Clarence, yes I shared WHERE I'M FROM poem template that came from (Mrs) George Ella Lyon. I was introduced to it at a writer's workshop my first full year of "being a writer in 2003." I later spent a week with a bunch of writers that included George Ella, at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at the HIndman Settlement School in Hindman, KY.
Canned asparagus. there were no cartoon characters going near the stuff. But the real deal, picked seconds before eating raw--I was an instant convert!
There is a slight connection between aphantasia and the inability to recall past events with clarity. I don't remember too much, but clearly remember my first nightmare - which arrived the same night that I watched the Wizard of Oz on the television with my parents. I don't remember too much about the movie from that first version, but I clearly remember the absolute fear of that nightmare, and exclaiming to my mother that 'the witch was trying to get me...' Because of the nightmare, I remember the movie.
If the Winky Dink had been an option in our home, I would have been scrawling on the screen as well! It makes me want to put plastic on the computer screen right now and enjoy this experience!
I don't like walking through that dimly lit corridor very much now. I question the accuracy of what comes to my mind today.
I came into the world in 1940 and we know what happened in December of 1941. I must rely on history records or the years that passed until I was old enough to enter grade school. My life came into blurry focus in my first grade classes.
I believe that I saw my first TV in 1948. It had a very small screen with a magnifier placed in front of it for more comfortable viewing. Felix the Cat resided there.
TV was only being broadcast for a few hours per day and we certainly couldn't afford our own set, so any exposure I had to it was when we visited a more affluent friend of our family's home. We lived across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio at the time. The next 13 years were packed with TV connected memories.
I remember how much our parents loved to watch wrestling. We visited a relative's home that was within walking distance as often as they were willing to put up with us just to watch TV.
Do you remember that monotonous test pattern that was on the screen when nothing was being broadcast. It was burned into my memory somehow. Also, what I enjoyed listening to on our giant radio gets mixed up with TV watching. There was a World War raging for a long time during my early years, so pleasant memories were seldom made back then.
My friend (a few years older than me) mentioned Captain Video which I had not heard of. Oh yes, the test pattern. And the refrigerator-sized Victrola radio--with the same eerie glowing tubes. Fascinating! Felix the Cat. The animations of the day were so endearingly crude, todays far too photo-realistic to engage the imagination.
This is a super thread you have inspired. If I still had more than a spoon full of functioning brain cells and the dexterity in my hands to type as I remembered, I might have contributed more to the conversation.
I would like to add a few details about characters performing on the Howdy Doody show. Buffalo Bob (the host) Phenius T. Bluster, Clarabelle the Clown, Flubbadub, the mutant creature from someone's fantasies and let's not forget The Peanut Gallery. My imagination simply exploded as I stared at the screen through sparkling eyes.
Was it you who suggested that your many friends compose a composition focused on "Where I come from?" I responded with my own version and it resulted in one of my best works. I recently shared it with friends and family at The Celebration of my Dear Brother's Life, who was gone on to be with our Lord. I'm our oldest sibling now and other survivors' are few in number.
My personal Thanks goes out to all who participated and made this conversation so great.
I hope to be stirred again soon by another one of your threads.
I was 8 in 1951, when we moved to Knoxville from Detroit. I don’t remember what I watched in Detroit, but our TV sat dark for quite a few months before Knoxville had a TV station. My earliest shows were Howdy Doody and Kukla, Fran and Ollie. Knoxville had a kids show with an MC called Pinkie Lee. His song: “Yoo Hoo, It’s me, My name is Pinkie Lee, I skip and run, have lots of fun, with every he and she” is still in my head!!
My first TV experience or remembrance was the Ed Sullivan show that was on Sunday nights and then I think bonanza came on afterwards or before. I was not allowed to watch TV during the week except on Saturday mornings and I watched my friend Flicka, and sky king. Today I watch very little TV, especially I do not watch any news channels!
My first memory is Popeye swallowing down his spinach and letting Brutus have it. Unfortunately as much as I tried to like canned spinach, I couldn’t. Many decades later I discovered sautéed spinach with garlic - which I now seek out. If only there had been an Italian Popeye.
My very first memory of TV is Sesame Street. I remember sitting on the floor under a blanket on front of the TV when we lived in New Hampshire, so age 4. Then we moved to Spain with no English language TV for 4 years. So I ignored the boobtube in that formative 5-8 age range.
We moved to the country and TV reception (when kids were 3 and 8) was such that we only got PBS sound or grainy visuals. Not both. Kids had to choose to SEE or LISTEN to Masterpiece Theatre. Nah. So they become voracious readers instead.
Clarence, yes I shared WHERE I'M FROM poem template that came from (Mrs) George Ella Lyon. I was introduced to it at a writer's workshop my first full year of "being a writer in 2003." I later spent a week with a bunch of writers that included George Ella, at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at the HIndman Settlement School in Hindman, KY.
Canned asparagus. there were no cartoon characters going near the stuff. But the real deal, picked seconds before eating raw--I was an instant convert!
There is a slight connection between aphantasia and the inability to recall past events with clarity. I don't remember too much, but clearly remember my first nightmare - which arrived the same night that I watched the Wizard of Oz on the television with my parents. I don't remember too much about the movie from that first version, but I clearly remember the absolute fear of that nightmare, and exclaiming to my mother that 'the witch was trying to get me...' Because of the nightmare, I remember the movie.
If the Winky Dink had been an option in our home, I would have been scrawling on the screen as well! It makes me want to put plastic on the computer screen right now and enjoy this experience!
I don't like walking through that dimly lit corridor very much now. I question the accuracy of what comes to my mind today.
I came into the world in 1940 and we know what happened in December of 1941. I must rely on history records or the years that passed until I was old enough to enter grade school. My life came into blurry focus in my first grade classes.
I believe that I saw my first TV in 1948. It had a very small screen with a magnifier placed in front of it for more comfortable viewing. Felix the Cat resided there.
TV was only being broadcast for a few hours per day and we certainly couldn't afford our own set, so any exposure I had to it was when we visited a more affluent friend of our family's home. We lived across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio at the time. The next 13 years were packed with TV connected memories.
I remember how much our parents loved to watch wrestling. We visited a relative's home that was within walking distance as often as they were willing to put up with us just to watch TV.
Do you remember that monotonous test pattern that was on the screen when nothing was being broadcast. It was burned into my memory somehow. Also, what I enjoyed listening to on our giant radio gets mixed up with TV watching. There was a World War raging for a long time during my early years, so pleasant memories were seldom made back then.
Captain Video and his Video Rangers
Howdy Doody
The Lone Ranger
The Life of Riley
Lucy & Desi
Rawhide
Gunsmoke
The Rifleman
Flash Gordon
Micky Mouse Club
Sky King
Etc.
My friend (a few years older than me) mentioned Captain Video which I had not heard of. Oh yes, the test pattern. And the refrigerator-sized Victrola radio--with the same eerie glowing tubes. Fascinating! Felix the Cat. The animations of the day were so endearingly crude, todays far too photo-realistic to engage the imagination.
Thanks Fred
This is a super thread you have inspired. If I still had more than a spoon full of functioning brain cells and the dexterity in my hands to type as I remembered, I might have contributed more to the conversation.
I would like to add a few details about characters performing on the Howdy Doody show. Buffalo Bob (the host) Phenius T. Bluster, Clarabelle the Clown, Flubbadub, the mutant creature from someone's fantasies and let's not forget The Peanut Gallery. My imagination simply exploded as I stared at the screen through sparkling eyes.
Was it you who suggested that your many friends compose a composition focused on "Where I come from?" I responded with my own version and it resulted in one of my best works. I recently shared it with friends and family at The Celebration of my Dear Brother's Life, who was gone on to be with our Lord. I'm our oldest sibling now and other survivors' are few in number.
My personal Thanks goes out to all who participated and made this conversation so great.
I hope to be stirred again soon by another one of your threads.
Clarence Bowles
I was 8 in 1951, when we moved to Knoxville from Detroit. I don’t remember what I watched in Detroit, but our TV sat dark for quite a few months before Knoxville had a TV station. My earliest shows were Howdy Doody and Kukla, Fran and Ollie. Knoxville had a kids show with an MC called Pinkie Lee. His song: “Yoo Hoo, It’s me, My name is Pinkie Lee, I skip and run, have lots of fun, with every he and she” is still in my head!!
Good grief. I remember Pinky Lee (from Birmingham). Brain worm!
My first TV experience or remembrance was the Ed Sullivan show that was on Sunday nights and then I think bonanza came on afterwards or before. I was not allowed to watch TV during the week except on Saturday mornings and I watched my friend Flicka, and sky king. Today I watch very little TV, especially I do not watch any news channels!
My Friend Flicka. I had forgotten; and other animals--Rin Tin Tin and of course, Lassie. Sky King--and niece Penny?
My first memory is Popeye swallowing down his spinach and letting Brutus have it. Unfortunately as much as I tried to like canned spinach, I couldn’t. Many decades later I discovered sautéed spinach with garlic - which I now seek out. If only there had been an Italian Popeye.
My very first memory of TV is Sesame Street. I remember sitting on the floor under a blanket on front of the TV when we lived in New Hampshire, so age 4. Then we moved to Spain with no English language TV for 4 years. So I ignored the boobtube in that formative 5-8 age range.
We moved to the country and TV reception (when kids were 3 and 8) was such that we only got PBS sound or grainy visuals. Not both. Kids had to choose to SEE or LISTEN to Masterpiece Theatre. Nah. So they become voracious readers instead.
Now that you mention it, Spain is where I became so enamored with books. The lack of other options is probably not a coincidence.