December 27, 1947…”Howdy Doody” Debuts EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Thanks to Burt Dubrow, America’s top Howdy expert, WE ARE ABOUT TO SEE SOMETHING MOST HAVE NEVER SEEN…THE ORIGIANL HOWDY PUPPET ON ONE OF THE EARLIEST SHOWS RECORDED!

This kinescope is only 21 minutes long, and most likely was done as a test of the new kinescope system introduced by RCA and Kodak in September 1947. Sometime in April of 1948, the month this was shot, three new RCA TK30 cameras replaced the three big silver RCA A500 Iconoscope cameras in Studio 3H where this was done. This could either be one of the last Iconoscope shows or one of the first Image Orthicon shows. Given the many dub generations this is away from the original, it is hard to tell what cameras may have been in use, but it looks like Iconoscope to me, as the TK30 was more crisp.

The actual date of this show is not known, but is most likely from Tuesday, April 6, 1948, which would be the first Tueday show after the birth of David Eisenhower on March 31, who’s birth is featured in the newsreel. The baseball score is from a spring training game as the regualar season did not start until April 20.

At this link, you will find the “Early History Of Howdy Doody”, that Burt Dubrow helped me write a couple of years ago, and it is packed with information you will not find anywhere else.

https://eyesofageneration.com/the-early-history-howdy-doody-televisions-first-hit-show/

A few notes to help you “see” the history in this. (1) When the show started, it ran only on Saturday afternoon from 5 till 6, but after about 6 weeks, the show began a Tuesday-Thrusday-Saturday schedule from 5 till 6. On the 11th show, Howdy announced he was going to run for President of the Kids of the USA. (2) The show was origianlly called, “Puppet Playhouse” featuring Frank Paris’ “Toby At The Circus” puppet troupe, and on the first show, which Bob Smith was the host and MC for, there was no Howdy puppet, as there was no time to make him, but Howdy was heard! He was in a desk drawer and to bashful to come out.

I mention these points because the first thing I noticed was the opeining title is now “Howdy Doody Time”, which is finally proof that the name changed long before many other sources say it did. It probably happend when the show went to 3 days a week, which would be about the second or third week of February 1948…possibly February 10th or 17th. Also, the Howdy for President banner is up. By the way, this would be the first show of the day, as only a test pattern preceeded the show, and when it eneded at 6, there was not another show until 7:15, so there was another hour and fifteen minuets of test pattern.

When the show starts, notice not only the look of the first Howdy (built by Frank Pairs), but also how different the voice Bob uses for Howdy is. Remember, the voice was developed for the original “Tripple B Ranch” radio character named Elmer, who became Howdy Doody after the kids started calling him that becuase of his greeting of “Well, howdy doody everybody”.

Notice also that the kids are seated in a way that they can only see Bob and Howdy on the monitors, and not at the desk…since Bob was not a ventriloquist, he moved is lips when he voiced Howdy, so it was best to hide that as much as possible. That kind of set up, with his back to the kids when Howdy was talking, continued for the life of the show.

At 13:45, when they go to what would later become the “peanut gallery” the kids are sitting on two, four seat “horses” which were brought over from the place Howdy was born, “The Tripple B Ranch” radio show. It was a kids quiz show and the contestants sat on these glorified sawhorses…when one of the kids got a wrong answer, they were “bucked off” the horse.

At 15:03, there is a really special moment! A clown comes in with peanuts for the kids, which seems to catch Bob off guard as he says “Who you?” and then, recovers after a second or two and says thanks “Robbie”. This is most likely the first time assistant stage manager Robert “Bob” Keeshan (Clarabell) had ever worn anything other than street clothes on the set while handing things to Bob Smith. Before the Clarabell costume, it is known that Director Roger Muir had gone to NBC’s wardrobe department for something to dress Keeshan in, and this classic operatic style clown suit was probably thier first try.

Many thanks agian to Burt Dubrow for letting us see this rare and historic clip from his collection. I hope you enjoyed this very special few moments with the original Howdy on this, the 69th Anniversay of what would later become America’s first daily televison program, and the world’s first daily color television program. It was also the first program to log over 1,000 episodes. Since this is the only place to see this video, please share it! -Bobby Ellerbee

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December 24, 1948…Perry Como & NBC Studio 6A Debut Together

Como had been the Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening host of “The Chesterfield Supper Club” on NBC Radio since December of 1945.

On Christmas Eve of 1948, the radio show was simulcast from NBC Studio 6A where his radio show had always come from, BUT…this was the first time cameras had been brought into 6A! In the video below is the open and close of this show with Perry welcoming the television audience at the top, and vamping to close the show on time at the end.

At the time, 6A was still a radio studio and wasn’t converted to television till May 29, 1950. The show was produced with 3 “remote unit” cameras which moved from studio to studio inside 30 Rock.

The mobile unit had rolling Camera Control Units which were set up in the 6A sound lock leading to the main hallway. The camera feeds were cabled over to the new Studio 6B control room which was converted from radio to TV on June 8, 1948.

These internal mobile units also brought with them a dozen or so scoop lights which were mounted on floor stands, so as you watch, you’ll notice a lot of flat lighting and shadows. At this link is my story on the remarkable “In House” NBC Mobile Units. https://eyesofageneration.com/the-birth-and-rebirth-of-studio-3a/

By the way, Studio 6A was converted to TV in May of 1950. Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays -Bobby Ellerbee

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December 24,1951…Behind The Scenes Inside NBC Studio 8H

1st “Hallmark Hall Of Fame”…1st “Amahl And The Night Visitors”

This story has two parts. Below the 3 photos of the RCA TK41s shooting this production at NBC Brooklyn, is an interesting first hand account from a TV magazine writer who was there, pointing out the production obstacles they needed to overcome to present the debut of what would become two enduring programs.

The above the photos story starts here with some notes on the historic aspects of what was about to happen.

At 9:30 PM on December 24, 1951, in NBC Studio 8-H, the first opera ever written expressly for television went live on the air. The sponsor for the NBC holiday spectacular was Hallmark Cards. This was their first venture into television and this lead to the development of the now famous “Hallmark Hall Of Fame” series.

Above is the kinescope recording of the original 1951 production. The show was done live each year for many years till video tape came along. In 1954 it was done in color at NBC Brooklyn, and in ’63, finally recorded on color video tape at the Brooklyn facility. In the photo at the top of this page, we see one of the four monochrome cameras used on the show in 8H shooting the child lead, Chet Allen. The cameraman is NBC’s first studio cameraman, Albert Protzman who was hired in 1936.

Below is a description of that night in 8H from TV Party Magazine by Mitchel Hadley. The full article is at this link. -Bobby Ellerbee http://www.tvparty.com/xmas-amahl.html

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Christmas Eve in Studio 8H

The scene was a dramatic one – and, par for the course for early television, far from ideal. For one thing, although 8-H was the largest television studio in America, it wasn’t nearly large enough for the cast, crew, and musicians. The result, among other things, was that singers and orchestra would have no direct contact with each other. The orchestra was located in Studio 8G…the conductor could see the action on the set via the monitors while the singers would hear the music piped in through speakers in the studio.

Up in the control room would be Director Kurt Browning. At his disposal were four cameras – three inside the “hut” where Amahl and his mother lived, and one outside – and three boom microphones, one between each camera. His “control” was far from absolute, however; union rules of the era prevented the director from speaking directly to the cameramen, requiring him to go through the technical director to communicate his instructions. Such an arrangement was a recipe for disaster, especially for a live broadcast. Menotti was no stranger to the challenges of television, though, and he and Browning worked closely on the camera script, ensuring that there would be no spare gesture, no extraneous movement that would throw an actor out of frame.

The cumbersome equipment of the time would also prove to be a challenge, as Browning recalled in a 1994 interview. “As I remember, I had pedestal cameras which weighed four to five hundred pounds and a dolly camera that weighed another seven to eight hundred pounds. Movement was limited, however, for “once you got over a 90mm lens, you couldn’t move the camera because the movement registered on the camera and you would lose focus almost immediately.”

On the set itself the cast, after a month of preparation and anticipation (but only four actual days in the studio), was ready.

When the camera light winked on at 9:30, viewers saw a blurred image of church bells, followed by a title card announcing that the following program was presented by Hallmark. It is often stated that the actress Sarah Churchill hosted that first broadcast, since she subsequently served as host of Hall of Fame for the first couple of years, but in fact it was Nelson Case, host of NBC’s Armstrong Circle Theater, who greeted the audience. (Amahl was, in fact, being presented in Armstrong’s regular Tuesday night time slot.) After a solemn, if overlong, introduction, Case presented Menotti, who stood on a set in front of a fake fireplace decorated with garland, the Bosch painting hanging over the mantle.

Speaking from notes and in Italian-accented English, Menotti said he hoped that parents had allowed their children to stay up late for the broadcast, since the opera had been written for them and “I don’t want you to be like those awful parents who insist on playing with their children’s toys.” He then introduced the people who had helped make Amahl possible, asking them to join him on camera since the audience “won’t see [them] while the opera goes on”: Browning, who “photographed this opera the way I saw it in the windows of my imagination,” Schippers, who “captured the sounds of my childhood,” and set designer Eugene Berman, “who designed the sets that come straight out of my own heart.”

As a series of handwritten slides (taking a moment to come into focus) introduced the cast and crew, the overture began in the background – a tender, moving melody that soon gave way to the sound of a pipe. The camera dissolved to a star high in the sky, and then slowly panned down to a young boy playing the pipe. Amahl and the Night Visitors had begun.

Here it is worth noting that the broadcast features a fascinating attempt at a primitive “special effect.” Menotti wanted the approach of the Kings to suggest a journey of a great distance. The entrance of the Kings began, therefore, with only their voices being heard. While Amahl and his mother lie sleeping, the camera zoomed in on a close up of Rosemary Kuhlmann. Then, using her back as a movie screen, a pre recorded film of the Kings’ entry was projected.

Browning then cut to a shot of Kuhlmann from a different angle, while the lyrics “the shepherd dreams inside the fold” were sung – suggesting, subtly, that the Kings might be nothing more than a dream. It was a complex effect, sophisticated for the time, especially for live television. It’s not known how many times this effect was used in subsequent broadcasts of Amahl; by 1955 it had been replaced by a simple cut from the inside of the hut to the outdoor set.

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Best Choreography In Live Television…”SNL” Stage Hands & Crew

Quick take down of the cold open set with countdown from the control room…will they make it? Click to see! I’ve seen this in person from the floor seats and it is amazing. Nothing like it anywhere. NBC Studio 8H…home of the PROS! -Bobby Ellerbee

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December 23, 1947…The Transistor Is Born At Bell Labs, BUT…

Why did it take so long to come to television? In this story, I’ll answer that with a surprising bit of information I recently found, and also give credit where credit is due.

In the top part (above the line) I’ll talk about the RCA attitude toward the transistor, and below the line, give you the full story on how it was invented.

By coincidence, I was reading a paper called “The Eye Of The Peacock” by Richard C. Webb, the developer of the first RCA color camera system. I’ve included a photo of Mr. Webb above with his own creation…the first RCA color camera.

Here is what he said; “The timely invention of the transistor at Bell Labs in 1947 was really the big bang for the exploding solid state electronics age. At the time however, many of the working engineers were unable to appreciate their advantages, and many vacuum tube engineers, myself included, put signs on their doors saying ‘help stamp out transistors’.”

“Loaded with pressing demands for ever more complex equipment, the old timers were quite reluctant to immediately embrace the temperature sensitive and expensive ‘little pills’ that gave no warning at all of impending failure.”

“Under stress, a vacuum tube was always graceful enough to glow red and blue and allow time for a quick power-down to save it from destruction. Until their original construction in the very temperature sensitive Germanium switched over to Silicon in the early ’60s, they were just an attractive nuisance to most of us.”

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John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, and William Shockley invented the transistor at Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey. In 1948, they won the Nobel Prize for their discovery. They are pictured below with the first transistor and a replica of it.

An all-star team of scientists was assembled at Bell Labs to develop a replacement for the vacuum tubes based on solid-state semiconductor materials. Shockley, who had received his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1936 and joined Bell Labs the same year, was selected as the team leader. He recruited several scientists for the project, including Brattain and Bardeen.

Walter Brattain had been working for Bell Labs since 1929, the year he received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota. His main research interest was on the surface properties of solids. John Bardeen was a theoretical physicist with an industrial engineering background. With a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University, he was working as an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota when Shockley invited him to join the group.

The team commenced work on a new means of current amplification. In 1945, Shockley designed what he hoped would be the first semiconductor amplifier, an apparatus that consisted of “a small cylinder coated thinly with silicon, mounted close to a small, metal plate”. The device didn’t work, and Shockley assigned Bardeen and Brattain to find out why.

In 1947, during the so-called “Miracle Month” of November 17 to December 23, Brattain and Bardeen performed experiments to determine what was preventing Shockley’s device from amplifying. They noticed that condensation kept forming on the silicon. Could this be the deterrent? Brattain submerged the experiment in water “inadvertently creating the largest amplification thus far.” Bardeen was emboldened by this result, and suggested they modify the experiment to include a [gold] metal point that would be pushed into the silicon surrounded by distilled water. At last there was amplification, but disappointingly, at a trivial level.

But the scientists were galvanized by the meager result, and over the next few weeks, experimented with various materials and set ups. They replaced the silicon with germanium, which resulted in amplification 330 times larger than before. But it only functioned for low frequency currents, whereas phone lines, for example, would need to handle the many complicated frequencies of the human voice.

Next, they replaced the liquid with a layer of germanium dioxide. When some of the oxide layer accidentally washed away, Brattain continued the experiment shoving the gold point into the germanium and voila! Not only could he still achieve current amplification, but he could do so at all frequencies. The gold contact had put holes in the germanium and the punctures “canceled out the effect of the electrons at the surface, the same way the water had.” Their invention was finally increasing the current at all frequencies.

Bardeen and Brattain had achieved two special results: the ability to get a large amplification at some frequencies, and a small amplification for all frequencies. Their goal now was to combine the two. The essential components of the device thus far were the germanium and two gold point contacts that were fractions of a millimeter apart. With this in mind, Brattain placed a gold ribbon around a plastic triangle, and cut it through one of the points. When the point of the triangle touched the germanium, electric current entered through one gold contact and increased as it rushed out the other. They had done it – it was the first point-contact transistor. On December 23, Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain presented their “little plastic triangle” to the Bell Labs VIPs and it became official: the super star team had invented the first working solid state amplifier.

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December 22, 1931…First Empire State Broadcast & TV Test History Update

On this day in 1931, NBC made it’s first experimental television broadcast from the new Empire State Building transmitter.

Since the story of RCA’s early television transmission test sites is a bit muddled, I am taking this opportunity to clarify a few things with new research.

RCA’s first experimental television transmissions are reported to have begun in 1928 on station W2XBS at 7 Van Cortlandt Park area in the Bronx. The images were produced by a GE made Alexanderson mechanical disc camera.

Rare Details Of RCA’s First Reseach Lab…7 Van Cortlandt Park South

My research has lead to new information that no one else includes. It appears that within a few months, testing moved to 411 Fifth Avenue, a few blocks south of NBC’s 711 Fifth Avenue HQ. The two hour nightly broadcasts made from there began March 22, 1929. At this link is an article about the 411 building with the very detailed television part in the lower third of the article.
http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-unique-1915-no-411-fifth-avenue.html

In early 1930, the Alexanderson camera and transmission equipment was moved to the Roof Garden Theater on the top floor of the New Amsterdam Theater Building, transmitting 60 line pictures in the new 2-3 mHz band allocated to television.

Those locations, are where the famous 13 inch Felix the Cat figure, made of paper mache, was placed on a record player turntable and broadcast using a mechanical scanning disk to a scanning disk receiver. The image received was only 2 inches tall.

Early in 1931 RCA’s W2XBS began to transmit from the RCA/NBC headquarters at 711 5th Avenue. The image of the actor with the Alexanderson camera is thought to be at the 711 building.

The Empire State Building was completed in May of 1931, and RCA leased the 85th floor for a studio and transmitter location for experimental television broadcasts. RCA, through its broadcasting division NBC, applied to the Federal Radio Commission on July 1, 1931 for construction permits for the sight and sound channels of a television station, which were issued on July 24, 1931.

The call sign W2XF was issued in December 1931 for the sight channel of that station on an assigned frequency of 44Mc. The sound channel of the TV station was separately licensed as W2XK for a 2.5Kw transmitter to operate on 61Mc. Both transmitters were located on the 85th floor and used separate vertical dipole antennas.

In early 1933, the mechanical scanning disc camera was still in use, but experiments on an electronic receiving tube were underway with the early kinescope images appearing green (like an oscilloscope) as only green phosphor was available. It would be a few years before white phosphor was discovered and used in kinescopes. More on this story soon.

In 1936, the Empire State Building’s tall tower like structure was added as a mooring mast for blimps. The winds proved to be too strong and there were several near accidents in mooring tests, but it did make for a great new antenna mount.

By the way, the last known sighting of the historic Alexanderson mechanical camera was in a display at the RCA Pavilion at the 1939 Worlds Fair. -Bobby Ellerbee

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December 22, 1963…The Judy Garland Christmas Special

Our friend George Sunga was the production supervisor on Judy’s series. This show was shot with the new Marconi Mark IV black and white cameras in Television City’s Studio 43. The video and audio is exceptional…state of the art for 1963. This also includes the original commercials.

Two songs which are now seasonal classics, one first sung by Judy, and the other, by guest Mel Torme, are included here (“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” and “The Christmas Song”). The final song is Judy’s emortal “Rainbow”. This is first rate from start to finish! Enjoy and Happy Holidays! -Bobby Ellerbee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzCL3FM9dDc

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December 20,1938…Vladimir Zworykin Patented The Iconoscope

Although there was controversy over a lot of patents and inventions in electronic television between Philo Farnsworth and Zworykin and RCA, there is no contention over the development of the Iconoscope.

While working as an engineer at Westinghouse in 1923, Zworykin had presented his idea to the company, but they were not interested. That year he submitted his patent, but because the design was incomplete, the patent was not approved. By 1933 he had achieved a working model and with more modifications to his application in 1935, the patent was finally granted in 1938.

At the 1936 Berlin Olympic games, Telefunken’s two cameras were using the Iconoscope, and the single Fernseh camera there was using the Image Dissector from Farnsworth.

Vladimir Zworykin may not have liked modern TV programming, but he can be proud of the remarkable system that he helped create. It truly changed the world!! Learn more about it here!

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December 18, 1956…’To Tell The Truth’ Debuts On CBS…Rare Pilot Episode

AMAZING! Here is the pilot for the show and you won’t believe the host and panel! The host was Mike Wallace. On the panel…Dick Van Dyke, John Cameron Swayze, Polly Bergen and actress Hildy Park.

The show, which debuted 60 years ago today, was created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions and was to have premiered on Tuesday, December 18, 1956, in CBS prime time as ‘Nothing But The Truth’, but the program title was changed to ‘To Tell The Truth’ the day before the show’s debut. The show originated from CBS Studio 52, moving to Studio 50 late in its run.

After CBS bought the show, but before it debuted, Bud Collier was chosen to host as Wallace had begun to feel he had rather become a news man and needed to get away from entertainment and commercial roles.

Mark Goodson and Bill Todman were seeking to replicate the success of their ‘What’s My Line’ show, but ‘To Tell the Truth’ was unique in that this was one of the few shows where the home audience didn’t know the answer as the panel asked questions. We at home could play right along.

An odd “vibe” must have been present on the set for some years there. Host Collyer was one of the more outspoken pro-blacklisting voices in AFTRA, the TV performers’ union. He was all for purging TV of performers and staffers with “pinko” connections…but a lot of those folks worked on TTTT. Mark Goodson was among the few producers willing to stand up to demands that he drop performers who’d been fingered as un-American by Red Channels or other such institutions. He’d resisted demands that he fire Henry Morgan off ‘I’ve Got a Secret’ and he often hired panelists like Orson Bean and John Henry Faulk.

Bean and Faulk won a union election over a Collyer-backed slate on these issues and Faulk later won a major lawsuit over his blacklisting. Still, from all reports, Collyer was a professional and a gentleman to all on ‘To Tell the Truth’.

The original TTTT ended its prime-time run on May 22, 1967. A daytime version which had started in June of ’62 continued on until September of ’68. That was the end of the Collyer version but others would follow. You must see some of this video! -Bobby Ellerbee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji9m4acZLck

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SPECIAL 3 DAY BIRTH OF COLOR EVENT: DAY 1, PART 2

Today is the eve of the 63rd anniversary of commercial color broadcasting in America. Over these next 3 days, Eyes Of A Generation will tell the most complete story of the development of RCA’s Compatible Color System, ever presented on the internet. Pass the word! MUCH more below the line. -Bobby Ellerbee
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THE ULTIMATE PRIMER ON COLOR TELEVISION: Above, is a special December 1953 publication from RCA and NBC.

This “RCA Color Television” magazine is a one-of-a-kind, 37 page synopsis of how this all happened. From David Sarnoff’s introduction, to the last page of historical highlights, this is required reading for anyone serious about learning the history and how of color television.

To better understand, and prepare for the incredible detailed history coming Saturday and Sunday, this is an indispensable guide and outline!

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SPECIAL 3 DAY BIRTH OF COLOR EVENT: DAY 2, PART 4

Today is the 63rd anniversary of commercial color broadcasting in America. Over the weekend, Eyes Of A Generation will continue to tell the most complete story of the development of RCA’s Compatible Color System, ever presented on the internet. Pass the word! More below the line. -Bobby Ellerbee
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December 17, 1953…FCC Approves RCA Color, A First Hand Account

It was a Thursday afternoon when the FCC approved the RCA Dot Sequential color system as the national standard. Our friend and former NBC engineer Frank Merklein was actually the one that broke the news to David Sarnoff. Below is part of an email from Frank to me with his first hand observations.

“General Sarnoff was the force behind defeating the CBS mechanical wheel and in forming the NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) color committee of all the US manufacturers.”

“NBC had been doing daily closed circuit color test shows (the same show every day for 2 1/2 years) from 3H and the Colonial Theater. I was part of that testing and Sarnoff had made me a member of one of the committees”

“When the FCC chose the RCA system, the General was in our control room in Studio 3H. I was on the phone with the FCC…I turned to the General and gave him a prepared message. “General Sarnoff, the FCC informs you that they have unanimously approved of the NTSC system for color.” He grinned, blew smoke from those over-sized cigars he inhaled and thanked everyone! Great memory.”

Later that day, at 5:31:17, NBC became the first to broadcast in the newly approved color system with a color slide of the NBC Chimes.
At 6:30 that evening, NBC aired a special half hour color show with David Sarnoff, Pat Weaver and Jimmy Durnate.

The next day RCA had full page ads in several major newspapers, some of which can be seen in this video of the announcement that ran on Saturday night, right in the middle of NBC’s biggest show, “Your Show Of Shows”.

The pace at RCA, NBC and AT&T was fast and furious, because just 14 days after the announcement came this….

The First Rose Parade Color Cast…NBC, January 1, 1954

This was the first ever national west coast – to east coast colorcast using the newly approved National Television System Committee (NTSC) standards.

AT&T Long Lines had hurriedly configured a color capable network of 21 television stations across the United States. RCA Broadcast had rushed transmitter modification equipment to the affiliates on the Bell color network path.

RCA had also built a small pre-production run of 200 color receivers. This set was designated as the “Model 5”, the fifth in their series of experimental color sets. The Model 5 was provided to NBC affiliates and RCA Victor distributors for the Rose Parade and each location had a full house for the event.

The “Model 5” was the prototype for the first RCA production Color Receiver…the Model CT-100. Starting March 25, 1954, 5,000 CT-100’s were manufactured in RCA’s Bloomington, Indiana plant. The set was named, “The Merrill”.

Below is the story The New York Times wrote about the color cast a few days later….

“Color television’s most exacting test came with the National Broadcasting Company’s outdoor pickup of the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena California. The New Years Day Program was the first prolonged presentation of color video under circumstances where, unlike a studio show, neither lighting, nor movement could be controlled. All things considered, the results were exceedingly good.

The Tournament of Roses parade had the largest audience thus far, probably several thousand persons to see color TV at one time. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, in a amazingly speedy engineering accomplishment, put together a color network of twenty-two cities to which the Radio Corporation of America had rushed equipment. A number of other set manufacturers also held demonstrations of color receivers in different cities.

With so many sets in operation, each subject to relatively critical tuning controls and possible vagaries of electronics, the quality of the tinted images from Pasadena undoubtedly varied on some receivers. But, overall, there is no question that the essence of the parades panorama of color was projected successfully on home screens some 3000 miles away. In comparison the monochrome pictures seen on existing receivers seemed virtually meaningless.

As the two NBC color cameras scanned a succession of elaborate floats, assorted military units, and other parade features, the scene was a veritable bevy of hues and depth; at other times the close-up was better. Occasionally there were overcasts of one tint or another but these disappeared with movement of the camera.

To concentrate so much color information within the frame of a small screen would be difficult for even the most gifted artist doing a “still” painting. To do it with constantly moving pictures seemed pure wizardry. Especially interesting from a technical standpoint was the remarkable stability of the individual colors as the NBC camera moved quickly from left to right and back again. On one set at least there was no perceptible streaking.

The Tournament of Roses parade, received locally from 12:15 to 1:45 P.M., did emphasize several problems for the home viewer. In the broad daylight and sunshine, it was necessary to draw the shades and cut out all glare if the colors on the TV screen were not to be washed out. This frankly, was a nuisance.

Another difficulty related to the size of the picture. The disadvantage of a small color image – roughly 12 1/2 inches – was much more noticeable with the parade than with earlier studio programs. And, since it is necessary to sit much farther away than from a black and white set, one wonders how big a color tube will be practical. Finding a happy compromise between picture size and viewing distance could be tricky for the engineer and the viewer, particularly if the latter must start rearranging furniture again.” -Bobby Ellerbee

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SPECIAL 3 DAY BIRTH OF COLOR EVENT: DAY 2, PART 5

Today is the 63rd anniversary of commercial color broadcasting in America. Over the weekend, Eyes Of A Generation will continue to tell the most complete story of the development of RCA’s Compatible Color System, ever presented on the internet. Pass the word! More below the line. -Bobby Ellerbee
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THE RCA RED BOOK…The 74 Page Equipment Sections

For your convenience, I have broken out two parts of the huge 699 page report and this is the first part. I have included at the top of the PDF, the page index for all the may parts of the first commercial color system from RCA. AT THE END…a rare Price List!!!

Tomorrow, I will post the second part…the fantastic history of the color tests, as they move from the first studios in Washington, to Studio 3H and finally The Colonial Theater in New York. Enjoy! -Bobby Ellerbee

http://eyesofageneration.com/rca-red-book-equipment-holy-grail-early-color-television-history-part-1-2/

In 1953, RCA submitted 700 pages of documentation to the FCC as a “Petition For Approval of Color Standards for RCA Color Television System.” Due to the bright red cover, it is generally referred to as “The Red Book,” and every detail you could possibly want to know about RCA’s color system is incl…

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