Question For Older People Who Owned 2 Television Sets In The 1950s/1960s, Did People Think You Were Rich?

I don't know anyone who had 2 TVs then.

We had a 19" black and white TV and replaced it in the 70's with color.

I'm thinking a TV - was really not a status symbol in those days.

It was more like a radio - something we needed rather than wanting.

DeeJay.

That is absolutely true. And there were some families that still didn't

have a tv set in their home as late as the early 60's. It was an unheard

of thing, having two sets. There was one large set in the living room.

and our fathers made the decision of what would be watched. It was

a standard thing. The fathers earned the living, and they had the

right to choose what he wanted to watch. And if the rest of the family

wanted to see those programs, they would join him after doing their

homework. As that was the first thing kids did after helping with the

kitchen clean up after dinner, was to do their home work. Only then,

did we watch any tv show with our mom and dad. I didn't know anyone

who even had a small tv in their house. Everyone seemed to have

a big console, or a cabinet style with doors that closed over the

screen. They were a piece of furniture that our mothers polished

along with the dining room table and chairs. It had to have a super

glossy finish and never was it allowed to get a coating of dust.

When I got married in the early 60's, our first TV was a small

portable radio and TV combination. It was the cutest little thing.

But we had to sit close to see the screen. We ended up pawning

it to help with a moving expense.

We only had one television and the pictures were only in black and white. I remember a friend's parents got a television that had the pictures in color and I just could not believe it.

I do remember my parents built a house in the early 60's and they decided to have a 2-car garage because my dad actually wanted a work area in the garage. Well, people thought I was from a very rich family because we had a 2-car garage!!! Most people, at that time, had what was called a carport -- sort of an opened area with a cover on top and down one side. A single car garage was considered a luxury back then. Hard to believe nowadays.

We got our first TV when I was about 5 in the later 1950's. It was used and the screen was about 4 inches high but about 14 inches long. Was really the original "letterbox" presentation.

I think the average family probably got their first TV in the mid 50's and from what I can recall, you usually only got a couple stations in your viewing area. One of the reasons why " Romper Room" had different actors since nothing was world wide syndicated then. Each major area had its own set of actors for it.

I don't think we got a colored TV until the mid-60s after my dad died and it was probably the mid to late 60's when we got an extra B+W tv for a bedroom and got a window air conditioner that year. Central air was a few years away in the early 70's.

Indeed your dad's family must have been 'the elite'. It was the second half of the 50's before we owned a TV although I remember around 1954 seeing TV for the first time in a neighbours house.....it was The Wooden Tops that were on. I actually didn't think it occurred to people to have a second TV in those days. Our first TV was manufactured by Stella, black and white of course. It was in the 1970's that the majority of people began to get colour TV. I was married by this time and we got our colour TV from the local Electricity Board showroom as it was called and it was rented. By then we could have afforded to buy but lots of people thought colour TV was in it's infancy and many updates were to come to preferred to rent rather than buy.

No, only one and it was black and white. The people who were rich had color sets. The consoles back then were too big to be all over the house and we all sat together to watch the one channel we got. I also remember my dad adjusting the set from the back while a chair with a mirror on it was in the front of the TV so he could see what the reception looked like. Just what we did.

We only had one TV in 1962. I was 13 when my parents did buy one. Before we use to sneak next door and watch their TV and thought they were very rich. I never seen a house with 2 TVs. TV's were a thing to display in the living room for all to see. I don't know think anyone had 2 TV's.

My family never had 2 TV's, and only got color long after I was living on my own. People thought we were rich when we got a private telephone line in the late 50's, and richer still when we got an extension.

The big deal wasn't 2 tvs, but having a large color tv. Even in the 1960's , not all programs were in color. Black and white tvs were somewhat cheap. A color tv was for sure a major purchase at that time.

No, everyone one had to watch Jack Paar/Johnny Carson in bed. Then of course there was the family TV in the living room. However there was a rule in our house children could not have TVs or phones in their room, just desks and beds. Only the 'rich' people spoiled their children!