Hello:
This last week (About March 30) marked our second anniversary here at Cleveland Classic Media..Would like to thank everybody for making the blog a bigger success than I ever thought it could be..From broadcasters, past and present, to just people sharing their memories about the 3-channel universe that was Cleveland Television for many years as well as some radio memories.
Here is an email I received recently from former Northeast Ohioan Rick Goddard of Laurel Maryland..
"I found your site a few months ago. Unfortunately I've been going
through it backwards...sigh. This messes up the flow, but I get the idea
:-) You are presenting me with memories from my childhood. These are
great! Please keep finding more of these gems.
I was born in 1951 (so I antedate you by a few years) in Alliance, Ohio.
My parents told me that neighbors would congregate in our living room in
the early 1950's to watch TV. The 16 inch Magnavox TV was the cat's meow
(this was a really big screen at the time), and an antenna on your house
was a status symbol. Some people put up an antenna (with no TV) just to
impress the neighbors! We had to use a double bay "Lazy X" just to get a
signal. The Youngstown stations weren't even considered at this time. No
UHF tuner.
We were 60 miles away so this was the fringe area for Cleveland. The
Magnavox TV (with real hardwood, I wish I still had it) became "my" TV
when my parents upgraded to a 21 inch TV (really big) for the living
room in 1958. I reveled in fact that I had my "own" TV in my room in the
late 1950's. We weren't rich by any means, but I guess TV was important.
I have a claim to fame by appearing on Uncle Jake's House. I suspect
this was in 1956 or 1957, but it was definitely toward the end of July
(my birthday). I was in the bleachers with my then neighborhood "girl
friend" Anita.
As a harbinger of my later engineering degree I loudly proclaimed from
the bleachers that the "door" on the set was fake. Gene Carroll seized
on that and invited me down to check it out. I remember very bright
lights and a painted canvas. I got to the "door" and was encouraged to
try the door knob on the fake door. I did. I'm told that my reaction of
"Awww" when I actually tried to grasp the door knob on the canvas was a
big hit. I now assume I helped Gene kill 2 minutes on his unscripted
show :-) It's a shame they didn't record any of this (who knew?--and it
wasn't worth using film anyway), but I'd love to see my 6 year old self
doing these stupid things!
I still can't believe that I'd watch Roller Derby (Sunday's at 1:30 or
so) or boxing (prime time). I now read a lot of books because Comcast
Cable (120 channels) has nothing on :-)
Your site brings back forgotten memories. I remember watching Jim
Doney's Adventure Road when WJW switched the program to color on a
Sunday afternoon in 1964. Of course there was nothing to see on a B&W
TV, but we watched (at my teenage urging) anyway.
I moved away from Ohio in 1973 after graduating from CWRU in Cleveland.
I went to Laurel, MD to make my "fortune". After 29 years of fortune
making, I'm now retired, but where's the fortune?...sigh. I'm doing
well, but being rich would be better:-)"
Rick Goddard
Laurel, MD
PS: Yes, from the 1960's until I moved I was often asked if Dick Goddard
was a relative (no, he isn't as far as I know unless it's many, many
generations past).
People such as Rick are exactly why we're here. Sometimes when I dont get a response from some posts, I wonder if it is worth it..Letters like the above tell me it is..
Thanks for the kind words, Rick!
When I talk about vintage broadcasting, a lot of what I write about transcends other interests, particularly sports..A lot of my memories stem from watching and listening to Cleveland Sports Teams on local TV/Radio from about 1970 on..I mentioned being an NBA Cincinnati Royals Fan in 1968-69-70 earlier..I also watched a LOT of bad Indians Baseball and Cavaliers Basketball..Was hard to take sometimes, but they were OUR teams..
Sportstime Ohio has done a great job for a relatively new network, already with Exclusive Indians and Browns coverage, as well as High School State Championships..Id like to see them do more Indians Classics, especially 1970's games originally on WJW, if available..
Sportstime Ohio will be debuting 2 new Indians Specials over the next few days..Indians Alumni Roundtable 1960's, with Max Alvis, Joe Azcue, Gary Bell and Mudcat Grant. The One-hour show debuted at 2PM April 2 will repeat at 8PM, April 3 at 6:30 PM and probably many times after that..
Indians Alumni Roundtable 1980's Debuts at 2PM April 3,repeat at 8PM and at Noon April 6 and again, probably many times after that..(Am recording it-will update the guests on Twitter as I find out..)
Both specials will be hosted by Indians PR Director Bob DiBiasio..Here is a nice story of how he got hired by the Indians:
http://www.sabr.org/sabr.cfm?a=cms,c,2362,3,158
This is the kind of progrmming I like to see STO do..Should be fun and interesting..
WJAN-TV Transmitter: building. I dont know much about electronics. I will admit, but even I can tell this is old..Was finally turned off Thursday night..
