Remembering childhood TV
Baby boomers, those born between 1940 and 1961. Now we are all over 60, bald or grey. What did shape us along the way?
Well, most of us can recall that one of our influences was a free standing black and white television, which appeared, like a seductive stranger, in the corner of the lounge room. Our homes were in sprawling suburbs, three or four bedroomed weatherboards, or brick veneers, hot in summer and cold in winter.
Our early evenings were devoted to gaping at our new possession, the television. Someone had to walk the expanse of the lounge room to turn the switches for transmission, and change the channels. If we were allowed to stay up ‘late’, the television played the national anthem, the set was turned off, and we were ‘allowed’ to go to bed.
The family gathered to be life-coached by American sit-coms, of variable standard and humour. We all lapped it up devotedly. Walt Disney was a large influence. Disneyland was like a fairy tale, we all wanted to wear black Mickey Mouse ears, without asking why.
Even stranger, all our issues and family relations could be solved, by tuning in to Leave it to Beaver, or Father Knows Best. Or did he? Then, our mothers tried to look like Lucille Ball, a poodle in a gingham flouncy skirt and steel rollers in her hair, 24/7. Weird.
Weirder still – our greatest mentor as young Australians was Lassie! Who was Lassie? Lassie was, in reality, a male dog acting as a female – in fact, all the Lassies were males, and their sons). Lassie would never say a word in English, or any other language. She/he only spoke dog language.
Yes, a mute collie dog waving her paw through a small black and white screen, in shades of grey. This shaped our generation in Australia, the baby boomers – these days, the over-60s. But we are still a product of our life and times, a childhood life coached by Lassie. Worth a giggle.
A little verse for you.
LASSIE LOVERS TODAY!
It’s time for the Lassie show again,
Switched on in world of black, white and grey,
Let’s all give Lassie a wave,
As Lassie appears today,
But Lassie does not have much to say,
Yes, we’ve learnt our family values today,
Half an hour of Lassie again…
Now we’re old, bald or grey,
In a Lassie-lovers kind of way,
Let’s all have a kick butt day!