Sunday, February 13, 2011

Yet another TV...


A little follow-up to my TV post the other day. I found this picture of my Dad, circa 1958, in the Toronto basement apartment my parents lived in after they first arrived in Canada after emigrating from England. Like the cute little TV? Not to mention all the beer Dad was holding! He must have sent this photo home to his mother in England. On the back he wrote, "I'm not as drunk as I look." I have quite a few photos from this era with various things written on the back to my grandmother; my Dad was always sending photos home to her. He got the pictures back after she died in 1976.

Love that 50s decor!

12 comments:

  1. Dad, you look like the kind of guy I would have gotten along extremely well with.

    Too bad I was only one when this photo was shot.

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  2. Yeh, that 50s decor is great!

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  3. people accepted things a lot simpler then didnt they?

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  4. I *love* looking at old photos, even if they're of people I don't know. It's always so fascinating to me to look at how people lived and I always spend time examining the faces...trying to glean what emotions they were feeling.
    This is a great picture - your dad looks incredibly happy. :-)

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  5. Anonymous6:45 pm

    Did you ever put one of those shaded mats over your TV to make it "color"? Blue and green. . . what was the middle color? It NEVER worked out right!

    Funny that your dad sent that to his mother.

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  6. Anonymous7:10 pm

    That blonde wood cabinet behind your Dad looks like it was from the Heywood Wakefield furniture company. My daughter has a dining room table, chairs and hutch that she got from a friend's grandmother's estate sale. Those are hard to find and can cost a pretty penny at auction.

    What a handsome dude!

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  7. oh wow, that is so neat...I like looking through the old family pictures...you never know what your going to see...your dad looks like he was having a great time in this photo lol! I'm not sure I like the furnishings of that era though... but I do like some of the knick knacks from then...I hope you had a nice valentines day!

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  8. Chef Nick, I like to think you weren't drinking beer when you were one. :) My Dad was quite the gregarious guy, which worked well in his chosen profession of salesman!

    Little Blue Mouse, it's certainly DIFFERENT!

    JOhn, that's for sure!

    Farmgirl, I'm with you. Old photos are great. It doesn't matter if you don't know the subjects!

    Marylee, we never had one of those shaded mats (that I can remember). Pretty hilarious. I think we got our first colour TV right around the time Sesame Street was starting up, and I was just ageing out of that show. But I remember watching it in colour and being impressed!

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  9. TTPT, I had never heard of Haywood Wakefield, so I Googled them. Pretty cool website! We have some great farm auctions around here where you can find pristine old treasures (furniture and otherwise!)

    Jennifer, my Dad was often having a good time in life. :) He had a great sense of humour. Hope you had a nice Valentine's day too.

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  10. I lived in one of those basement apts. in Toronto, when I first moved here, as a bride. They were very comfortable. They were a part of well-built, split-level houses on very nice streets. Owners rented them to help pay the morgage. They were all very well finished inside. We had complete privacy, with our own entrance, a small kitchen and bathroom.
    We had a bedroom, and a living room with a dining area. We could use the owner's yard in summer. I was even given a small flower plot. And we shared the owner's laundry corner in the unfinished basement part.

    Very good memories! Thanks, Knatolee! Your parents must have been very happy.

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  11. Anonymous2:45 pm

    I love this old TV thread.

    I was sitting here thinking about it and the name of the old family tv just popped into my head .. only i was a bit wrong... i thought 'dupont' but it was 'dumont'. and ...ta da! here's a picture of it...
    http://www.tvhistory.tv/1956-Dumont-RA350.JPG

    this is a really interesting site:
    http://www.tvhistory.tv/index.html
    :D

    I think we used that one until the late 60s. then when vhf came out ... we had to get one with more channels, but it was a tiny 14" b/w. fortunately i was the only one watching it most of the time. slouched in a livingroom chair with my feet on the bookshelves ... eating crackers..hahah.

    love the pic of your dad. boy, time just passes, doesn't it. we are all in our little timelines ...living our little lives.

    always reminds me of that scene from 'Dead Poets Society' where mr keating tells his students to lean close to the glass case with all the pics of the sports teams from past years and decades. he says "can you hear what they're saying?" and all the boys lean in closer and closer and he starts whispering 'carpe diem' 'caaarrrrppppeeeeee diiiiiiieeemm'.
    :)

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  12. Claude, I like hearing your stories! Maybe you were my parents' neighbour back in 1958. :)

    Dr. Sloth, the Dumont is a cool old TV! Neat picture. And the TV website is great, thanks for sharing that.

    I remember seeing Dead Poets' Society right around the time I fell in love with The Caber. :)

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!