My friend Sam recently purchased a 50-inch Panasonic plasma HDTV for $2500. There were rebates and side deals for installation, but the bottom line is, that’s how much he spent.
And that got me thinking. Is that a lot of money for a TV set? Well, sure it is, but how does it compare to the first color TV my family owned? My father bought an RCA color console in 1967. The first program I ever watched on it? Don’t ask! OK, I’ll tell you. It was My Mother the Car.
Dad says to the best of his recollection the set cost $450. Running that amount through a few online inflation calculators, in today’s dollars that comes out to $2714. So it would seem that Sam’s purchase isn’t all that extravagant.
Ah, yes, our first color TV. If you go to TVDays.com, and click on the introductory entry, the guy “channel surfs” and you can hear that unmistakable clunk-clunk-clunking sound made by the tumblers, which the author of this blog and his older brother were nefarious for turning too fast when changing channels!
The first time I was blown away by seeing COLOR! was by the “Andy Williams Christmas Carol.” It was also a BIG DEAL to finally be able to see “Rudolph” and “The Wizard of Oz” en coleur!