By Edward Master
My wife (Eileen) and I for a number of years contributed annually to public television. First in Glassboro, NJ, then in Indiana, PA, and finally in Grove City, PA. I think we got some kind of programming info for the PBS shows. I often watch PBS programs along with the PA state-related programs such as the county courthouse historical shows and the yearly broadcast of the state high school track and field championships. The availability of PBS really came with the emergence of cable TV.
How about the days before cable? We had a black box on top of the TV wired to an antenna outside the house, on a long pole. A dial on the black box made the antenna move to tune in stations. In principle it worked as I heard noise when the dial was turned. We had channels 2 (KDKA) and 11 (WPXI) most of the year. Channel 4 (not so much most of the year) with all those channels coming from Pittsburgh. I don't recall much PBS (WQED 13). Once every so often we picked up channel 6 out of Johnstown.
The TV repairman was a fellow named Matthews, who lived at the west end of Turkey Hill Road at the intersection with Master Road. If the TV was on the fritz, it usually meant a tube replacement. He'd arrive with a case full of tubes. He inspected the tubes and performed his magic. Fortunately, I don't recall him ever having to make that many visits. That's one job that's disappeared--TV repair. I had to get a TV fixed in Jersey once (we may have bought it at big ticket store like WalMart) and it took weeks. The store had a contractor and it was truly a nightmare. After that fiasco, it proved easier (and cheaper) to buy a new television.
I wasn't living at home when cable arrived in Turkey City. I remember something about a relay(?) station or something near Ninevah, west of Knox. Lightning strikes to that building put the kai-bosh local TV. I know getting cable in Glassboro was a big deal. I think originally we had Showtime and HBO to pick from; we took HBO. Never had much use for sports-specific channels. We had ESPN and the Philly sports channels, which were plenty, plus public broadcasting.
When first married our TV was the black-n-white variety with some 'rabbit ears' as an antenna (my wife's). The antenna didn't do much, but we got a couple of VHF/UHF stations normally from Philly, as we were close to the city. Cable fixed all that.
Philly had its own 'heroes' just like The Burg. Some cowgirl lady (in a cowgirl outfit) made the local fairs and stores (and eventually shopping malls) for the kids, just like Josie Carey and Paul Shannon in Pittsburgh. Remember Paul Shannon's "Adventure Time" with the Little Rascals and Three Stooges? Shannon used to bring on a 'rascal' like Spanky McFarland or Darla or Froggy and the Stooges when they played at the Holiday House in Monroeville. Philly had its own version of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, on Saturday afternoons.
Our first colored TV came from the RCA family store, paid directly from my paycheck. Same thing for our VHS video player/recorder, and, later on, a videodisc player (a wonderful idea that never caught on and was replaced with the C-D, much smaller replacement). When we moved, we got cable hooked up where ever. In Parker, it was first CenturyLink and is now Brightspeed.
How many old VHS tapes are scattered around yor home? We sold our plastic/tapes in yard sales. VHS tapes met the same verdict as did 8-tracks and cassettes. I think we have a CD player we hardly ever used buried somewhere. I watch old Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Alfred Hitchcock now on YouTube today. So much for taping TV these days.
Speaking of sports
Don't expect much from next season's Steelers, nor from this year's Penguins. I've got big hopes for the Bucs though!!
Can't stomach the NBA; college is not far behind. After Larry Bird and Magic Johnson retired, I gave up, even on the Celtics. I watched a bit of Iowa and the Clark woman over the weekend. She really can put it up and deserves the accolades she receives. That women's game is still one of passing, shooting, and rebounding, not of slam dunks. I'm still out on the three-pointer though. I played when long-range counted the same as a layup. Let me say that once, long-range really counted at the East Brady bandbox when it mattered. Thank you very much.