![]() In 1947 sales jumped to two hundred thousand units. RCA sold ten thousand units in the first year, at a price of $385 each. The following year, industry leader RCA (Radio Corporation of America) introduced the 630-TS set, a black-and-white model with a ten-inch screen. Although television sets first became available to the American people in the late 1930s, sales did not really begin to take off until after World War II ended in 1945. It seems such a $1 Store item now that I’m an adult, but as a 9 year-old it was magical. I’m shocked at how many years it was available to the public. Thanks for hosting the facts of how this scam-product worked. At the time I didn’t quite understand it all, but as an adult, having raised my own 3 boys and played tricks of my own on them, I can see I’ve obviously forgotten what a hoot this was for mom and dad – they must have had a hard time to keep from peeing themselves watching us squirm! The story has only become funnier as the years go by. But not being able to get into the back to see THE MOST AMAZING THING a kid in the mid-60’s could possibly imagine… being the first kids on the block to have color TV! Yeah, you could say they played us like a fiddle. “Don’t you boys dare get into the back and touch that new color TV or we’ll whip you within an inch of your life!” My 5-year old brother and I were losing our minds trying to figure out how they had managed to get a color TV into the back of the station wagon in just a few paper grocery bags! Of course in those days, we could get up on our knees on the back seat and face backwards. Oh, they had a wonderful time playing with our brains all the way home – couldn’t have been more than a 30 minute drive – but they milked it for all it was worth. We never talked about it again – except once in awhile my brother and I walk down memory lane, or I’ll regale my grandkids with tales of woe and it’ll come up. By the time we got indoors, the film was gone – and so was our ‘color TV’. By the time the movie was over, we were allowed to go outside and play. We wound up watching THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD. But mom and dad were determined not to let the $2 the paid go to waste. It was a Saturday afternoon and that usually meant dead space to little boys who wanted to go outside and play. We flipped channels, expecting it to get better, but it didn’t. Finally we were able to run down the hallway to see… the tri-colored film on our b/w TV. When we got home, we were ordered to our room to wait while dad got the brand new color TV out of the station wagon and set it up in the front room. I thought our eyes were going to bug out! We spent the whole ride home losing our minds trying to figure out how they had gotten a color TV into the back of the car when all we could see were 4 paper grocery bags. As we took off, my parents got very excited talking about the brand new color TV they had purchased at the store. As the shopping cart was wheeled up to the back of the station wagon, my younger brother and I were directed to get into the back seat instead of hopping into the back cargo area – this was back before seat belts, kids. ![]() We went to a local general store where you could buy everything. I’ve never had anybody doubt it – I have a VERY vivid memory of this! I would’ve been about 9. ![]() Working on my journal, looking up things from my childhood – this was high on my list.
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