Who knows the secret of the black magic box?

[AUTOMAN]

Nothing has been happening on here for a few days, so whilst I have been waiting for the forum to burst into life, I started thinking about my dad's old HB Estate and the 1970's, when I was growing up. I remembered the sorts of things that we all used to do in the car. For some reason I started to think about the day I went with dad to his sister's house in the Valleys'. When we were there my auntie gave us cakes, pop and crisps etc. For some reason I was there for the first time ever late into the evening. At that time, there was never anything much on the television during the day, so I had never seen her TV set on. My uncle then got up and leaned behind the curtain and turned a knob on the wall, the radio went off and on came the tv set. I was astonished, You probably know that my eyesight is not great, but I could sware that the pictures I could see coming from the tv were in colour. I whispered this to my dad because I didn't want my auntie and uncle to hear me, as I could have been wrong. My dad told me that maybe I should use some more eye-drops as there was no such thing as a "telly" with colour pictures. I said o.k. but could not understand what I was seeing, as to me the pictures were in colour, I WAS SURE OF IT. Then on came the adverts, one of them was for Woolworths and it seemed to go on for ever. I said again to my dad that I was now sure the tv was showing me pictures in colour. Then more adverts for toys and things, I couln't take my eyes of the set. My dad and my uncle dissappeared for a few minuites and when they came back, dad announced that it was time to go home. Dad and I got back into Viv, his gold hb estate. It was cold and dark, being nearly Christmas and drove through the bleak country lanes back to Cardiff. When we got home, my mother took me for a bath and got me into my night clothes. We went down to the living room, where my dad had made us a drink. Mum asked dad to put the telly on, which he did. Well I was again taken aback, because our telly was showing me colour pictures. I told mum quietly and that this had happened at my aunties as well, but that dad didn't believe me. mum started laughing and so did dad. Mum then told me that we had a new tv because our had broken. She explained that My auntie had given us her old one because they had just bought a new one and that I was right, the pictures were in colour.

A great memory of how a Viva had brought me the world of TV and in colour for the very first time. I had not watched tv before, because it was in black and white, I could not see that.

Ian.
Automan.

[hbpeter]

Great story, my granparents had a TV controlled by a dial mounted near a window. Think it was an early form of cable, by Rediffusion. You had to turn a dial on the box to change channel, which I thought was great much to the annoyence of everyone else!
Peter

[AUTOMAN]

I just telephoned my Auntie who told me that you are right Peter and it was that same company.

Ian.
AUTOMAN.