ShiloBrats Guestbook

Submitted by
Name: Ian Malcolm
From: Ottawa
E-mail: jmalcolm99@gmail.com

Comments:
I enjoy these posts about "culture" in the early days of TV. Shows were much more naive and simpler then and focused on "family" themes such as parental discipline (Father Knows Best), family situations (My Three Sons) and good old fashioned heroes (The Lone Ranger). I did not get to Shilo until the mid sixties but offerings had not changed that much. My enduring memory is watching the Stanley Cup playoffs (4 teams only) which were always shown earlier in French (when Montreal played) and then CBC would start coverage around the second period. My Dad's solution was to put the portable radio in front of the TV and we would listen to the English radio broadcast with the TV sound off. The fact that the radio announcer sometimes described a different game than the action on TV was only secondary as we got to watch Les Canadiens once again defeat that team in blue. Cheers!

Added: March 26, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Bump

Comments:
Hi Alf,
Yes that test pattern. Arggg! How many hours did we look,at,that although when we first got our tv we sat riveted to it waiting for something. Off at around 9 or 10 pm and on around 11 am or something. ....In early fifties we watched 'Tugboat Annie and ' Mister Peepers' and ' Life of Riley'. Lots of news programs and documentaries for sure. The old thirties movies were very common such as ' Charlie Chan' 'The Thin Man' 'The Saint' 'Bulldog Drummomd'. 'The Bowery Boys'.
There was a friend of my Dad and his PMQ was across the field from our back door over on Stonehenge and he repaired TV sets. Ours was a regular customer. Mostly the 'tubes'. Remember those things.

Added: March 26, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Bill Gillespie
From: AB
E-mail: bgillespie@shaw.ca

Comments:
The posts regarding early tv shows triggers memories from the 50's. I think our first tv arrived in '55 or '56 when we were stationed in NB when my dad in the Engineers was helping build CFB Gagetown.

The first image that I recall viewing was some CBC documentary with a guy paddling a canoe, then Howdy Dowdy and also the Roy Rogers & Dale Evans show (with their sidekick Pat Brady in his jeep named "Nellie Belle"

.

Prior to our tv arrival, I used to visit our next door neighbour to watch Buck Rodgers.

Due to the limited CBC viewing schedule-the test pattern with the Indian Chief Head was probably the predominant image for years!

Added: March 25, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Turk
From: Victoria
E-mail: mturk204@shaw.ca

Comments:
Every one enjoy the weekend and hunt for lots of treats.
Be safe.
Cheers
Turk

Added: March 24, 2016

Submitted by
Name: alf

Comments:
Oops! Sorry Bump....see you already mentioned I Love Lucy. Not only losing my hearing but now my sight too.

Added: March 24, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Sheila Phillips
From: Read, Ontario.
E-mail: phillipsjs@xplornet.ca

Comments:
Hi Bump! Yes, I am a "Shilo Brat". Lived in Shilo for
one year. One of the best years of my life! 1960!!
Then, because my Dad was to retire, he got to pick his
last posting... Kingston, Ontario. Hated it at first.
Didn't live on base.
Anyhow - I sort of remembered two of my Dad's favourite
shows - ESPECIALLY "You Bet Your Life" with Groucho Marks and there was another one but I don't remember the
name of the show. But the star was William Bendix. When did Ed Sullivan and his "really big shoo" start?
Things are slightly improving weather wise here. I think that the freezing rain has stopped. Good thing
because the wind sure has come up!

Added: March 24, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Alf
From: Brandon, Mb
E-mail: nripley@mts.net

Comments:
Hey Bump,

One show that I recall watching was Jungle Jim starring Johnny Weismueller.
We were living in Southampton, Nova Scotia at the time and would walk down the road to our grandparents who had a tv then. This was in 1955, we had moved back to Nova Scotia after my father was transferred to Germany from Shilo and because of the shortage of living quarters we didn't go to Germany ourselves until late 55 or early 56. No flying then....ocean liners both ways. Don't forget I Love Lucy.....

Added: March 24, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Bump Murphy
From: CRBC

Comments:
Howdy Sheila Phillips. ...Are you a Shilo 'brat'? ....You did darn good on your trivia count. It was called the Burns and Allen show I believe. ..I had all of yours except for Ted Mack. Red Skelton was on air from '51 to '71. Early seventies anyway. ...Chuckle. Comic books and TV were major big in the fifties for all of us young boys in Shilo. Us boys had closets full that we traded constantly. The mom and pop general store in Douglas had a good selection as did our Base Canteen. My favorite comics were 'The Two Gun Kid' series(cowboy). As well a fav. was Sgt. Easy. Hmmmmmnnn? That one may have been the roots to Captain America. He started in my day. We were in Shilo from say 1950 to 1961. Thereabouts. I could write volumes on that stuff and those names. .....By the way it is mixed sun and rain showers on my back porch on the Coast here. 12c. ...Later.

Added: March 24, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Sheila Phillips
From: Read, Ontario.
E-mail: phillipsjs@xplornet.ca

Comments:
Hi "Bump",
You don't know me - but I always check into the
"Guestbook". 19 eh? I AM impressed. I certainly
can't even match that let alone top it. Did you get:
Father Knows Best, I Love Lucy, Our Miss Brooks, The Ted
Mack National Amateur Hour, Ozzie and Harriet, The
Honeymooners, Hazel (I think), (not sure of the name
of the show - but-) George Burns and Gracie Allen, was
Red Skelton around then - I think maybe? The character
actor from December Bride was Henry Morgan and the fe-
male lead was Spring Byington. That's all I can think
of. Better go and put another log on the fire.....we're
in the middle of one of Mother Nature's jokes: snow,
ice pellets, freezing rain and now the wind has picked
up! "I'm dreaming of a White Easter...."

Added: March 24, 2016

Submitted by
Name: William(bump) Murphy
From: CRBC

Comments:
OK fellow brats put your thinking caps on. ..We (Murphy's) had a TV set by around 1954. Chuckle. We ran a antenna wire from the living room and up to bedroom and the siding flashing on the outside of the PMQ to gain better reception. ...There were many very good sitcoms to come out of the '50's. ...in about a half hour or so of spinning the wheels in my brain I remembered 19. Without cheating by using the Internet. I was accurat with the names except for one or two that had a couple names for the show. These were all comedies. So on with the challenge. See if you can top my list. Well my count I mean. Just for fun 'ya know. I am sure you will have fun with it. A variety show or the like would count although I used only sitcoms. Have fun. Remember now. No peeking. For example there was December Bride using a wonderful character actor who became Col. Potter on Mash, years later.
bump

Added: March 24, 2016