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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

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Wasn't Desi an alcoholic?
 
After his second wife Edith's death, Desi typically drowned his sorrows in booze. He got help from his son Desi Arnaz Jr., and he got off the bottle, but not before the damage was done.

He was diagnosed with lung cancer in early 1986 and died on Dec 2nd 1986.
 
I have to chime in only to show how old I am as well.
That was one of many great episodes of I Love Lucy.
They told her she'd never make it in Hollywood.

Boy, were they ever wrong.
 
Yeah, I must have seen that original episode in
a dream before I was born. Oh, that's right, I forget.
I AM that old!

Lucy was so funny. I can remember my mom dressing like
Lucy and wearing her red hair just like Lucy.

Back in the day

d
 
In the "dating myself" vein ...

My dad had been a radar tech in WW2. After the war I think he bought the first TV in our hometown (an RCA tabletop with an 8 inch screen). See pic at bottom. I was born in 1948 and remember watching Miss Frances on Ding Dong School.

Later in the early 1950s, dad surprised us by bringing home the first CT-100 (RCA's first widely available color tv). Looked like a giant mahogany washing machine - but the picture was only about 15 inches in diameter.

RCA CT-100 "Merrill"

Dad got it set up and spent a whole day adjusting the settings. Back then you had a color convergence setting, focus, screen, hue, intensity, horizontal, vertical, etc. all to worry about. He invited the neighbors over to watch Your Hit Parade (Giselle McKenzie, Snookie Lanson, etc.). The colors were fantastic when Giselle sang Autumn Leaves!

Then at 9pm we turned on Dragnet. Colors were absolutely rotten. With the neighbors watching, dad tried completely re-adjusting all those dials and knobs. Still the color was terrible. Dad called the local tv station, and asked why the color was so bad.

He burst out laughing so hard his eyes started watering. In between the laughs he managed to tell us why the colors were so bad. The show was in black and white.

Good old memories.
Tom
 
Me Ol' Fella and a pal would sit in the friend's basement and play with RCA color TV before it was broadcast in the area. They built a color bar generator just to SEE the color and do all the gun alignment. Two years younger'n you Tom, but same basic deal: DuMont, Phillips and RCA. Da' was an electronics type. Built a stereo (preamps, 500W channel mains!) from components (w/vacuum tubes!) on the dining-room table when "stereo" records were cut with two seperate tracks and two tonearms. That changed shortly... This thing drove two Altec Lansing "Voice of the Theatre" speakers and some others he had on top of 'em... Talk about HEAT generation. woah.
 
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