Butch Remembers the TV Repairman…

  Most of the families that I knew when I was growing up purchased their first television sets in the early 1950s. My Dad purchased our first TV in 1952 when I was 4 years old. This was two years before we managed to get a bathtub and indoor toilet installed . . . so I’m not quite sure what Dad’s priorities were! The TV sat in the living room next to the door that led into the kitchen . . . just a few feet from where the oak ringer phone hung on the wall. We could sit near the fuel oil stove for warmth as we watched our new TV in the winter.

   The TV was quite heavy and contained many tubes of various sizes behind the screen. These first TVs were black and white, no color until the mid-1960s if I remember correctly. The picture quality was not the best either, with quite a bit of “snow” on the screen. When our TV went on the blink, Dad called one of the local TV repairmen, Husted “Shoney” Peterson or George Bottom, both of whom had taken a TV repair class in the late 1940s. Shoney’s wife Naomi, was my 3rd grade teacher. George’s daughter, Ruby, was a cheerleader, and his other daughter, Joyce, had babysit for my brother and me on occasion. When Shoney or George showed up, they carried a large suitcase full of testing equipment and TV tubes. Then they proceeded to unscrew the back of the set, brush off the dust inside, and look for tubes that had turned dark, which was an indication that the tube had burned out. They stuck in a new tube . . . and we were in business again!

   Now sometimes the tubes were good, but the picture “rolled,” and there was a problem with the vertical or horizontal hold. George and Shoney could usually figure it out after adjusting a few screws or knobs. As I recall, neither of them charged very much . . . I think it was $2.00 plus the cost of the tubes. And they often would stay, have an iced tea or cup of coffee and chat with my folks. Of course, the adults back then socialized a lot more than they do today.

   When solid-state TVs appeared in the early 1960s, the TV repairman was soon out of business. Shoney was old enough to retire, and George started up an appliance repair and sales business at his house. John Shumaker had a TV sales and service on Main street in the 1960s, but he never had much luck as the discount stores could sell TV’s much cheaper. When a TV conked out, people just purchased another TV . . . this time a color set.

   Just like the iceman, the blacksmith, the gas station full service man, the telephone repairman and the doctor who made house calls . . . the TV repairman era came to a close. A few years ago, I purchased a 1955 Zenith TV at an antique store and placed it in the library. I figured it probably didn’t work, and I was correct. When I plugged it in, smoke started coming out the back. Patrons enjoy looking it over, but it would sure be nice if it worked. Does anyone know a good TV repairman?

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 37 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.