Word from Our Viewers

Tracing public and critical responses to TV from its pioneering days, this book gathers and gives context to the reactions of those who saw television's early broadcasts—from the privileged few who witnessed experimental and limited-schedule programming in the 1920s and 1930s, to those who bought TV sets and hoisted antennae in the post-World War II television boom, to still more who invested in color receivers and cable subscriptions in the 1960s. While the first two major sections of this study show the views of television's first broad public, the third section shows how social and media critics, literary and visual artists, and others have expressed their charmed or chagrinned responses to television in its earliest decades.Media-jaded Americans, especially younger ones, would be surprised to know how eagerly their forebears anticipated the arrival of television. Tracing public and critical responses to TV from its pioneering days, this book gathers and gives context to the reactions of those who saw television's early broadcasts-from the privileged few who witnessed experimental and limited-schedule programming in the 1920s and 1930s, to those who bought TV sets and hoisted antennae in the post-World War II television boom, to still more who invested in color receivers and cable subscriptions in the 1960s.Viewers' comments recall the excitement of owning the first TV receiver in the neighborhood, show the vexing challenges of reception, and record the pleasure that all young and many older watchers found in early network and local programs from the beginning to the fast-changing 1960s. While the first two major sections of this study show the views of television's first broad public, the third section shows how social and media critics, literary and visual artists, and others have expressed their charmed or chagrinned responses to television in its earliest decades.

"Barfield provides An insightful, nostalgic look at the social role and history of television in American life-the changes it has brought to the majority of households and how it has affected the way people live. The book is in large part a collection of comments from early viewers-beginning in the 1920s-30s and continuing to the television boom in the 1950s-60s. It is all in these recollections: seven-inch screens, adjusting rabbit ears and the outside antenna to receive a signal, neighbors, friends, and relatives coming over to view our TV set, situation comedies, drama, test patterns when there was no programming, see-through color sheets, don't sit too close to the screen! and harvesting spaghetti from trees, a 1957 BBC April Fools' joke. Barfield also looks at advertising, local programming, the reactions of Americans living abroad and their experience as television viewers, and how critics, artists, and others responded to early television news programs. Recommended. All readers, all levels." - Choice, "The literature on early television is composed mainly of institutional histories, memoirs from famous performers, and a never-ending spate of books devoted to classic programs from yesteryear. A Word From Our Viewers is a welcome addition to the field as it brings a new perspective into the mix: those of television viewers." - Journalism History

Ray Barfield is Professor of English at Clemson University and is the author of Listening to Radio, 1920-1950 (Praeger, 1996). He is a contributor to The Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture and The Museum of Broadcasting Encyclopedia of Radio, and he has authored numerous articles and conference papers on radio, cartoons, children's books, and 1920s' fads. He is also co-author of a business communications handbook.