Ohio Museum Shows History of Television Technology
2023-07-15
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1The history of television began long before millions of Americans gathered in front of their black-and-white sets and watched shows like Lucy, Uncle Miltie, and Howdy Doodie.
2"Everybody thinks TV started in the '50s or the late '40s," said Steve McVoy.
3"Almost nobody knows it existed before World War II and even goes back to the '20s."
4McVoy is the founder and president of the Early Television Museum in Hilliard, near Columbus in the state of Ohio.
5The museum holds a large collection of televisions from the 1920s and 1930s.
6It has many of the post-World War II, black-and-white sets that changed the entertainment industry.
7There are also several early color sets developed in the 1950s.
8"The original idea for the museum was to deal with the earliest television technology," McVoy said.
9"The sets got pretty boring after 1960, just these big things in plastic cabinets."
10Doron Galili is a researcher of media studies at Stockholm University, Sweden, and writer of Seeing by Electricity: The Emergence of Television, 1878 - 1939.
11He visited the museum in 2016.
12He said the museum not only gives the technological history of television but also,
13"... its place within popular culture, and modern design and material culture."
14As a child, McVoy would walk around his neighborhood in Gainesville, Florida with a sign that advertised free television repairs.
15"Nobody accepted my offer," he said, adding it was unlikely he could have repaired a set if anyone had asked.
16A few years later, McVoy worked in a television repair shop and learned those skills.
17He opened his own shop, Freedom TV, in the mid-1960s.
18He then formed businesses related to the television industry.
19Finally, in 1999, he sold his holdings, and looking for something to do, decided to start collecting old television sets.
20The first set he bought was an RCA TRK 12 which was introduced at the 1939 World's Fair.
21"I think I paid about a thousand... for it," McVoy said, adding that it was in disrepair and missing several parts.
22"A complete one would have cost five or six thousand; the pre-war sets are very valuable."
23McVoy opened the Early Television Museum in 2002.
24It is housed in a large, former storage building. Each room has an audio guide, voiced by McVoy.
25Visitors can also watch a few old shows on some of the sets. Until a few years ago, McVoy helped repair many of the museum's televisions himself.
26"My eyesight and the stability of my hands makes it difficult now," he said.
27Early televisions were first developed in the mid-1920s by John Logie Baird in England and Charles Jenkins in the United States.
28Information from the museum says that by 1930 "television was being broadcast from over a dozen stations in the U.S., not only in the major cities such as New York and Boston, but also from Iowa and Kansas. The television screens at the time were small."
29The picture quality was extremely poor, with limited programming.
30Television, McVoy said, made its big entrance to the public on April 30, 1939.
31That was the time U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the World's Fair in New York with a live broadcast.
32Information from the museum says that about 7,000 sets were made in the United States in 1939 and 1940, and only about 350 still exist.
33World War II halted the production of TV sets in the United States.
34But technology from the war was used to make better TV when a large increase in sales and programming began.
35McVoy's research found there were about 200,000 sets in the U.S. in 1947 and 18 million by the end of 1953.
36Then came the popular I Love Lucy program in 1951 and The Honeymooners in 1955.
37Color television came in 1954. Sales began slowly because of the high cost.
38It was not until the early 1970s that color sets outsold black-and-white ones.
39The Early Television Museum collection is one of the world's largest.
40About 180 television sets are shown in order by age, with another 50 in storage.
41"We have (an example of) virtually every set that is available," McVoy said.
42But he is still searching for one made by Philo Farnsworth in the late 1920s or early 1930s.
43"Only three still survive as far as we know and they're all already in other museums," McVoy said.
44"If a fourth ever shows up, we'd go to our donors and would be able to get it."
45I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Gregory Stachel.
1The history of television began long before millions of Americans gathered in front of their black-and-white sets and watched shows like Lucy, Uncle Miltie, and Howdy Doodie. 2"Everybody thinks TV started in the '50s or the late '40s," said Steve McVoy. "Almost nobody knows it existed before World War II and even goes back to the '20s." 3McVoy is the founder and president of the Early Television Museum in Hilliard, near Columbus in the state of Ohio. The museum holds a large collection of televisions from the 1920s and 1930s. It has many of the post-World War II, black-and-white sets that changed the entertainment industry. There are also several early color sets developed in the 1950s. 4"The original idea for the museum was to deal with the earliest television technology," McVoy said. "The sets got pretty boring after 1960, just these big things in plastic cabinets." 5Doron Galili is a researcher of media studies at Stockholm University, Sweden, and writer of Seeing by Electricity: The Emergence of Television, 1878 - 1939. 6He visited the museum in 2016. He said the museum not only gives the technological history of television but also, "... its place within popular culture, and modern design and material culture." 7The backstory 8As a child, McVoy would walk around his neighborhood in Gainesville, Florida with a sign that advertised free television repairs. "Nobody accepted my offer," he said, adding it was unlikely he could have repaired a set if anyone had asked. 9A few years later, McVoy worked in a television repair shop and learned those skills. He opened his own shop, Freedom TV, in the mid-1960s. He then formed businesses related to the television industry. Finally, in 1999, he sold his holdings, and looking for something to do, decided to start collecting old television sets. 10The first set he bought was an RCA TRK 12 which was introduced at the 1939 World's Fair. "I think I paid about a thousand... for it," McVoy said, adding that it was in disrepair and missing several parts. "A complete one would have cost five or six thousand; the pre-war sets are very valuable." 11McVoy opened the Early Television Museum in 2002. It is housed in a large, former storage building. Each room has an audio guide, voiced by McVoy. Visitors can also watch a few old shows on some of the sets. Until a few years ago, McVoy helped repair many of the museum's televisions himself. "My eyesight and the stability of my hands makes it difficult now," he said. 12How TV began 13Early televisions were first developed in the mid-1920s by John Logie Baird in England and Charles Jenkins in the United States. 14Information from the museum says that by 1930 "television was being broadcast from over a dozen stations in the U.S., not only in the major cities such as New York and Boston, but also from Iowa and Kansas. The television screens at the time were small." The picture quality was extremely poor, with limited programming. 15Television, McVoy said, made its big entrance to the public on April 30, 1939. That was the time U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the World's Fair in New York with a live broadcast. 16Information from the museum says that about 7,000 sets were made in the United States in 1939 and 1940, and only about 350 still exist. 17World War II halted the production of TV sets in the United States. But technology from the war was used to make better TV when a large increase in sales and programming began. 18McVoy's research found there were about 200,000 sets in the U.S. in 1947 and 18 million by the end of 1953. Then came the popular I Love Lucy program in 1951 and The Honeymooners in 1955. 19Color television came in 1954. Sales began slowly because of the high cost. It was not until the early 1970s that color sets outsold black-and-white ones. 20The Early Television Museum collection is one of the world's largest. About 180 television sets are shown in order by age, with another 50 in storage. 21"We have (an example of) virtually every set that is available," McVoy said. But he is still searching for one made by Philo Farnsworth in the late 1920s or early 1930s. 22"Only three still survive as far as we know and they're all already in other museums," McVoy said. "If a fourth ever shows up, we'd go to our donors and would be able to get it." 23I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Gregory Stachel. 24Steve Wartenberg reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 25_______________________________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27museum - n. a building in which interesting and valuable things (such as paintings and sculptures or scientific or historical objects) are collected and shown to the public 28original - adv. when something first happened or began 29boring - adj. dull and uninteresting 30stable - adj. not easily moved 31dozen - n. a group of 12 people or things 32virtually - adv. very nearly 33_______________________________________________________________ 34What do you think of this story? 35We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 36Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.