Television in the home - 1986 at the Royal Festival Hall

[ppppenguin]

I found this leaflet for this exhibition in 1986 for the 50th anniversary of BBC TV. It was one my early experiences of vintage TV.

Although Jonathan Hill's name is on the flyer, much of the work was done by Steve Ostler (aka Panrock) and John Gillies.

Many pre-war TVs were running for quite a few hours each day. I don't think we'll ever see that again.

The Museum of the Moving Image is long gone. I went to one of the opening ceremonies. Not the posh one, the "other ranks" one

PS: The leaflet is just black and white. No halftones. It's not a scanning artefact.

[Panrock]

This was one of my earlier experiences of vintage TV too, Jeffrey.  I had acquired my Marconi 702 three years earlier.  A name also worth mentioning in connexion with helping at this exhibition was Terry Harvey, a Canadian engineer on secondment to the BBC, whose restored 1938 Baird T18 had been the last thing shown on BBC1 at the final closedown of 405-lines in early 1985.

I attach a view of some of the sets at the exhibition.

An aside on my 702. This came to be through a middleman in 1983 for £50. Allegedly, it had been 'rescued off a skip' in SE London.   The 6/6 tube I later fitted had been knocking (literally) around on the floor in the Redundant Plant store at BBC Wood Norton. I just happened to be "Assistant, Equipment & Stores": a lowly post but one that had its perks. The conventional wisdom there was it might be an ancient scope tube, and yes... no problem if I wanted it.  Some scope!         

Steve

[peter scott]

From the lack of interest in the HMV901 currently for sale we may be entering another period when these early sets are freely available.

Peter

[LENINGRAD T2]

Collecting:
- enhances the aesthetic experience
- enriches intellectual experiences
- creates complacency due to having unique things
- evokes reflection and takes you back to the past
- connects emotionally with people who produced, used or owned specific items
- distracts from negative emotions related to everyday life

The above-mentioned seem to be timeless. So why is collecting declining, what is killing it?

In my opinion, modern man has a lot. At any moment he can have even more. Modern people do not see anything special in owning things, even unique ones.

Adam

[Mike Watterson]

Newer houses have less space?

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

Fewer people that remember the stuff first-hand are alive.

[BusyBee]

The minimalist style is very common today. It's good for those housolds in which both partners work and cleaning the house has little time but never appears comfortable to me. I can cope with a little more dust and cleaning to have a more interesting place. There are limits though

Tracy

[Richard_FM]

The minimalist style is very common today. It's good for those housolds in which both partners work and cleaning the house has little time but never appears comfortable to me. I can cope with a little more dust and cleaning to have a more interesting place. There are limits though   

Tracy

Me & my Wife are in the process of a house move at the moment & she wants enough room not have the clutter we've had in our flat!

[ppppenguin]

Parkinson's law: Work expands to fill the time available

By some kind of time to space transform (Fourier?): Stuff expands to fill the space available

I'm in the lucky position of being able to collect by proxy. The BECG's museum premises are getting on for 30,000sq ft. The place seemed huge when we bought it just over two years ago but it seem to be shrinking by the day!

[LENINGRAD T2]

I haven't had enough space for TVs at home for a long time now. This is the third time I've changed warehouses. Fortunately, my collecting has a strictly defined framework and it seems to me that I am reaching its zenith. My next goal is to launch a museum, but it is a difficult and time-consuming organizational and financial process. I am at the stage of establishing a foundation. This will definitely facilitate dialogue with officials and will allow me to obtain appropriate financial resources. Following various activities on this forum has undoubtedly allowed me to look at collecting from a broader perspective. This is a significant experience.

[Panrock]

Good luck with your progress, Adam.

Steve