Ode To A Vintage TV
October 9, 2005 – 1:17 PMIt is time to pay homage to an old specimen of electronica, namely an old faux-wood-grain 19″ UHF/VHF Linitron television set.
It was my Mamaw Mary's. She passed away in 1991. The TV set went for a short while to my sister, who then gave it to me when I was 18 years old. I have owned and used it ever since, using VCRs and later DVD recorders as a cable interface. There are screws with which to attach a rabbit ear set on top, but I've never used it, not even when Keith and I lived on Goodman Street and had no cable service and were able to pick up FOX nearly flawlessly in our living room despite the lack of antenna.
The TV started its life with my grandmother Mary, who bought it new in the mid 80's. She was an avid watcher of Days of Our Lives and Matlock, and the TV was one of her few material possessions that she took with her when she went to live with my aunt Joey. This would make the TV around 20 years old.
Cable men have laughed at me when they came to my apartments to connect my cable service. “You're going to hook it up to that?” They've chortled.
“I'm going to hook it up to the DVR, which interfaces just fine with the TV,” I responded dryly. The last cable guy was cool, though. He made much fuss over my vintage set and was enthusiastic about it. “If it works, use it! I think that's awesome!” he said. I helped him run the cabling to my set, what a cool guy.
There is a romance about vintage television sets. When I was growing up and learning to draw, I would draw TV sets with antennas atop them, with dial knobs on the side, and the mono speaker. The ovalized screen. Kids today probably teach themselves to draw plasma sets. And there's nothing wrong with that — I am not a Luddite by nature — but you can bet in twenty years these same kids will wistfully look back to the days of plasma screens and DVD sets while their children stare slack-jawed at the latest 3D nano-holographic technology displaying Harry Potter And The Midlife Crisis in the center of their sitting room.
I'm proud that the TV stuck it out as long as it did. Several times in the past seven years I've more than suspected it was about to bite the dust — but it surprised Keith and I by rebounding every time and continuing to work despite its quirks. Back on Goodman St., there was a period of time where we had to warm it up by turning it on about fifteen minutes before the Simpsons came on, in order to be able to view the picture. Then it mysteriously stopped doing this and worked fine. Other times there would be distorted lines across the top of the screen. Other times not. My TV had a PMS cycle as surely as any woman does.
“Throw that TV out and buy a new TV,” my mother said to me, exasperated, more than once. “Mama would never have wanted you to cling to an inanimate object that didn't work well. She'd tell you to get a new TV.” Probably. But it was never a matter of money. I live comfortably without economizing overly much. I could buy a new TV whenever I wish. It was sentimental for me. Mary had so few material possessions. This TV is all I have of her, other than her memory and a prayer printout from her funeral. My mother has her purse. That's all we have of her, other than photos.
“I'll give you her purse!” my mother even tried to convince me, not long ago. “Just throw that dusty TV out. You know she'd tell you to. Mama wasn't sentimental.” Maybe not. But I am. And I don't want Mamaw's purse, not while my mother still lives. It belongs with her. When she dies, i'll take it. But not now.
“I promise you this much,” I told my mother. “When the TV dies, I will throw it out. That's a promise. I may be sentimental, but not insane enough to live with a nonworking dusty TV set.” And so that day has come. It makes me sad. It's an antique, in terms of electronics. It has lent a vintage charm to my sitting room everywhere I've lived for the past 11 years. I will miss it. I suspect not many people actually have working sets like this anymore.
In its place will sit a flat-panel LCD monitor, hooked up to a Mac, set up to broadcast and record cable TV much like a TiVo. It's a new age of television technology. We can edit out commercials, time-shift, and burn our shows to DVD. As I said before, I'm no Luddite. I welcome the new era of media with open arms. I just can't help but wish a little for the warmth and tackiness of that old television that weighed as much as I did. We'll miss you, Linny.
Linny the Linitron experiencing a supernova in its final days