# Very EARLY TV Shows-where to find? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358 "2006-09-27T14:14:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/1 "2006-09-27T14:14:26Z")
I saw a show on cable once about the history of TV. From what I understand, there were a few TV shows broadcast before WWII. I belive that station WBZ (Boston) went on the air in 1939 or so-do any tapes of such early broadcasts survie? Also, the BBC was conducting limited TV braodcasts in the mid-1930’s are any of those around? I’d like to see some examples of very early TV-are there any tapes of TV braodcasts using the old mechanical scanning wheels? thos images must be pretty crude. anybody have a source for this stuff? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/2 "2006-09-27T14:24:23Z")
The big problem is that videotape didn’t exist in the early days. Even in the 50s, any existing footage of shows were captured by aiming a camera at the TV screen and shooting them on film (kinescopes). Even when these were made, they were often discarded. Still, there may be some footage somewhere. The [Museum of Television and Radio](http://www.mtr.org/) may have something. ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/3 "2006-09-27T14:29:58Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I saw a show on cable once about the history of TV. From what I understand, there were a few TV shows broadcast before WWII. I belive that station WBZ (Boston) went on the air in 1939 or so-do any tapes of such early broadcasts survie? Also, the BBC was conducting limited TV braodcasts in the mid-1930’s are any of those around? I’d like to see some examples of very early TV-are there any tapes of TV braodcasts using the old mechanical scanning wheels? thos images must be pretty crude. anybody have a source for this stuff? [/QUOTE] You’re not going to find any “early videotapes” because television broadcasting predates videotape by many years. What you may find out there are more recent dubs of “kinescopes,” which were made by focusing a film camera on a television monitor and filming the image on the monitor. Kinescopes are known for their crappy quality, though, and many of them have been lost or destroyed over the years. A good place to start your search for old material would be the “dollar DVD” racks at grocery stores, dollar stores, Wal-Mart, etc. I’ve seen several compilations of early TV put together onto DVD, including a few that have some otherwise-forgotten Christmas specials which are a real hoot. I don’t know your location, but you might want to try [The Museum of Television and Radio](http://www.mtr.org/) in NY or LA, which has extensive archival collections open for public viewing. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/4 "2006-09-27T16:29:49Z")
In addition to kinescopes, two types of disk recordings exist. Nipkow disks and other devices were used for mechanical television broadcasts, which continued in England as late as 1935. Since these were limited to about 30 lines of information, they were completely superseded by electronic broadcasting. Some attempts were made to record signals on transcription disks similar to the huge LP-like platters used to record radio programs. A quick Google search doesn’t come up with any hits, though. You should definitely try the [Early Television Museum](http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=inventors&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.earlytelevision.org%2F) site for its amazingly detailed histories of old television. There is at least a [page of early promotional films](http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=inventors&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.earlytelevision.org%2F) that show early broadcasts, but the site is so huge that I haven’t explored it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/5 "2006-09-27T16:33:48Z")
Just had a brainstorm and found them. [The World’s Earliest Television Recordings](http://www.tvdawn.com/recordng.htm). > [@](#): > > These recordings were all made on slight variations of John Logie Baird’s 30-line mechanical television system. The disc recordings are all original and have tremendous historical importance. > > The remake of the first television play (in both sound and vision) used original Baird equipment and was produced by the original producer, Lance Sieveking. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/6 "2006-09-27T22:05:55Z")
If I recall what I’ve been told correctly, the earliest television material at the Museum of Television and Radio is a few minutes of silent film of a 1940 television broadcast. The earliest television holdings in the UCLA Film and Television Archive (the television archive that I can search with greatest ease) appear to date from 1946, and consist of 1) a portion of a television newsreel, and 2) what appears to be footage shot off of a television set by a home viewer. The first year for which there is any sizable material at UCLA is 1948, with holdings including the last half-hour of coverage of the 1948 Presidential election. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/7 "2006-09-27T22:45:29Z")
I used to buy early/hard to find movies and television shows from a company called Video Yesteryear, out of New Jersey, if memory serves. Haven’t dealt with them in ten years, or so, so I don’t know if they’re still around. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/8 "2006-09-28T04:58:00Z")
The earliest record of an American television drama is five minutes of silent 16 mm footage filmed off a television set, from a production of the play _The Streets of New York_ broadcast on a New York television station in 1939. Unfortunately, every newsreel story I’ve seen on television in the 1930s and 1940s “fakes” it by superimposing a film image over the actual television image. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/9 "2006-09-28T05:03:13Z")
What a [30-line mechanically scanned television image](http://www.cedmagic.com/history/baird-television-image.html) looked like in 1926. The [earliest American television stations](http://www.earlytelevision.org/mechanical_stations.html). You may want to turn down your speaker; otherwise “you are hearing the video from the Baird 30 line standard.” Scratch W9XD Milwaukee from that list; they never got past doing field tests. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2006, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/10 "2006-09-28T09:54:43Z")
> [@](#): > > In addition to kinescopes, two types of disk recordings exist. Nipkow disks and other devices were used for mechanical television broadcasts, which continued in England as late as 1935. Not sure what you mean here, but a Nipkow disk isn’t a recording medium. Its the device which served as a mechanical “shutter” to scan and playback images on the Bairde mechanical system. Actually, when put that way, I guess you could call it a recording device. But it wasn’t a recording _medium_ like tape or disc. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/11 "2006-09-29T01:13:41Z")
Some more research: The earliest television holdings of the [Museum of Broadcast Communications](http://www.museum.tv/home.php) in Chicago date from December 1945. Two of the most noted dealers of old television are Shokus Video and KineVideo. The earliest programs availible through them appear to date from 1948 or thereabouts. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-early-tv-shows-where-to-find/374358/12 "2006-09-29T09:10:33Z")
from the Perlinger Archives; [http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger](http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger) The site states that the free public domain download is from the mid 40s on where TV is headed.