To me he has something of the young Laurence Olivier about him, the Larry of the Rebecca time period.
The Codger Cabin
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From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
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From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
Just in case attracting one girl is not enough, smoking PA moves the needle to two girls ...
Just in case attracting one girl is not enough, smoking PA moves the needle to two girls ...
I was thinking he resembled Alexander Scourby.
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David Rose, man of a million faces.
You're right, he does! Scourby was better known for his voice than his face, but he appeared as a character actor in a lot of movies and TV episodes.
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- #3,047
Time for a comparison with the viewing audience, thanks to the vast Internet.
First, our man of a million faces, David Rose:
Or, when he's not selling Edgeworth ...
Next, Macnee:
Then Olivier:
And last, Scourby:
But only two of them appear the way we best prefer them here at the Cabin...
Ok audience, place your votes and any other selections for our best match.
The winner gets happy puffs from the tobacco gods tonight.
First, our man of a million faces, David Rose:
Or, when he's not selling Edgeworth ...
Next, Macnee:
Then Olivier:
And last, Scourby:
But only two of them appear the way we best prefer them here at the Cabin...
Ok audience, place your votes and any other selections for our best match.
The winner gets happy puffs from the tobacco gods tonight.
The last two photos...
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From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
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From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
Wow, a 12.5" picture tube! No, I'm not making fun of 1949's technology. Hardly fair it is to critique the past by the standards of the present. Each step forward in TV tech has led us to our 55" screens.
Though it does seem odd to us now that Dad, smoking his pipe at home with the family, appears to be wearing a tie with his suit or sport jacket. Of course it could be that they have company coming over shortly. Grownups dressed like grownups in those days, not like Bart Simpson.
Though it does seem odd to us now that Dad, smoking his pipe at home with the family, appears to be wearing a tie with his suit or sport jacket. Of course it could be that they have company coming over shortly. Grownups dressed like grownups in those days, not like Bart Simpson.
About the tie...people had better manners. People were more social with their neighbors. Not unusual for a post dinner get together of coffee or a game of cards. Some sat out on the porch with drinks visiting with passing neighbors.
Not like today when people shut themselves in after work and seldom socialize with neighbors. Heck, I will bet many don't even know the names of neighbors.
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- #3,054
For those that may still remember, the very early post war TVs could often only be watched in a darkened room, because the tube brightness was so relatively weak. Weak contrast, too. So curtains would be drawn, and lights turned down low (or off) to watch them.
That’s why the sets heading into to the early 50s (as in this 1949 ad) were often touted for their increasing brightness, and the ability to watch them in more normal lighting. Everything else quickly improved, too, but better brightness was a big deal then.
As far as the clothes, adults didn’t lounge around the house so much in suits or dresses, except perhaps for the gentlemen for a short time after work (and that depended on the job; obviously not happening in blue collar homes). But they weren’t flopped all over the couch in sweats and sneakers, either. Slacks, shirts and casual shoes were the usual wear in the nicer homes. And kids tended to be better dressed (there were exceptions). But as always, it did depend on the household. I’m sure there were many homes during this era where ripped up work slacks and wife beaters might be the evening wardrobe to watch Uncle Miltie or Studio One.
There was still a correlation between family income/station and having a TV set at this time, but it was very quickly fading.
I would say by the early 1950s, most homes had a television set, and most homes could afford one. But radio was still very much a part of most homes, too. Radio as a primary family entertainment medium starts to fade a little later in the 50s. Color TV remains a far off Popular Science article for a few more years, with competing standards still to be sorted out.
Obviously, ad copy tends to be on the more idyllic side of the equation in these depictions.
A movie from that accurately depicted the balance between TV and radio in most homes during this era (and how the leading news personalities of the day used and jumped back and forth between them) was The Day The Earth Stood Still. And I think there’s even a pipe in that one somewhere.
I remember repairing a few of those in the mid 60's. In the mid 60's the common TV was a huge 21" to 23" or really huge 25" TV. They would need repairing at least once a year. The day I was 16, got my drivers license, was assigned and started driving a school bus and running TV service calls on my own. People actually were happy to see the TV man coming to fix their TV that would receive 3 or 4 channels. After you finished the repair or installation, would offer you to sit down with them to eat if it was meal time. Things have certainly changed.
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From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
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From The Cabin Coffee Table — An occasional look back at what the old Codgers saw and smoked (with a little detour and frolic, here and there):
In Rex Stout's In the Best Families from 1950, Nero Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin is at a house party as part of the current case. He's disappointed that after dinner everybody gathers in the den to watch the then-new television; he'd hoped to be able to quiz some of the guests. Part of the setup is that the lights are turned off and curtains drawn. (His opinion of TV: "TV is ruining the detective business," and "Most of the programs are for the over-brained or the under-brained, and I come in between.")
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Early golden era TV programming was an interesting mix.
On the one hand, you had a lot of boxing, wrestling, and network drama and comedy/variety shows. And timeless classics came from that, such as Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows (and perhaps the funniest comedy sketch in all TV history, “This Is Your Story”).
But because there was still a lot of open affiliate time slots, and still a lot of independent stations, there was plenty of very interesting local shows and content. Some just fledgling local comedy stars, but more thoughtful content, too.
Besides the great religious classics, such as Life Is Worth Living (a healthy rival to The Milton Berle Show), there were excellent local science shows, such as Science In Action, a small academic production, out of San Francisco.
And plenty of less erudite great local TV programming, where future national stars cut their teeth in comedy or news, such as the early shows of Ernie Kovacs (a legendary cigar smoker, from nearby Trenton, NJ) and Edie Adams, out of Philadelphia.
The production quality may not have been highly polished, but the content was for the ages. It may remind of the early Internet as to the wide variety of nearly amateur content on what was still an infant medium. Many local markets had their own home town TV stations, programming and shows, all with their own local flavor. It was wonderful!
And many of these early TV broadcasts are still available, either freely in public domain, or for a few dollars on DVD. And they are just as educational, entertaining and uplifting now as they were 70 years ago.
Watching TV on that 12 inch GE set, once the lighting and antenna were just right, was almost certainly lot of fun back in the day.
Check out the old episodes of TV detective Martin Kane, Private Eye. The entire show was shot, apparently live or in as few takes as possible, on a soundstage. Lines get flubbed, the scenery wobbles, and the whole thing is basically a 30 minute commercial for Old Briar, Model, and Dill's pipe tobacco. They had one or two integrated commercials per episode that took place in Happy's tobacco shop, where Kane would drop in to stock up on the American Tobacco blend of the week. Invariably the banter would turn to Martin's current case and some background info would be imparted to the audience. You couldn't duck out for a snack during the commercial without the risk of missing a clue. These little interludes probably ruined the show for later syndication, but the medium was just getting started and relied heavily on the programming customs of radio. Three or four actors played Kane over the show's run; Lloyd Nolan was the best in my view but William Gargan was pretty good too. TV private eyes got younger, more suave and better looking as the decade progressed.
