ARE YOU OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER?

One of the books I refuse to give up to space consideration is my "Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Special, 1937-1973" by Vincent Terrace.

My whole upbringing is displayed in this book. While early TV had been around for a while before my family purchased our first set, my father brought one home in the late 40s because he had an appliance store, held an Admiral franchise, and as soon as he was able he offered them in the store and of course brought one to our house. You can imagine how our "stock" went up among both my folks' friends and relations and my sister's and my playmates.

We had rabbit ears on our TV set for a while, entertained lots of "snow" at various times on channels that weren't very strong, but yes, it revolutionized our life. For my sister and me it meant watching Shari Lewis and Lambchop, Beanie and Cecil, Ollie the Dragon, Sandy Dreams, along with roller derby, wrestling and eventually the Ed Sullivan show.

In the fifties and in my early married life we got to watch things like Dr. Kildare, Palladin, Gunsmoke, and, if you recognize the fellow above, Gardner McKay's "Adventures in Paradise," which had 91 episodes shown between 1959 and 1962 and is one of my all-time favorites, maybe next to "Hawaii 5-0."

This interesting book I have provides great fun and reminiscing. There is, or was to be, a second volume dealing with the years 1974 to 1984. I always intended to purchase it, too, but that fell by the wayside somewhere. But for the most part the earliest years are the ones that are of most interest to me. And the weird thing is that sometimes my recollections are very faulty. I was sure that Richard Chamberlain starred in "Adventures in Paradise" but in checking the book to confirm that, I found I was wrong; it was Gardner McKay. Ah, yes, I do remember now. He was a handsome fellow, just the kind a young teenaged girl in those days would fall for.

There also was to be a third volume, an index. If I had that, I'd offer to look things up for you. However, if you know the exact name of the program you are looking for between '37 and '73 and would like a few details about it, let me know and I'll "see what da' book sez."