# Your very first TV memory **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598 "2012-04-22T16:32:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/101 "2012-04-25T00:28:03Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > The moon landings. My first memory is \*\*\*a \*\*\*moon landing, but I’m not sure which one. I was not quite 2 in July of 1969, so I doubt I remember Apollo 11. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/102 "2012-04-25T01:28:54Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > I think you may be confusing ["Ding Dong School"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Horwich)with "[“Romper Room.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romper_Room) > > “Romper Room” was franchised and did indeed have various hostesses. Miss Nancy was the one I remember. But I used to watch "Ding Dong School every morning and never saw anyone except Miss Frances. I LOVED Miss Frances! The wiki article seems to bear out Miss Frances as the only host. Refer back to the cited quotation that this was a response to. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/103 "2012-04-25T19:29:50Z")
My first memory of a TV show is from '56 or so. I was laying on the couch watching Liberace on a tiny (early '50’s style) b&w screen. Years and years later I learned that Liberace was famous for wearing outrageously flamboyant outfits on his show. This was news to me, as the resolution on that old TV screen was about .000001 of the res on my iPhone. Also, I’m not sure I understood fully the concept of “sequins” at the age of 3. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/104 "2012-04-26T18:41:34Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > You know, I think the demographics of this board might skew a tad bit to the older side. Yup. I wish I was able to experience the truly momentous moments caught on TV - the moon landings, the Queen’s coronation, Cronkite announcing JFK’s assassination…Princess Di’s death and 9/11 on TV didn’t make as much impact because of the net. ---
**Author:** ![Phroggge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Phroggge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phroggge)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/105 "2012-04-28T23:21:38Z")
Howdy Doody, on a very small screen. A neighbor with the only TV in the neighborhood used to let the kids come in the afternoon once or twice a week to watch, must’ve been 1947-ish since I was around 6. I watched somewhat more regularly, still at neighbors’ houses, after we moved several years later, but we didn’t own a set till the mid-50’s. One family even had a “color” TV early on: a plastic overlay with broad tinted strips of, I think, blue, red and green. Folks with sets invited those of us without over to watch Elizabeth’s wedding, and— thanks for the memory, Sam Clem—I even vaguely recall that first fellow having lots of people in for the Truman inauguration. A couple of decades later, I watched the original Doctor, William Hartnell, on telly during a visit to England, and subsequently got a kick out of a Candid Camera episode in which temporary secretaries were startled/terrified when a Dalek burst into the room demanding their extermination… nobody I knew here was familiar with our favorite Time Lord. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/106 "2012-04-28T23:27:36Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Challenger Explosion. This is my 1st _distinct_ memory. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/107 "2012-04-29T01:15:57Z")
I remember Beany and Cecil, the Flintstones, Top Cat and JFK’s assassination, all from around the same time. I think that Beany and Cecil is the first. When I say I remember the JFK assassination, I mean I remember bits and pieces of news reports after it happened. I was about four or five at the time. I do remember that I hated Top Cat, but I don’t know why. All I really remember is that when it came on TV, I stopped watching. I also have a vague memory of Art Linkletter, probably “Queen for a Day,” but I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/108 "2012-04-29T01:34:54Z")
After researching, I see that if I have a memory of Art Linkletter, it would have been “House Party,” not “Queen for a Day.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/109 "2012-04-29T01:35:45Z")
The Twentieth Century with Walter Cronkite in the 50s at my uncle’s place which we visited every Sunday. He had a tv long before our family. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/110 "2012-04-29T03:07:19Z")
Oh wow, Oliversarmy. That brings back memories. Seeing the mention above, I realize that I just about remember Beany and Cecil as a cartoon before it went off the air. My brother had a Beany and Cecil board game that we played until it fell apart. Literally. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/111 "2012-04-29T03:54:32Z")
Farmer Gray, on a neighbor’s TV early mid fifties. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/112 "2012-04-29T18:26:40Z")
1955: Peter Pan (Mary Martin) Short but pretty clear memory of PP “floating” down from window to floor. 1956: “A Short Vision” Animated short film that ran in prime time on Ed Sullivan Show. In spite of TeeVee warnings to parents about children seeing it, I was in the room and watched it with them. I was five and a half. See it on YouTube and you’ll understand why I vividly remembered selected moments for the rest of my life. (Until I finally saw it again just 2-3 years ago.) . ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/113 "2012-04-29T18:59:58Z")
Now I’ve read everyone else’s posts. What memories. > [@DMark](#): > > There was a kids’ show (Ding Dong School?) Miss Frances! > [@Musicat](#): > > It’s Howdy Doody Time! Wow. I can remember some Indian Princess singing “Let Me Go, Lover” to a bad guy who had her in a cell. She sang “Pirate” instead of “Lover.” > [@RealityChuck](#): > > I did see the original **Davy Crockett** (and had a coonskin cap)… > I also remember watching **The Mickey Mouse Club** and do remember **The Adventures of Spin and Marty** Yep. “…Mickey Mouse,\* Donald DUCK!\*…” Also had me a coonskin cap. > [@elfkin477](#): > > A little older than that, 4 maybe, I saw The Wizard of Oz for the first time and hated it. Still do. > [@Jasper\_Kent](#): > > You’re the first person I’ve ever heard say this. Sure, some people like it more than others and a few people can take it or leave it. But I’ve **never** heard someone say they hate it. You have now. I was six when it first broadcast on TV, and although I don’t remember that event, I’ve hated it all my life. I’ve never been able to sit through more than a few minutes of it. Can’t explain why. > [@mambocrow](#): > > Sometime in 1954, Friday Night Fights, sponsored by Gilette. At least I think it aired on Fridays. Three hours of boxing. My grandfather watched “The Fights” religously. I’ll never forget him leaning forward from the couch, shadow boxing involuntarily. > [@mambocrow](#): > > I remember watching a sitcom entitled “Oh Susanna” on that set. Gale Storm. Was that before or after “My Little Margie”? ("That’s _My_ Little Margie!) I can still hear that 50’s style theme music. Other memories you all have stoked: “Queen For A Day”, “The Twentieth Century”, “Waterfront”, “Arthur Godfrey” and his moronic chuckling, “Art Linkletter’s House Party.” Please continue. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598/114 "2012-04-29T19:45:16Z")
Another vote for _Star Trek_ when I was about… _this_ many [holds up three fingers]. I was too young to follow the stories but I liked the pretty colors (the yellow, blue and red uniforms) and the blinky light across the bottom of the viewscreen. I remember the opening notes of the theme came to be very exciting, and I used to try to find the _Enterprise_ in the stars, and then I’d see it… and it very quickly got bigger and bigger and _SWOOSH_ and it was gone. Here it comes again… _SWOOSH_ and it was gone again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-very-first-tv-memory/619598.md?page=5)