RADIO to TV

Drive past a home today in the evening and you will see the glow of a TV set emanating from at least one, if not two or three windows in the place. Well, the basic color is blue so in one of the rooms there may be a computer, but even if there are children, the odds are pretty good it’s a game being played and not homework taking place on the computer screen. In fact, if a friend comes over often the first thing that happens is a trip inside to the nearest TV for the latest movie or a computer for game. Their eyes must be involved in their entertainment; no more than that, everything has to be in vivid colors.

Let me take you back to a time not all that long ago. Saying it was a kinder, gentler time is like the old “apples and oranges” bit. Hey, things were different, what do you want me to say. What you did have to do was use something that children are not really forced to use today, the imagination. How far back in time do you have to go to have this take place? Try the 1940s and into the early 1950s.

Yes, the days of radio were still alive as late as the early 1950s. In the late 1940s something fantastic called television was starting to appear in certain homes around the country. Oh, not every home had a television set, let me tell you, those things were expensive. Not only expense was a factor but a lot of people, especially older people, were convinced this “new fangled contraption” was just a fad. In any case, in 1948 there were only 128 TV stations in the U.S. and they didn’t broadcast twenty-four hours a day (actually they went off the air at 11 PM Eastern Time).

For entertainment you listened to radio: music, sports and yes, even soap operas. Yeah, yeah, the sponsors were laundry detergent companies, hence the name “soap opera.” Anyway, this is how things worked. Maybe you have seen it in one of the old movies or a rerun of the Walton’s: a family or group of people gathered round a radio to listen to a daily or weekly program, newscast or some special event like a boxing match.

With me it didn’t work like that, there was no family gatherings that can be recalled. There was a radio, certain programs…and my grandfather. Certain radio shows, or at least portions of the programs can be replayed in my mind instantly at the flick of a switch. Say “Lone Ranger” and I can hear the voice calling out “”Hi yo Silver!” The Shadow? Immediately that deep, haunting voice comes back from the past, out of the speaker of my grandfather’s floor model radio to say once more; “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.”

Was there a television in my home? Yes, in the late 1940s we had one of the things because living not too far from Washington, D.C. there was access to TV stations. The problem was it just didn’t have the magic. Not the magic of Fibber Magee and Molly with their closet crammed chock full of junk which Magee would open for some reason every show. Molly would be yelling, “Magee, don’t open that closet!” and you would be joining in, urging him to leave the door closed. Naturally all the imploring would be ignored and you would hear the crashing, slamming, clanging and clunking of what must have been a semi-truck load of stuff falling out of that one closet, finally ending with six, five, four, three, then two and finally one last thing hitting the floor as the audience roared, and for some reason it was always funny.

During those times when the Shadow was looking deep into the hearts of men I got as close as possible to my grandfather; he pretending not to notice, yet somehow his arm would end up around me. I also noticed his knee bounced a bit when the horses ran on the western shows and he laughed at Amos and Andy, a show that wouldn’t be allowed to air today; too ethnic. Yes, there was even the “Who’s on first” bit.

Some of the programs mentioned plus a few more, such as “Our Miss Brooks” made the transition from radio to television, even taking the actors from radio to television; it was difficult to duplicate both the voice and timing of an Eve Arden. What they didn’t take were the people that had made that magic…the sound men. Wow, these guys were a breed all unto themselves.

When I was seven my grandfather took me to a sound stage in Washington, D.C. where a radio show was produced and I got to see a real, live sound man in action. There were bleachers set up for people and the guy had a huge table just filled with all sorts of stuff; all sorts of bells, pieces of pipe, hammers, an antique washboard, bottles (some partially filled with water), and all sorts of things. He had a couple of what looked like music stands with papers on them plus more papers on the table. It turned out the papers were copies of the script he had turned to certain places and placed strategically.

The program started and the man went into action. Pure magic…from one end of the table to the other he raced, picking up one everyday looking object to produce a sound to go with what was taking place on the show. The actors said their lines, but the program was “made” by this one person running a piece of metal up and down a piece of rope or, jangling a string of bells. Up and down the table he went, reading the script as he went, hands constantly in motion, and I’m certain he didn’t know it, silently mouthing the words of the actors at the same time. I was mesmerized. When the program was finished the audience waited for an autograph…of the sound man.

Now things are all given to the kids from the time they are tiny. Toys make sounds, have lights, little things that move, sing songs, etc. Even baby dolls make noise and there are books for two year-olds which come with CDs for the parents to insert in the CD player (doesn’t your two year-old have a CD player?) to allow them to listen as they (the parents) flip the pages. God forbid the kid have to turn the pages, that would require effort. Probably child abuse if it were known.

Imagination has been weaned out of so much of society. Sure, libraries are checking out a lot of books but then there are a lot of people. No more going outside and building a fort or making up games, Mattel Toy Company will make a toy or even manufacture a fort. Besides, just got to the store and purchase a DVD to have a virtual fort and be able to shoot all the people you wish.