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Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Old Time Entertainment

Transistor radio???? Tube radio???? Who would remember such a thing? I do because that was my entertainment when I was a young boy. All us kids knew that we could wrap a thin copper wire around the antenna in the radio and then wrap it around a metal coat hanger and it would improve reception. Sometimes you would have to fiddle with the coat hanger but you could pick up a wide range of stations. I knew for example if I hung the coat hanger out my bedroom window I could pick up the Detroit stations.

Hence I was a Detroit Tiger fan and also a Redwing fan. Any young man worth his salt in those days could tell you who got hits the day after the game and who had what batting average. We heard games done play by play and names like: Al Kaline, Jack Feller, Johnny Groth, Jim Bunning and Harvy Kuenn. You knew their position they played, their batting average, how they fared in their last game and so on. Us guys would spend hours arguing over who should have played, who did play and how they did.

Gordy Howe was a common source of discussion during hockey season. We would pretend to be these guys on ice rinks and ball diamonds.

Today kids have smart phones, endless internet data and a variety of facts at their finger tips. Not so in the old days when you had to remember ERA's and other statistics but homework somehow never made the list. Those who actually did their homework did it listening to a small transistor radio. We would remind each other of game times and opponents. Ahhhh, times were so different then and I wonder with all the modern technology youngsters have available to them now if they really are better off. For one they never almost come to blows or wrestling matches with those who have a different recollection of statistics, or who made what play.

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