed the way we all perceive history and culture. We commonly mention Farnsworth as the inventor of TV, leaving out that certain complex inventions like it merge a lot of different interdependent technologies.
This is content about my entire lifetime... I was born in 1941, and it is now 2020. What a time it has been, too! More junk has gone past my nose than popcorn kernels in a busy theater. Unbelievable, too. And I MEAN, "unbelievable," also! The pure tripe is rampant! It only gets worse as the quality gets better.
About 10 minutes from me is the house he lived in while he operated Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation from 1938 to 1951. Near the street is a sign describing his accomplishment with TV and I know the family currently living there who really love the house. This Wikipedia page has an image of it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo_Farnsworth#Fort_Wayne_factory_razing,_residence_history
The Irony is that the quality of information transmitted by TV has been declining for some time. That in turn causes the discerning viewer to seek internet channels like The History Guy.
TV isn't the only game in town anymore. At least 90% is unwatchable hot garbage. Of course , the internet is full of idiocy also...
It’s not just TV it’s all knowledge. 100 years ago the average library had a larger non-fiction section than fiction. Not so today.
Irony is what water tastes like if you get new pipes in your house.
@@roberthurley3941, point of clarification: the average public library. Academic, research, and special libraries still overwhelmingly carry nonfiction over fiction with one exception: Libraries dedicated to fiction writers, as you might expect, have a large section of the writers' work. But they also carry research material about the writer timself and tis life.
@@roberthurley3941 so true. Nowadays, nonfiction is also fiction.
I will say it again: This is simply one of the finest channels on TH-cam.
Agreed. I just discovered it yesterday. Excellent presenter, good topics, and it is made for our modern limited attention span! I've started spreading the word.
I really like how he just states facts and doesn’t interject opinions or politics. Its rare to see the anymore.
AMEN!!!
*I couldn't agree more.*
Not "one of the finest History channels" but one of the finest channels ... period.
Sure is.
History Guy, I’ve been a Television engineer for over 40 years and my mentors were some of the earlier post-WWII pioneers. It’s a topic with a rich and complicated history. You nailed it my friend. Your chronology was spot-on and you also included multiple threads beyond terrestrial TV into cable, satellite and internet TV services. Nice job.
That's some high praise!
He layered everything very well.
In 1980 my father sent me to town to buy a new television to replace our old black and white that finally died. I came back with a new color set and he threw a fit about me wasting money on color when black and white was good enough. I listened to his rant and when he stopped I told him They had quit selling black and white sets because everyone wanted color. He shook his head and said, "This country is going to Hell!".
There you have it History Guy, the moment the country started down the road to perdition as predicted by my father.
Perfect! 😆
Oh boy but I could just about hear that conversation word for word in my head! I bet lots of us heard a similar conversation like that sometime or another.
Fathersnsaid that when the popular dance of the day was the "Turkey trot". And don't forget ELVIS!! We had a BW tv until 1961 or so. The old color sets had a real hard time producing a decent grass green color. You had to adjust to color guns, the red and the green, to get yellow and that would send the green gun nuts trying to give a decent green. It always looked like mud because the brightness had to be adjusted also. What a mess. And don't forget that the crt had a flat-ish screen so the rays had to be bent to allow them to hit the right dot. That was the convergence and depending on the brand of tv, the convergence could be a headache!
We had B&W sets up until the mid 70s, when Dad brought home a 19" Philco-Ford color set, a used one apparently bought cheap from a motel. The green gun was essentially shot, so everything that wasn't red, blue or magenta looked very odd. I remember visiting the neighbors and they had a Trinitron. They were watching football. My jaw hit the floor when I saw the field was green!
Saw my first colour show c. 1957, Perry Como show. He was wearing a red sweater. Remembering like it was yesterday.
"The History Guy is not that big a channel by TH-cam standards..." Maybe so, but it IS one of the very best!
You are Awesome!
That's why it isn't big.
Agreed.
@thomas fraley I get information overload at times with 3 monitors and HSP internet...THG is one of the best factual and entertaining at the same time, lots of morsels not necessarily seen in the school textbooks.....
Absolutely!
@thomas fraley leaning something new it’s like brain endorphins.
I used to be a TV repairman, when I first started fixing TVs they were still using tubes and about half of them were using transistors, I am amazed by how much they have changed
There’s still demand for that from TV collectors.
Btw i havent felt the need to watch tv ever since i discovered youtube in 2010
The breaking point was only ca 15 -- 10 years ago.
"I likes to work with nobody around. No silly questions like, uh, ‘What are all the tubes for?’ As if anyone *knows."*
-Huckleberry Hound, "Two For Tee Vee" (1962)
The History Guy has dramatically increased my screen time.
gb He has increased mine along with Mark Felton as well. This type of programming isn’t broadcast on tv any more.
@@TheOldGord Love Mark's work. I'm a WWII buff from way back, and I'm always learning new things from his videos.
😀
Mine too!
Like Sir I can remember when stations shutdown their broadcasts at 12am with a picture of our flag and the playing of our national anthem. Have times changed! Great lesson History Guy!
This is still a good idea
david vogel - sometimes we just need to decompress! But I always felt bad for my mom when she would get home late from working and she needed to unwind. She would quietly read and slowly drift off to sleep on our couch. Maybe that was for the better.
I remember in 80's we still had local TV stations shut down near midnight. They was nothing on TV until 6 am if lucky . And God bless if President was on TV across All channels was his ugly face no matter what.
@@MrWATCHthisWAY I am sure it was with the relaxing time to be ready for sleeping.
& then the " maggot races" 📉😎📈
Does anyone remember the broadcasters playing the national anthem and the flag waving...before going to white noise at midnight?
And that poem about “slipping the surly bonds of earth”.
Yep
Of course!!
we had the goodnight kiwi that climbed up to the top of the tv station and went to sleep
Oh, I sure do remember those days! I was a child in those days. To me, when the TV went off the air, it was like the end of the world! Now TV is broadcast 24/7
The History Guy is discussing factual, verified history, and releasing his content for free via TH-cam. The paid cable counterpart of The History Channel is creating content about ancient aliens and conspiracy theories.
No wonder why more people are getting becoming cable cutters and getting their content from History Guy/Veritasium/other quality TH-cam channels.
Great stuff HG... keep up the good work!
:D ... Yeah ....... Even the weirdo conspiracy stuff has better (much less BS) equivalents on youtube (Dark Docs)... Another superb totally legit history channel is World War 2 in real time (/Timeghost). They're producing superb content... I think it's much better than what the History Channel produced even back when HC were producing war documentaries based on actual history :D
WRONG!!!! The Australian inventor Henry Sutton developed the TV in 1880... Every one forgets out side of Australia..
@@ianfarr-wharton1000 He designed a mechanical 'telephany' video transmitter and receiver system, but it was never built as it relied on wires for transmission because the radio had not arrived. A brilliant Australian.
@@normanmazlin6741 It did work, He filmed the Melbourne cup, he also invented the light bulb. If you look into his work, he rewrites history.. he is the inventor every one forgets.
@@normanmazlin6741Arguably his most famous invention, the telephane, was used to transmit an image from the Melbourne Cup along telegraph wires to Ballarat in 1885.. www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-04/why-have-we-forgotten-australias-edison/10567060
As a Broadcast Engineer, just wanted to say: you nailed this. No surprise of course.
Are you down with "Madman" Muntz?
WRONG!!!! The Australian inventor Henry Sutton developed the TV in 1880... Every one forgets out side of Australia..
Do you drive the choo choo train since you are an engineer?😁
@@glennso47 just make sure that the train that a broadcast facility is stays on the air 😂
Here is for all the dumb as dog shit people. :- Arguably his most famous invention, the telephane, was used to transmit an image from the Melbourne Cup along telegraph wires to Ballarat in 1885.. www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-04/why-have-we-forgotten-australias-edison/10567060
What I miss the most about modern TV, is that back in the old 1960 days, the networks were like our good friends and we went to visit them. Our family would say, "What's on NBC tonight?"" and we would all sit down together and watch whatever the program, and no matter what it was, we were always interested and entertained and we never felt dull or bored or like we'd rather be watching something else. Today, when you can watch anything you want, you feel like most everything on TV is dull and boring
Glad The History Guy is getting so much attention. Love this channel.
WRONG!!!! The Australian inventor Henry Sutton developed the TV in 1880... Every one forgets out side of Australia..
@@ianfarr-wharton1000 I know Sutton designed a version of television, but I don't think he ever successfully built a functioning one.
@@SamPanamaOfficial Not just theTV came from Henry Sutton www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFDMK... the inventor every one has forgoton.
@@SamPanamaOfficialIt did work, He filmed the Melbourne cup, he also invented the light bulb. If you look into his work, he rewrites history.. he is the inventor every one forgets.
@@ianfarr-wharton1000 Sutton NEVER demonstrated his idea for mechanically sending images. Sutton did develop the use of galena crystals to detect radio waves which was a great step forward for early radio.
History deserves to be remembered: I was the first remote control device.
"Change the channel, boy"!😁
Me again?
Why don't you send ..... (insert the name of a younger sibling ).
Hahaha....
The same story all over the world up until the invention of the remote control!
@@georget8008
My sister was the first automatic dishwasher!
WRONG!!!! The Australian inventor Henry Sutton developed the TV in 1880... Every one forgets out side of Australia..
The TV came from Henry Sutton www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFDMK... the inventor every one has forgoton.
@@georget8008 That or else whoever was in the doghouse. Another residing factor was some good or not so good competition factor. Other times, maybe a threat of change it or else!
I enjoyed this content reminiscing of an old portable black and white AM/FM/UHF - weather band TV that over the years required balled up aluminum foil to aid in its reception but in todays age; I don't even own a TV. Being able to build my own PC and watch what I'm interested in over the internet suits this 56 year old man just fine. Thank you for your contributions so even my 27 year old son might understand that back in the day we had to get up and cross the room to change channels of which there were only four to choose from...
The History Guy: Deserves to be regarded
He is highly regarded by many. Myself included.
Coffee and history is how my morning goes now..
Me too!
I'll take mine with milk and sugar, please 😊
History of coffee... has he done it yet?
me too
@@Bulgeofpersuasion I would rather know the history behind milk and sugar. Also I like coffee and history. The Bible Project has lots of history to learn on their channel too
Being born in 1984. I remember this “older times” well. I even had a family console tv with just locals, then C Band, then finally cable. I had to go to a relatives house to see channels I didn’t get at home. I never even saw Cartoon Network til 1998. I grew up on afternoon Wonder Years, Saturday morning cartoons, and PBS for everything else. Explains my love for This Old House. This channel by the way is amazing. Watching videos of yours sir is like sitting next to a warm fire on a winters night. Or A/C on a very hot day. lol
If studying history in high school had been as entertaining as it is watching The History Guy, I would have enjoyed high school so much more.
Doesn't matter what the subject is, you make it fun, thoroughly enjoyable.
At that point, learning becomes easy.
Absolutely!
Thats true! My family in general loves history, but my elementary school history teacher really secured my love for the subject. I passed that love along to my daughter, whom upon 8th grade graduation, was given a newly created award from the history teacher for her advanced understanding and passion, (and she went to a private school so awards did not come easily!).
Scotty Kilmer has started a new TH-cam channel about cars. He's doing a history of Toyota automobiles.
History was my least favorite subject in school. Now I can't get enough of your videos.
Long live the "History Dude"
You're still not learning history. This is propaganda.
Schools seem compelled to leave the "fun juice" out of most books and lessons, though good teachers can add some back in. But THG is free to go his own way. Thankfully so much of what I disliked in school is enjoyable with the spices of interesting tastes. .
It does help if the person teaching is interesting and not boring. This guy is interesting and not at all boring.
@@markmarkofkane8167 I stumbled across the "Half As Interesting" channel. Let's just say, that channels name is a stretch. Too much goofy content and not enough history. (They could cut their videos in half and they'd still be too long for what they include).
THG is interesting and informative without being silly, and he makes me want to learn more. And, I'm in my mid-50s and never thought I'd find history so fun.
School had away of destroying any interesting subject or topic
I watch about 2 hours of broadcast TV every day, one hour of which are old MASH reruns. I'm embarrassed to tell you how much time I spend watching The History Guy every day!
When I went to school, they taught history, and I really like it.
History repeats itself if it is forgotten.
I just got a pop up from a website that I subscribe to. The headline says "Is Your Smart TV Spying On You?" Remember when tv sets were just "stupid" rather than
"smart"?"
Del Evans think about why Napoleon didn’t take over the world....he tried to fight a land war in Russia and wasn’t prepared for the intense cold and couldn’t get supplies like he needed. He lost over 300,000 Troops and had to retreat. So, why did hitler lose world war 2 over a 130 years later ? History repeats itself if you don’t learn from it. That’s how we know
@Del Evans I studied it and many times in my 63 years it already has.
It repeats itself if it's not forgotten as well. The Jews returning to Palestine would be a prime example.
As Mr. Rogers was to children's television, so you are to TH-cam- you make content worth watching and help to legitimize what might otherwise be a wasteland of cat videos, epic fails, and "hold my beer" moments of stupidity.
Seated LIberty: History Guy is worthy content!
Cat from video: Hold my beer
I thought the one with the blonde lady and the cat was Penny yelling at soft kitty
Yet another valuable and interesting episode.
Viewing this on my solid-state flat screen computer monitor, I was reminded of my first encounter with television. It was 1958, so I was age 9 or 10, and it was in Canada. One day in the coming week my father was going to be interviewed on a Toronto TV station, so the family rented a set for a week so we could watch at the proper time. (Everything was "live" in those days.) The screen was round, probably about 10 inches (254 mm) in diameter, and everything was in shades of GREEN. (Years later I became very familiar with that particular shade of green because of a long career in electronics, using and maintaining instruments such as oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers. That made me realize that the old round TV receiver probably used a single green phosphor on the screen, just like the electronic instruments.)
For me, history become much more interesting in video form, especially History Guy-style. I can look at relevant photos while listening to history. And on the History Guy TH-cam channel the history is rationed out in just the right size portions.
It's perfectly distilled information without all the advertisements, repetition, and puffery that you'd get from a TV documentary.
Well said, I like to look at it as a spring board into areas I find as interesting.
@@mastafull Puffery. I like that term.
6.1 million hours watching THG sounds like time wisely invested.
Done on a much lower budget than those "history channel "type programs too!
My husband said,if his dad was still alive..he could easily past 6.1 million hours in internet porn easy..LOL..
Your brain cells will thank you.....
One omission: Nazi Germany had regular TV broadcasting in service, starting before WWII.
It’s not just the history but the way you present it that makes this such an amazing channel. Thank you for sharing your love with us and helping me like learning history.
The earliest I remember was a few channels and bunny ears. The remote consisted of my father telling me to get up and change the channel, and when the knob broke, we used a pair of pliers. Does anyone remember when stations used to sign off each day for a few hours?
Always signed off by playing the national anthem.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Same thing just to the north in Canada; the flag and "Oh Canada", then nighty-night, nation.
Same thing in my home!
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered yep
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel or Ray Charles singing America the beautiful!
When, some decade or two from now, we look back and judge the "screen time" bloat of today, I believe that time spent with The History Guy will deserve to be remembered as time spent well.
Thank you!
I remember UHF and VHF and having 3 networks and PBS. This was a serious trip down memory lane. Thank you, THG!
I remember my brother and I being so excited one Christmas, our parents bought each of us our own 12” black and white tv’s for our bedroom. I still think that was the best thing I have ever gotten as a gift. It was a Montgomery Wards Airline brand and I watched every episode of Gilligan’s Island and F troop on it as well as every western they broadcast.
I can sing both of their theme songs.
Aren’t good parents wonderful? Byron’s parents gave their loved kids color TV’s that I’m sure was a struggle to afford. My parents bought our family of four kids Pong the first Christmas it came out, for the astronomical fee of $125! It was wonderful and we were the hit of the neighborhood, we had more friends that winter then we ever wanted!
I remember Wilton and egon (Larry Storch) who was also Mr WeatherBug from Tennessee Tuxedo
Sorry WeatherBy, darned autocorrect
I remember our old TV set in the 70s- it's cabinet was all wood and looked like a piece of some elegant furniture!
Early on in 1948 I remember one family having a commercial sold magnifying glass in the front of a TV and also does anyone remember Hotpoint TV's with a light area around the TV to make the picture look larger?
@@joerogers4227 , YUP. SURE DO!!!!!!, I" started" working on T.V. sets of that era
I do too...I DXed TV on one of those... used to get.. San Diego and Mexico from L A...
My father and grandfather built wooden TV cabinets for RCA in Monticello Indiana. They were furniture grade I order to merit higher sales price.
Yup!
One thing we lost with the internet was the fun of anticipating the Sunday night TV shows when the family would gather together sometimes with food and drinks. miss that so much. We would be out playing or trying to finish our homework which we should have done friday afternoon when Mom would call us to say our show was on.
When my TV broke I would take the tubes to the 7-Eleven store to test them. K-mart sold the tubes cheaper.
Does anyone remember having to SMACK the TV when it went wonky?
I wonder when the last year K Mart actually sold vacuum tubes.
@@gregorymalchuk272 mid to late seventies, my guess.
I remember when my younger brother got a mouth full of water and spit it into the back of the tv set. Wasn't pretty!!
I miss just hitting things to make them work better. Those crazy baby boomers & their shell shocked parents, the g generation used the same solution for everything; just smack it till it does what you want. There is a certain “elegance” to that simplistic thinking.
@@glennso47 My best laugh today. Thanks.
I've had an antenna on the roof for many years now, but do remember the days when I was thee antenna(with tin-foil in hand). Back in the day I was the remote too. I can still hear the clunk of the channel changer.....lol Love the History Channel because it helps me remember.
Yep, I remember being my dad's remote control! I didn't have to go on the roof, but I did have to adjust the rabbit ears. After 5 minutes of messing with it you'd hear, "Right there! Perfect! Don't move!" LOL.
I am old enough to remember the day I first heard of television I was about 4 yrs old...there was only one channel and it didn't come on air til three o'clock pm..my neighbors had bought a new TV...and I can also say that the inventor of TV is my dad's cousin.. Mr Farnsworth...but that's dating me bad enough I guess...I love your channel and hope to see a lot more of your smiling face
This man is my fix that I have missed dearly since The History Channel went off message...Thank You so very much
About twenty- five years ago, one of my favorite programs was Connections with James Burke. I loved it because of the connections of History and Science tied together. If the History Guy had been a program back then, I'd of loved it too. You do a fantastic job making history interesting. One of the very best things on the internet!
Connections ...what a cool show it was ....
Interesting history. I tossed my widescreen TV when it broke down ten years ago. I didn't replace it and I've been without a TV for all that time. Don't miss it at all.
Another story: over the past 10 years or so, I have accumulated three flat screen T.V.s. My Mom gave me one when she downsized, my nephew gave me
one when he bought a new one, and a neighbor gave me one that he said "took-up too much room". All three work perfectly - the only issue - I already had
a perfectly good T.V. that was in this house when I moved in. It must be from the early 2000's and works very well. I cancelled my cable about three years
ago and don't miss it either. It is still hooked-up to my VCR and DVD players so I can watch my nearly 1200 titles on tape and disks anytime.
I tossed my TV can't remember how many years ago..at least 10, or more. I got sick of paying for cable, satellite, etc and WATCHING ADS. I was watching a Steelers football game and timed the amount of time for the game, vs the amount of time spent on ads. It was like two minutes of game vs five of ads...constantly. Got up, called the company and CANCELLED IMMEDIATELY. So sick of paying to watch ads! I too never regretted it.
Idk why but this episode made me think of Back to the Future: Oh honey he's teasing! Nobody has 2 television sets!
You may not like this, but your kids will love it!
I actually had a tv in my bedroom in the 80's, but it was an old black and white tv. Not sure how old it was, but amazing that tv's could last so long back in those days.
Jimmy M I still have mine that I bought in 1980.
@@glennso47 it's not that they didn't like it. They just weren't ready for it :)
@@JimmyMon666 I had the exact same setup. We had a big color set in the living room, and I had an old black and white hand-me-down in my bedroom. I used to watch Star Trek on it 5 nights a week just after dinner.
I finally packed my TV away about 3 months ago, everything I watch now is via my computer.
And yer, I'm old enough to remember a time that if you didn't get home in time for your favourite program... you completely missed it, no rewind, no on-demand, no way, no how! 😱 Though they would probably repeat it in a few months time, so that's ok... 😁
Enjoyed this history. As an 8 year old boy in 1955 Amsterdam, we had Saturday and Wednesday afternoon off from school. I can clearly remember going to the house of a rich school friend whose dad ran a shoe store. We,were all invited to watch cartoons..it was magic at the time!
So you had school on Sundays too? I know when we lived in Germany for a year they had school on Saturdays, but only mornings, not a full day. Sunday was off. But if you were in grade school, you didn't have Saturday morning school like when you went to the Gymnasium. Back in the U.S. we had both Saturdays and Sundays off, and summer break was three months long.
@@marcusdamberger no. Sundays were for dressing up to go to church and have coffee and cakes with family after
I remember taking a bus ride with my dad in 1963 to buy our first TV. It was a big day in our house. He went all out and got the rabbit ears tv top antenna to. I think it was a 14" B&W. The first big thing I remember watching was a Mercury space launch. Romper room was one of the first kids shows I ever saw. When that lady said my name looking through the magic looking Glass, I lost my mind. Later that year I watched the funeral procession of JFK on that TV. When people ask,"where were you when that happened, I remember that TV, the bus ride to get it and my dad.
I was the remote control for my dad growing up as he would just yell, “Hey Kevin, come change the channel,”
I also remember the TV repair guy coming by to fix the set with his bag if vacuum tubes while my dad grumbled about how much it was going to cost.
My mom taking the tubes out and going to the corner drug store to check them on their tube tester. The tester was free to use and the new tubes were beneath the tester to buy. Made it much cheaper and easy to fix.
I loved those burnt out tubes...and throwing a rock at an old TV Tube was heaven.
We had an old console that we'd load into the back of our Tercel wagon (what seemed like) every week to take to the TV repairman.
My uncle was a ham radio operator. He provided us with our first TV around 1956 or so. We received three stations, the towers for which we could see from our house. The TV (B&W, of course) would work well for a couple of weeks after he visited, then gradually get worse and quit altogether after a few months. My uncle would visit, check the various tubes and usually find one that was dead (no glow) or "seemed weak" to him, open the trunk of his car to see what he had. Often he didn't have the same tube, but would think for a few moments and decide that "this one would probably work" and try it in place of the offending tube. Usually he was correct. The TV would work again, and the cycle would repeat. What amazed me most was how long and reliably the CRT worked. That one never gave out. My parents finally bought a new TV in the seventies, and it worked fine.
@@cliftondean4333 My late maternal grandfather was the same way. He got his ham license in the 1920s and worked for the military Evans Signal Lab until retirement as a GS-14. He was self-taught but had a "feel for things" that defies description, always brought his tool box with him when he visited and could fix anything, electronic or otherwise. He was a true man of the world, collected coins and stamps and was well-read on almost any subject. He died in 1974 and I will miss him forever.
Can remember my buddys father who repaired TV'S said that the Philadelphia area was a hot bed for development of TV. Philco had a large plant in philly and across the river in Camden NJ think it was RCA that had a large plant. I still have a tube radio in the garage and built a tube & transister tester from Healtkit back in the 1970's. Its a shame young kids never picked up a soldering iron to build something. 48 years ago I can remembering saving up to purchase a 25" when it went on sale for $500. 2 weeks pay. Was told back then that there would never be a TV larger then 25" due to CRT limitations. Was true for at least 25 years. I got a Sony 32 or 35" Triniton TV that weighed 168 #'s. Now a 55" LED only weigh about 35#'s .
I just shared your channel a few hours ago to my friends on Facebook. The whole channel is amazing, your content is better than so many channels, even other history based channels. Always looking forward to your releases!
One of the key reasons youve gotten 6 mil in view hours is your ability to present to an unseen audience information in a manner which makes each individual feel that your are speaking directly to them. This is a talent very far underestimated and under appreciated in todays fast pace technology driven "3 minutes of attention" world. So salute yourself sir for doing on bang on job of presenting us your knowledge of the world we live in.
He is a wonderful narrator and historian.
Recently discovered you and now binge watching. 😊 Thank you.
Remember my dad taking the back off of the B & W 21” TV, removing all the tubes, carting them to a Pep Boys where he could use a tube tester, the errant tube was replaced, all put back together and viola! TV again. It seemed like it was an all too common problem. Ever try to open an i-Phone? LOL
Those must have been better times when such a relatively advanced and expensive product could be fixed so relatively easily and cheaply.
Opening iPhone is fairly easy (no glue, just screws and metal springs) and replacing bigger components is actually quite easy.
Jim M there are even TH-cam vids you can watch that show you how to repair smart phones , tablets its easy as sorry
my last job was repairs and programming ptt radios. haven't opened one since! so complicated not sure i could repair one now. can latest ones be programmed by laptops?
Tube testers at the local store. A memory jolt! I did so many trips that I could tell when the tester needed testing!
When were are told someone invented this or that what we are often actually saying is someone took existing ideas and found a new way of using them. Back in 1978 the was a BBC television series, appropriately, called Connections, created, written, and presented by science historian James Burke. The shows demonstrated how various discoveries, scientific achievements, and historical world events were built from one another successively and this interconnectivity brought about modern technology.
The BBC was producing television programmes before WW2 and when war was declared on 3rd September 1939 they were broadcasting of a Disney cartoon. The cartoon was halted part way through and when broadcasting was resumed after the war ended the rest of the cartoon was shown. No mention of a caption card saying 'Sorry for the delay but there were technical difficulties what with the war and everything.'
I forgot to mention we had cable locally from a company called Rediffusion which began broadcasting 22 September 1955. As well as renting out the cable they also ran a rental chain for TVs and radios and later VCRs and hi-fi systems. They were bought out in 1984. Just last week as I walked down the street I came across a small manhole cover which said Rediffusion on it.
I remember James Burke. He was a bit of a legend in his time. I had forgotten that a lot of people rented TVs. They were branded with the company name, Granada or whatever, just to let your friends and relatives know you couldn't afford to buy one 😯
@@caw25sha I knew someone with a pay as you go rental where it went off if you didn't put 50p pieces in the top. This was in the 80's obviously when everything was 50p, gas, electricity, etc. If you ran out of 50p pieces you were shit out of luck - you could have ten grand in the bank but you would still be eating a cold supper if someone didn't go to a neighbour's house and ask for change.
I remember the TV repairman coming to the house every few months to replace tubes and realign the channel dial with the station numbers!
When my great-grandfather passed away in the 1950's, my grandmother inherited his tv. My Mom remembers being only apartment in her neighborhood to have two tv sets in their home - a rarity for the late 1950's.
Honey, he's teasing you. Nobody has two television sets.
@@4jp If one is rich enough, one can.
@@4jp .....nice reference to "Back to the Future".......
@@4jp "what's a rerun?" 😉
I love seeing the lesser known stories you and Mrs. History Guy cover!! you're the best channel I found in 2019. thanks for all the amazing content.
This is a challenging topic to fit into your short video time limit.
Intercarrier sound was actually developed during WWII.
The 2 biggest things that prevented Television from becoming established in the US Pre-WWII were lack of standardization and lack of permission for commercial broadcasting. Television stations prior to the FCC creating the NTSC standard (which solved both issues) could only opperate in the capacity of an Amatuer/Ham radio station experimenting with the technology, but not broadcasting commercials or opperating in a capacity in which the station could earn revenue from it's service. One of the first major public demonstrations of electronic television in the USA was the 1939 Worlds Fair...At that point RCA had an 411 line AM video AM sound TV system, Philco had an 800 line system and other companies (like Zenith and Dumont) experimenting with TV pre-war had other systems. The line count, frame rate, sync signals (to time start of line and frame), use of interlacing, and RF modulation had to all be the same or close between transmitter and reciever for things to work. The FCC was slow and reluctant to adopt a standard believing the technology was not yet mature. RCA believed it to be mature after the World's Fair demo and started selling its 411 line sets to the public which provoked the FCC into working with industry to create the NTSC standard. The NTSC standard and the commercial broadcasting it allowed did not commence until June of 1941, and the NTSC standard did not conform to any manufactuer's existing experimental systems requiring new engineering for compatibility...Electronics then had a similar model year release and development cycle to cars and Pearl Harbor happened while our electronic industry wa sgearing up for TV. Had WWII taken another year or 2 to start or the NTCS standard been created earlier, then pre-war electronic TV would have been atleast as popular in the US as in Brittan where it had been standardized and and made a service of the BBC in the mid-30's. TV if standardized for commercial broadcast would have taken off even in depression era America. In the opening years of the depression radio was one of the only growing industries in America. Yes many of the small brands especially ones with finances tied to the stock market died at the beginning of the depression, but the companies that remained flourished. A family with little disposible income could save money and get unending news entertainment by cutting off spending on newspapers, movies, phonograph records, etc and instead purchasing a radio.
The history of color television development in the US especially at the technological and market level I could write a book on...At the global level there were interesting geopolitical and technological stories behind the later PAL and SECAM systems and bizzare cross polination between the european and US monochrome and color standards.
As always, fascinating information! My biggest and most significant memory about television happened when I was twelve years old. We were basically poor and while most of my school friends families' had color television since about 1963, we didn't. I remember being fascinated when I first saw color television for a few minutes at a relative's home, and now and then by those running in appliance stores. Shortly before Christmas 1969 my Mother called about an ad in our local newspaper for a used color television. She asked if I would go with her to take a look at it and I couldn't say yes fast enough. It was one of the rare times my Mom drove our car and just after dark too, so this was a big deal. I was excited about the possibility of us having a color television, but I never expected my Mom would actually buy one because they were so expensive. We arrived at the seller's home and the television for sale was on at a low volume when we walked in. It was playing the educational channel on UHF band, the forerunner to public television. A lady about my Mom's age showed us how it worked. I remember my Mom got the price down as best she could and then being shocked that Mom actually bought it. For a lot of money, $160. It was a seven year old RCA that had rounded screen sides. I recall RCA had some reason for making the sides of the screen rounded but I don't recall why after all these years. It was a long wait for my Dad to return a few days or so later with the help of my uncle to bring it home. It had a beautiful mahogany cabinet that I'm sure was weighty. I remember the excitement my family had when we turned it on the first time, and waiting with great anticipation of what it would be like as the screen stayed black while the tubes warmed up. When the picture finally appeared it was glorious! I recall the wonderful warmth and richness of the picture, and seeing what colors things were in the shows that I was familiar with. I was amazed by it, and so happy that we really had a color television. And that after watching black and white television my entire life, I now knew what the NBC Peacock looked like in color. I recall being completely impressed for at least two years and it took me a long time to reach the point that color television felt ordinary. Amazingly that television lasted about five or six years for a total of about twelve to thirteen years old, so my Mom did good. I don't think that the picture of any televisions I've had throughout my years has ever been as good as that 1962 RCA and its rounded screen sides. Thanks for bringing back that memory, History Guy!
Neat story! That's back when console TV sets had personality--they were considered as furniture, and the wood gave a feeling of warmth and quality. The small numbers of channels meant what was broadcast was good viewing. Growing up, we had only VHF on our B&W "RCA Victor" set, and of the channels from 2 through 13, only seven of them came in.
Nowadays TVs are lumbering, black flat monstrosities mounted on the wall like an impersonal eye staring at you. And with literally a thousand channels to choose from, there is almost nothing worth watching.
@@jpsned In addition, the wood cabinets provided wonderful warm sound. Now TVs require a sound bar or a surround sound system that are usually too boom-ie.
@@discerningmind Our TV had a plastic casing. I can imagine how nice a wood cabinet must have been, not only to look at but to hear!
Yup, things are very different now. Oh, and one other not so insignificant change--back then, TV was free!
Thank you. A very good review.
The reasons picture tubes were round in the early days was because the tubes are under extreme pressure...the more a device is rounded, the less stress on the tube. So they had to design the tubes as round to accommodate the pressure. As time went on technology allowed the tubes to square off some but the pressure was still intense. By the time we got to flat screen tube TV's the pressure was at an extreme, but again advanced technology in tube technology allowed for this.
I remember 3 stations and sometimes 2 more when the weather allowed. Antenna on the roof, rabbit ears, test pattern, all of that.
When I was a kid, we had two stations that we could get with any regularity. WHBF-TV in Rock Island, Illinois and WOC-TV in Davenport, Iowa. WHBF was the first Illinois TV station outside of Chicago. And WOC was the first tv station west of the Mississippi River.
I also remember having the kid with the braces head gear sitting in a particular spot in the room to bring in the best reception!
It sucked if you had to hold the rabbit ears to get the channel to come in.
@@lindycorgey2743 ha, I know that's right
I rotated my antenna to get Richmond, VA on a foggy night. I could also get Petersburg in I went a little more south. Aim up north to get Charlottesville. Doing this, I could get around 7 channels with 2 being UHF.
Don't forget about the 4th channel which was "Public Broacast Station" which was only aired a about 8 hours a day! I remember having to turn the antenna to get a clearer picture and antennaes were on every home!
I'm also twisting the antennae these days. Got so tired of the big companies jacking up the price for shows I never watched, not to mention the pure stupidity of most series on the air. Cancelled everything, and now I watch the same old channels, including PBS, and head for You Tube for better world coverage and interesting people.
I remember when I was the TV remote... as in: "Son, get up and go change the channel please."
At least you got a 'please' LOL!
And don't forget the machine-gun sound when you turned the knob really fast!
@@FiferSkipper - My Dad was a WWII Marine and had a very unique way of saying "PLEASE". (It loosely translated to - Get up off your penguin butt and change the G.D. channel or I will whoop your ass good.) I think he learned it from a Drill Instructor. Oh, I had forgotten about the "machine-gun sound". Had a lot of fun with that.
And we changed that channel with a pair of pliers.
@Tucsoncoyote 2019: Yes, yes I did.
Actually, I was in my room doing homework, so they changed their channels themselves.
I love to watch historical documentaries. Ever since Discovery, TLC, and History channel went full reality TV shows, I stop watching TV. I appreciate channels like yours to watch historical documentaries.
When I started junior high. In 1990 I went into the tv servicing field when school was out for summer and learned a lot
0:32 as my grandfather once said: "Back in my day we had two channels ON and OFF"
Jokes aside my great uncle had two broken TVs he used. He got them from the landfill. He had one stacked upon the other. One provided the sound and the other one gave him the black and white picture.
When our cable company scrambled some channels, I discovered the sound was at one end of the fine tuning while the picture was at the other. Simple, use a little portable set for the sound, adjust the main set for the least bad picture! Free pay channel!
That is quite an incredible story, but I believe it. Some people have a talent to try and successfully solve problems.
@@luislaplume8261 I remember that if i got it right enough, the picture was good enough to watch, but was drifting from color to B/W. But hey, I got to watch free HBO!
I hadnt expected to actually enjoy your show and continue watching it so often, you don't have the cheesy fake persona that feels forced like many channels and your doing a good job.
We had only two channels until I was 8 or 9.
Receiving TV signals back then was an art form.
I kinda miss the rigid schedules that shows used to adhere to.
Some shows you watched when you could. Other shows you
planned your day or week around. But I am glad to have control over my TV.
I hope more folks get to watch the History Guy. He's producing good stuff. Quality stories.
This would've been a perfect Sunday afternoon TV show back in the day.
History Guy should have hundreds of millions of subscribers.
Sad times.
@Jacob Zondag We should all learn history to avoid repeating it.
I remember when my parents got their first television about 1956. They were able to try it out for a few days before the sale was finalized. The dealer brought a large portable antenna and set it up in the yard. We had to have an antenna installed on the house and it was quite a big deal to have it in our own home.
I remember when having a rotary antenna was a status symbol.😀
@@tedmulthauf7434
Car phones were also a status symbol.
Your enthusiasm for the subject matter has a lot to do with why you have an audience sir. I LOVE watching your content!
History Guy, Thank you for making 'television' worth watching!
Jeff R Growing up I was able only to get WHBF in Rock Island, Illinois,WOC in Davenport, Iowa and WQAD in Moline, Illinois
When I was a kid in the '70's, out TV was a huge piece of furniture with real walnut trim and a remote with actual mechanical buttons that physically made the channel knob turn with this heavy clunk-clunk-clunk noise. If I watched TV after my parents went to bed, I couldn't use the remote lol.
Now, I watch everything on a laptop the size of one of those business-size padded shipping envelopes, and everything I watch is on a streaming service or here on YT.
Yeah i still remember my family's TV when i was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s. It was literally a fancy piece of wooden furniture with a TV built into the middle and no remote. That thing had to weigh a ton. I remember most families had something similar and when they got a new TV they just set it on top of the old one lol!
They had a remote control in the 50s that was essentially a flashlight with a momentary switch that was pointed towards one of the corners of the screen depending on what you wanted it to do. I have wanted a working version for years.
Hey Glenn.HDMI it to a 40" screen , no brainer
No remote but I remember turning the channel knob quietly late at night or early Saturday morning instead of fast, that machine gun jundt jundt jundt sound to go half way around from 6 to 13!
Great video. As an electrical engineer I love seeing this and it makes me happy that you have brought a better technical understanding to an audience consisting mostly of non-engineers.
I do feel you should have added a paragraph about the future of television and mention the current transition over to ATSC 3.0.
I love the History Guy. Glad to see people's interest in history is so profound.
I remember when we got our first color TV.... after having tiny B&W sets. A huge wooden console thing with giant speakers. Then we got a little color set for a bedroom, we thought tech had hit the wall and never could get better.
I remember in the mid sixties when my uncle got a color console TV, half the neighborhood was packed in the living room to see Bonanza in color! OOOOOOOOH!
@@znentitan4032 Bonanza was the first program I remember in color and Disney after that. Dad bought the set around '61. I think we almost starved while he was paying for it. We had neighbors come over too.
As a child I had 4 channels available to watch - ABC, CBS, NBC, and independent WGN here in Chicago. WGN was owned by the Chicago Tribune newspaper. We lived in an apartment building and had a roof antenna hooked to the TV set. Like you I am amazed at all the changes that have happened. That TV shown at 8:20 could pass for the one I watched TV on if only it was a blond cabinet Sentinal TV made in Evanston, Illinois and sold by Marshall Field, sitting on that wrought iron stand BTW I celebrated my 75th birthday last month.
Congratulations, happy birthday!
We had the first Cablevision on our block in Iowa 1979, and WGN was one of the offerings. They showed legendary shows like the our gang shorts and the original flash gordon. Great stuff.
I was expecting to hear in the conclusion “And that’s history that deserves to be remembered.” It left the presentation unresolved so I thought I’d help by writing it.
The History Guy, regarding your introduction, congratulations. But perhaps more importantly, it is us, your viewers, who should be thanking you, not the other way around.
Thank you and I look forward to seeing more of your exceptional history lessons.
As a recent subscriber I greatly enjoy each episode of The History Guy. While watching this episode the comment about only having 3 channels reminded of my youth where our evening entertainment was not the watching of TV, but the constant attempts of rotating the outside antenna to the right position to be able to watch a show. My 3 older brothers were responsible for the manual turning of the antenna. My dad would be setting in the recliner and 1 brother was at the front door, second brother at the corner of the house, and the 3rd brother stood at the antenna with a pipe wrench. By the time my dad would say stop and the last brother at the antenna heard stop, the reception was distorted and the scenario would start over again. I don’t think we completely watched a full episode of any show for quite some time.
I can remember the excitement in my family when we actually brought home our first TV. Yep; black and white on a glorious 15” screen. I also remember going to neighbors house to watch Alan Shepard’s 61’ trip into space in color. Hate to say it but I got a 60” Plasma TV with 200 channels sitting fallow with nothing of value being broadcast today. My TV’s highest function today is reserved for my Xbox game play. Pew Pew.
Can you not put in a Chromecast or something? Much more useful.
You can get the wire needed from Amazon, plug it into a PC, and you can enjoy the world.
You have single handedly moved history from a distant also ran to one of my most favorite subjects. Thank you.
I'm willing to bet you put a big smile on his face!
my grandpa was a repair man.mit grad in the 30's.he always fixed our huge tube style tv.that tv still worked when i threw it away in2006.ty for the video explaning how they worked.
Yes , the antenna on the roof. We had to readjust it after every storm. I love your channel, thanx📚😎💛
In the California Central Valley, we needed a fifty foot flagpole for our antennas ... in communities of a few thousands, it looked like a porcupine at a distance ...
You got to wait until AFTER the storm???? I had to run outside in a lightning with a cast-iron pipe wrench on multiple occasions!
When we moved to the current house in the late 1960's, I noticed two things about broadcast TV reception:
1. The house lies under an aircraft flyway, which guarantees an "airplane flutter" TV picture 24/7.
2. Surrounded by tall trees, analog TV signals were weak or ghost signals.
Later on, the TV also became a "VW iron core ignition" detector, which produced colored snow.
When an Oceanic Cable TV salesman showed up in the 1970's , we signed on and all of those problems vanished overnight. When digital TV replaced analog TV, NONE of the broadcast TV channels could be picked up via antenna. Oh well, that's progress.
Karla Kirkpatrick , nope. It was to adjust from one CBS affiliate (based in the middle of Iowa) to the one based out of La Crosse WI. I think it was so my folks wouldn’t miss any of Dallas or Falcon Crest.
@@Otokichi786 Thanks for mentioning the interference from some automobiles. We could tell if certain neighbors were driving by just because some vehicles had their own particular type of interference.
I can remember when our family had no TV. I did not miss it. For a while we listened to a radio and being out of doors instead of sitting in front of a TV certainly never heart my health.
How many TV's does your family have now?
@ One TV. I could live without it, my wife cannot.
We need more teachers like the history guy in our lives and school's.
Teenagers are more interested in girls and cars and not what made our society work.. They don't listen.
that was excellent. nostalgia just covered me like a warm blanket.
Same here.
If you cover yourself with a warm blanket won't you smother?
There are a couple of "modern" devices and conveniences that have theoretically existed for decades that today are based on almost an entirely different technology. In the case of the telephone, it essentially is an entirely different technology when compared to the desk and/or wall phone of yesteryear. The TV is very similar in its technological evolution.
If you look back 100 years or even 50 or 60, and examine the technological advances that were predicted for the year 2019, most of them never came to pass. We do not live on Mars. We do not drive personal automobiles that hover and travel 300 MPH. But if you look at the typical smartphone, the capabilities of that device far exceeds the person communicator seen on Star Trek.
The Brilliance of Martin Teboski: You are so right and they have both now, dumbed down America. Which I would have never dreamed of happening 60 years ago.
Loved the 8-track history! I bought my first 4-track in 1966 followed by an 8-track a few years afterwards. I loved the format, I installed it in my 1957 Chevy. I eventually moved to the cassette technology and sold my 8-track collection, but always looked back on those days fondly. Watching your presentation brought back many great memories! Thanks.
"Good news everyone! I've invented the electronic television!" - farnsworth
"And using my patented Finglonger, it can be controlled remotely!"
@@deadfreightwest5956 Now we can get intergalactic tv shows from the planet Floog.
@Timothy McCaskey I read that in my mind in Hubert J. Farnsworth's voice (of course!)🤣
I was looking for this reference
With that said; by the "History Guy," the "History Guy" will be forever a part of history. A part of history that deserves to be remembered. Quality will always trump quantity.
TV has always been a weapon used by govt...to distract and misdirect from the reality the govt.dont want us to know about.
Well said.
That would be "Historiography that deserves to be remembered".
@@getredytagetredy Be it story telling with a fable like quality, a factual historic event, or even a tool to manipulate people, humans will always enjoy the consumption of information and will wonder about the past and the future. People will be the judge of the information they consume. Again, be it factual information in its entirety, be it a fire side story of a Sasquatch quality, or even a snippet of an actual event in the "History Guy's" opinion; the fact is people love stories true or false / real or fake. Fake or real; history has shown that those in power and powers to be have always underestimated the abilities of the people they wish to manipulate. Never underestimate or assume people (a person) as stupid, or your sheep. Try as "they;" (Gov., CEO's. Kings, Queens, Gang Leaders, Your Boss and even your Spouse) or anyone for that matter, to control another and he / she / they may find they are the one controlled. Give to them what they think they take, only to be turning the round table back on to "them." Never squeeze the soap for it will pop out of your hands. Collect seemingly harmless snippets of factual pieces of the puzzle and it will complete itself and offer up a story told to you, this is the story of history. This is the joy. If it repeats in different sources it may just be true. If you are unable to allow an open mind to multiple resources you are then a prisoner of your own way of thinking ... hence, your own sheep. Are you watching yourself on your home made movies? All that said; I have no clue on how my compliment and appreciation for the "History Guy's" work as to be interpret as something more than a thank you and I enjoy the show. "History Guy's" snippets of history have given me more joy and knowledge be it real / fake / accurate or not than I received from my lame education system (public school). Thanks to the powers that flock us when child sheep.... right? Take "TV" or any other means to convey as you will. I choose the "History Guy." I keep an open mind and I give nothing of myself other than time. Know that in the past, present and future can an event or said event be recorded as fact with 100% certainty. It's the games people play and poor communications that lead you here to give your opinion for all of history. How you consume "history" is yours to manipulate. Enjoy! Thanks for the response.
WRONG!!!! The Australian inventor Henry Sutton developed the TV in 1880... Every one forgets out side of Australia..
I get it and I understand why you should be thankful for us viewers but at the end of the day it's us who should truly and seriously be thankful for you because we just have this dense collection of some of the coolest little pieces of history right at our fingertips that have been carefully curated for us to easily and quickly digest awesome information that can sometimes be useful and if it's not that useful it's definitely entertaining. So thank you dude!!!
We spend so much time watching your channel because you're good! It's as simple as that.
Well here's 6.1 million thankyous to one of my absolute favourite TH-cam channels. 😀👌🏼
I remember when we only had one TV channel in the UK, and the excitement when colour TV came out. Banging the telly on the top to stop the frame sync from slipping was a daily ritual in most households, and people developed one arm longer than the other so they could adjust the various knobs on the back of the TV whilst still being able to see the screen.
I am so old that I remember when the newspaper was made of PAPER !
Jake Dee I’m so old I remember when dirt was invented,
I went to buy a paper at a gas station......2 dollars? Since when? I thought it would be 25 cents. I just wanted to light the barbeque. I didn't even bother bringing any more money.
@@WillWilsonII I am so old that I remember when money was made out of PAPER !
The Sunday paper had TWO Comic sections of two full sheets and one half sheet. My brother and I would fight who got to read what first.
Now the newspaper, the television, and the computer come in one device, often small enough to fit in your pocket.
I remember, around 1979 or 1980, being with my grandmother visiting older friends of the family one afternoon, when I realized, importantly, that "The Brady Bunch" was about to come on (5 p.m. on channel 48 in Philadelphia.) I reminded my grandmother that I needed to watch the Bradys, only to be informed that our friends' TV did not have UHF! There was no UHF dial. I had never heard of such a thing. I was absolutely horrified. The man whose home we were visiting decided to try to entertain me then by playing 78 rpm records of fairy tales ... in German. My 6ish year old self was not pleased!
In 1965 the FCC required sets to have both bands. Her TV was rather old. Cheaper sets were VHF only. Even at that time some areas were all UHF and buyers beware!
Back when i was a kid i wondered about channel one. It had to be one since it fit between 13 and 2. I had also wondered what that clicky knob was that we never used for anything.
One day i tried putting it on channel one and fiddling with the clicky knob. Imagine my joy when i discovered two more channels!
When i told my dad he called me a liar. I must be mistaken. A bit of triumph for my 12 year old self when i showed him and they announced channel 24.
Wasn't long before they were watching Both channels. (-:
You fill in so much that other articles or channels leave out. Thank You very much for the post! 😊
6.1 million hours?! That's 11 lifetimes assuming an 80 year life!
If you dont sleep 😉
Chris Dykstra ..You tube is probably lying...lol..
getredytagetredy why would they?
How many times to the moon 🌝 is that?
Congratulations. Let's assume 24 million viewers watch one 15 minute segment: 6.1 million hours.
I love this guy. Great stories and presentation. Keep going.
Thanks so much for this. While there have been countless news, retrospectives, and documentaries about the history of televised content, I don't know of many shows on television about the invention and development OF television itself. This is arguably the most important invention of the 20th, or at least in the top 3, in that it irreversibly changed the way we all perceive history and culture.
We commonly mention Farnsworth as the inventor of TV, leaving out that certain complex inventions like it merge a lot of different interdependent technologies.
I went to school just to see how T.V, works. this blows my mind.
This is content about my entire lifetime... I was born in 1941, and it is now 2020. What a time it has been, too! More junk has gone past my nose than popcorn kernels in a busy theater. Unbelievable, too. And I MEAN, "unbelievable," also! The pure tripe is rampant! It only gets worse as the quality gets better.
You should devote a whole episode to Philo Farnsworth. He was a really interesting guy.
He's from here in Idaho. It has been said that he got his idea from observing the furrows created by his plow in a potato field.
The whole conflict between Filo Farnsworth and David Sarnoff is fascinating!
There is a show that tells the tails , it's called
" Futurama "
About 10 minutes from me is the house he lived in while he operated Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation from 1938 to 1951. Near the street is a sign describing his accomplishment with TV and I know the family currently living there who really love the house. This Wikipedia page has an image of it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo_Farnsworth#Fort_Wayne_factory_razing,_residence_history
I really enjoy the History Guy. His presentation can make dull subjects interesting
We had a TV with a vertical hold that was so sensitive, the picture would start rolling when the refrigerator turned on.
Oh, ugh, I remember vertical hold! What a nightmare! Happily, it's been ages since I've had to deal with it lol
And don't you dare turn on the hair dryer. Many a fist fight with my sister over that faux pas.
modern digital tech and phase lock loop prevails today and no horizontal or vertertical adjustmet knobs today. just turn on and watch.
Or planes and cars going by,
Forgot about that one, wow.