By Dorothy Nixon

2) Rabbit Ears:

Antennae stuck on top of the TV to get reception. In Montreal, in the 60's, in English we had Channel 6 CBC, and Channel 12 CFCF (CTV) and American stations pulled in over cable (which we eventually got)or by rabbit ears, Channel 5, WPTZ Vermont, Channel 3 (CBS) and Channel 8,then 22, I believe (the ABC station)You had to move these tall wires around to get a good picture. Sometimes you had to hold onto them and become the antenna yourself. American shows were played a day or so earlier on a Canadian Station, usually Channel 12, so we got to watch our favorite shows twice in a week if we wished...but that was it until summer reruns and then syndication.

I hardly saw the Avengers at all after the 60's except in its French version, Chapeau Melon et Bottes de Cuire. Later, though, I bought the video of the Emma Peel versions. The Avengers started being filmed in colour in 67, but I didn't see it that way on our 20 inch black and white.

Colour TV's were widely available but sooo expensive, $450.00 for a small TV (and we mean small).Up to 1,000 or more for a big one say of 24 inches. RCA maybe. A good salary for a family man was $20,000 a year back then. Today, like many families we have numerous TVs and just got the big one with Blu-Ray. I sometimes play British CDs (PAL) through a computer onto the big screen. I watched Mamma Mia! recently and the colour was stupendous.

My husband tells me this is because in the 60's, people in the UK couldn't see colour programs on their b and whites. They had to buy a whole new TV. We in North America could so the colour was compromised and only now can we see colours as good as in Europe, with Blu-Ray.