KEL MAGRATH is a retiree in his late 70s. Sitting next to the modern touch-screen television located right in the middle of the lounge space in SMART building, his first memory about television came back right after we started the conversation.
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“I grew up in Junee, a small countryside town in the Riverina region. Television first arrived there at about 1961 but only few people could afford it, as it was a luxury. My first experience with the box was when I visited my aunt in Sydney. One of the most popular shows at that time was Mickey Mouse and Bandstand, along with some other musical shows, which were truly entertaining,” Kel said. “If someone wanted to grab a tea or go to a restroom, they only waited for the ad to come up not to miss any second of the program.”
Television first came to Kel’s house a bit later, when he was in his early 20s. And like many other Australian households, it brought a great transformation to the domestic space in his house. As Sam Gosling claimed, the state (specifically the position) of the object reflects its roles and how it is used in daily life (Gosling, 2015). Television was usually put in the centre of the lounge room, with chairs around, allowing people to gather around and communicate, mostly about what was going on the screen. That television became a significant object in household context prove the massive “psychological function” it serves.
The memory with television of Kel’s children was quite different from their dad’s, as it was the era when coloured TV became popular.“We only had 1 TV at first, but when we moved to Aubrey, I did purchase a portable TV so we can put it near the dining table when we had meals and watch TV programs when eating. The main and coloured one was still in the lounge room,” he said. “After school, we (people in my generation) used to spend most time outdoors such as catching the rabbits, mushrooms and all of what we talked about was our playing. When tv came, kids stopped doing that.”
TV not only changed the household setting and lifestyles, it also changed the society setting, though not directly and still through the domestic scale. Since when the evening activities were planned to match the time television programs would be on, for example dinner time, time to have a shower,… “Before TV, people would sit down and talk face to face, radio was the centre of entertainment at home. They listened to serials on radio, certainly the news. People usually sit around and in the evening they may have a cup of tea and cake.” Kel took a walk down memory lane. “After television arrived they still talked a lot. Perhaps people wouldn’t have had that much to speak to each other if at work next day they hadn’t talked about the programs: “Do you watch the box last night?” or “What do you think of the “96” TV show?”. They would discuss what was gonna happen on TV. And it definitely reduced communication at home, because they had such a focus on the screen. “One more thing, TV came, that was the end of lots of movie theatres. In Junee we used to have large movie theatres before more and more people got a television and preferred staying at home watching TV.”
Why can television have such an instant and tremendous impact on people’s everyday lives? Because it really calls for people’s imagination.
Advertisements on TV is among the most visible examples. “Somebody decided to sell potatoes that had been washed, a different thing because up until that time you went to the green grocer or the supermarket and buy potatoes, they still have dirt on them, straight out of the ground. And suddenly someone wanted to sell washed potatoes. Someone in an advertising put it on TV and a remind: “Asked green grocer for it”. People saw it on TV and they wanted to have that. And that’s how they were introduced. Now when you go to Woolies, most of the potatoes were the washed one and were pre-packed. And that’s the power of advertising.”
“Before television there were some ad on the radio but you couldn’t see it, only heard it. It had a huge impact on marketing.”
Kel Magrath
It really changed the world. Television even caught the historical moment that the public was not supposed to observe. One of those things was the landing of human on the moon being broadcasted on TV. That made more people being able to witness and be aware of the achievements of mankind. And furthermore, it is the broader resource for knowledge and a shorter way to bring ordinary people to a wider world, gives them a sense of connection between each other.
Reference:
Gosling, S 2015, What our personal space can’t hide, online video, 2015, Big Think, viewed 6 August 2016, <http://bigthink.com/videos/what-our-personal-spaces-cant-hide>
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