Here's an RCA ad from 1961 for a remote. I'd rather have this than the confusing mess I have now. Love the opening special effects with the glittery star thing. And what the heck is that next to the TV, a hookah?
From 1961: the new exciting world of remote controls
I dropped my remote control last night (actually, one of four that I have on my coffee table for various electronics), and it got me thinking about the remote controls we had when I was a kid. We didn't have one, that is, at least not for the big Magnavox cabinet TV (a real piece of furniture), nor the Sony Trinitron after that (so futuristic because it had separate push buttons for each channel!).
Here's an RCA ad from 1961 for a remote. I'd rather have this than the confusing mess I have now. Love the opening special effects with the glittery star thing. And what the heck is that next to the TV, a hookah?
Here's an RCA ad from 1961 for a remote. I'd rather have this than the confusing mess I have now. Love the opening special effects with the glittery star thing. And what the heck is that next to the TV, a hookah?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-28-2009 @ 11:27AM
Richard said...
When you mentioned magnovox, I thought for sure that you were going to talk about the first remote I remember. I grew up with a wired remote--went from the TV, around some well placed furniture, to the rocking chair I preferred viewing the original Star Trek from, facing the TV. This remote had a speaker, a dial channel tuner, and other small dials that I don't remember what they might have done, except for one that did volume and on and off. I guess I'm just too old.
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5-28-2009 @ 12:42PM
Leroy said...
That thing next to the TV looks very familiar to me in that they were everywhere when I was a kid, mostly as knick-knacks. It's some type of brass beverage container for coffee or tea. Not quite an authentic samovar, but good for retaining heat because it's metal.
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5-28-2009 @ 1:38PM
Gazzoo said...
Now I have one question...where was this video meant to be seen? Think about it. This was before vcr's, so I don't get what the distribution method was.
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5-28-2009 @ 3:32PM
Bite Me said...
This announcer reminds me of a particularly boring teacher I had. About as exciting as a colonoscopy.
Point two: Why don't the TV's today have those handy dandy remote holders? We keep losing ours in the couch.
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5-29-2009 @ 11:51AM
Max said...
The first remote i remember was a sonic thing, I believe a Zenith "Space Command". It used 3 simple buttons, and emitted some kind of ultrasound to the set. Crude, but it worked.
The thing this overlong, unbelievably boring "commercial" also reminded me of was the "color" and "tint" knobs. They often were silkscreened with the colors on the knob and I loved to play with them as a kid. I got very good at fixing the color.
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5-29-2009 @ 1:44PM
Galley said...
My Dad didn't have his first remote control until 1984.
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