Introduction
In this months issue we take another, slightly,
different tact to the usual. Normally, when I write this article I look at the
technologies seen either in the episode of focus, or in the case of tech light
episodes I look at other technologies that appear somewhere in the series. But
not in issue 11. This time I decided to delve elsewhere.
As you all know “Out of Time” looks at three
people, from 1953, who arrive on the plane, the 'Sky Gypsy' piloted by one of
the three, Diane Holmes. The story looks at how the Torchwood team attempt to
integrate these 'time refugees' into the 21st century and how to an extent,
they fail.
Now some of you may have been children during
1953 and so may have some memories of what life was like. But many of us were
either too young to remember or weren't even born at that time. So in this
issues addition of Gadgets and Gizmo’s we look at some of the technologies of
1953 and compare them to today's equivalent, so that you can get some idea how
far we have come in 60 years. And so the 'What Do We Have On Earth' section is,
for this issue we have a 'Then', for the 50s and a 'Now' for the 21st
century!
Before we continue, just want to say a thank you
to my mum and dad for their combined knowledge of the 1950s. My dad is a former
panel beater and sprayer, as well as a mechanic and he worked, in the 1960s, on
cars that could be 20 or more years old. And my mum, well she just knows a lot
of stuff!
So let’s step into the TARDIS and take a step
back to 1953 and look at Television Sets, the car and the Refrigerator.
Television
Sets – Then!
Before1953
very few house holds owned a television as they were extremely expensive to
buy, most of those were in the London area, and few people felt the need. There
was very little in the way of television programmes and so made it really an
unnecessary purchase.
Televisions
did exist before the outbreak of World War II, but they were few and far between.
Mostly in the London area and only owned by those who could afford them. The
BBC launched, from Alexandra Palace, their own
regular service back in August of 1932 and they used Baird’s 30-line electromechanical system until 1935. In 1936 the
BBC changed to a dual-system service and alternated between Marconi-EMI's
405-line standard and Baird's improved 240-line standard. The BBC (now known as
BBC One) had the first regular high-definition (it was nothing like today’s HD)
television service. It was decided that the Marconi-EMI system had a much
superior picture and so the Baird's system was dropped in 1937. Between 1936
and 1939 television was broadcasted, in London, an average of 4 hours per day
and there was between 12,000 and 15,000 television sets. On September 1st
1939 the broadcasting came to a sudden end when World War II broke-out and it
wasn't until June 1st 1946 when BBC broadcasting resumed from
Alexandra Palace.
In
1947 there was a mere 15,000 through out the country, by 1952 that had increased
to 1.4 million and in 1968 it was a massive 15.1 million.
What
caused the increase in the number of TVs in the United Kingdom was the
announcement of the Queens Coronation. People throughout the country wanted to
see this very special event and it was around this time that HP (Hire Purchase)
came into being. Some people also decided to rent, most notably from Radio
Rentals. But there were still many who couldn't afford to do either. So when
the day came, many a home had more than one family watching the event. To get
some idea what this was like, watch the Doctor Who episode 'Idiots Lantern' of
season two. A whole story that revolves around the Queen's Coronation, people
buying televisions and a scary alien wanting to suck peoples faces off! Well
maybe not suck the face off, but you know what I mean. Just make a note of how
many TV aerials there are. In 1953 there's was probably less than half of what
you see on the average street.
What
you will also notice is how small and basic the television sets are. Very small
screens, poor picture, in comparison to today’s HD TVs. Instead of tiny
components and circuitry behind the screen, there were large bulb-like objects
called valves. Even the screen wasn't flat, either at the front or back. The
front slightly arched out and the back of screen protruded out to the rear in a
pyramid like shape with a valve at the centre, so making the case very large
indeed in comparison to todays very compact TV sets.
Three
other very noticeable differences were that the picture was in black and white
and the sound was mono, coming out of only one single speaker AND only ONE
channel. ITV didn't come into being until September 1955 and BBC2, it wasn't
until April 1964. Today we have 24 hour TV, but then the BBC didn't start up
until tea time and it was only for a few hours. Saying that, 24 hour TV didn't
come in until
And
with a little help from wiki itself here are significant television events and
débuts of 1953 look out for a fabulous Doctor Who link in the guise of the
second Doctor himself.
Events
17 Mar Patrick Troughton becomes television's first
Robin Hood, playing the
eponymous folk hero in the first
of six half-hour episodes of Robin
Hood, shown weekly until 21
April on the BBC Television Service.
1 May The BBC brings into service television
transmitters at Pontop Pike
(County Durham) and Glencairn
(Belfast) to improve coverage prior to
the Coronation broadcast.
2 Jun The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II is
televised in the UK on the
BBC Television Service. Sales
of TV sets rise sharply in the weeks
leading up to the event. It is
also one of the earliest broadcasts to be
deliberately recorded for
posterity and still exists in its entirety today.
18 Jul The Quatermass Experiment, first of the
famous Quatermass science-
fiction serials by Nigel
Kneale, begins its run on the BBC.
20 Jul The Good Old Days begins on the BBC
Television Service.
11 Nov The current affairs series Panorama launches
on the BBC Television
Service. It is now the
longest-running program on British television.
26 Nov Peers in the House of Lords back Government
plans for the
introduction of commercial
television in the UK.
2 Dec The
BBC broadcasts its 'Television Symbol' for the first time, the first
animated television presentation
symbol in the world. Known as the
'bat's wings' by logo
enthusiasts, it would remain until 1960.
Débuts
17 Mar Robin Hood (1953)
18 Jul The Quatermass Experiment (1953)
20 Jul The Good Old Days (1953–1983)
11 Nov Panorama (1953–present)
Rag, Tag and Bobtail (1953–1965)
Television
Sets – Now!
I
have lived in my town for almost 40 years now, and even in that time Television
sets have changed vastly. When we got our 1st TV it was black and white, even
though colour TV existed it was incredibly expensive. Most people couldn't
afford them. They also still had valves in the back and a terrible tuning
system, poor picture and mono sound. And worse of all you had to get off your
bottom to change the channel or turn up the volume. Can you imagine? When
remote controllers did come out, they were attached to your TV via a cable and
could only do simple tasks, i.e. change channel and volume.
Now
TVs are all digital-only, the days of analogue TV are long gone. We have
cordless remote controllers that not only change the channel and increase the
volume. They also allow you to set set the brightness, colour, and contrast.
You can also tune the TV to the hundreds of channels available, search the
digital guide (who needs paper TV Guides?!) and set to watch or record, Change
the ratio of your screen to wide-screen, zoomed, and if you really want to go
retro, 4:1, that's square. And many TVs have minimum function without the
remote control, such as changing the channel and volume, sounds familiar? So
don't lose your remote!
Another
very obvious change is that instead of the huge bulky TVs taking up masses of
room we now have flat-screen TVs that are for the most part HD (high
definition), that allows the viewer to see every detail (much the dislike of
many an actor. If make-up is applied badly, or an actor hasn't got good skin,
it will show.) We have 5:1 surround sound. And we even have 3D TV, though not
in many homes as of yet. If you have a 'smart TV' you can access online
on-demand channels, such as BBC iPlayer that allow you to watch shows from
previous days. And even surf the internet. And if you have a PVR (Personal
Video Recorder) you can record your shows digitally, most PVRs have a 500 gig
hard drive. Somewhat more storage than the average video tape me thinks.
On
top of that, you don't even NEED to own a TV as you can watch your favourites
shows from your desk top computer, laptop, tablet or even your mobile/cell
phone and it will be as clear as it will be on your 50” flat screen TV (if that
is you wish to own a TV with a screen as big as a house!)
So
as you can see, we have come a very long way, even in 40 years, let alone 60.
If this is where we are now, where will we be in the next 20 years?
The
Car – Then!
In
1953 the car really wasn't that too different from what it had been 20 or 30
years previous. What was different was better
reliability, fuel consumption, breaking systems, speed, gearing and body
work. Even the look of a car, its bodywork, hadn't really changed too much
since before the war.
During
this time, and after, you really did need to be able to drive. You didn't have
the ease that power steering gives you and fewer gears. They were slower and
much heavier than modern cars are. There is a lot of plastic in modern cars,
where as the car's of the 50s will have been metal and wood and possibly some
bakelite on the dashboard and around the hand break and gearbox.
Due to his business, John Ellis will
probably have owned a car and the chances are it would have been a beast of a car
in comparison to todays. Its clutch system may well have not been as smooth (some even required you to double-declutch, when changing
to a lower gear) whereas today the gears are all synchronised making life much
easier and your drive very much smoother.
There
was also far fewer cars on the road. Even when we moved to my town near on 40
years ago, there was much fewer cars. Though cars seem expensive today, in
comparison, they are cheaper. People’s wages are also much higher and it's much
easier to purchase a car over so many years.
Just to give you some idea of costs in the 50s. In 1953 the
average working man’s wage would be about £3.00 a week or £156 - £200 a year,
and a new family saloon around £500, and a new house about £500 for a semi.
The
Car – Now!
Today's modern cars couldn't be more different. Like many things
cars, changed very little, but in recent years, much like computers, they have
had a huge leap. There was a time that if you knew how to strip a car engine,
you could do general repairs, as well as the usual oil change, checking there's
enough wash for windscreen wipers, checking tyre pressure and even changing a
tyre. Everything from the oil to wheel changing you can do. But you need a
laptop and knowledge on how to use said laptop in conjunction with engine, when
it comes to dealing with the engine.
As well as complex engines, the many modern cars (depending on how
much you are prepared to pay) have central locking, electric windows, 5 or 6
gear box, cruising gears, car reversing detectors, doors that can be opened
with out a key and car engines that can also be started without a key, LED
lights, heated rear-windows, heated seats, Front seats that not only slide back
and forth, but also raise, steering wheels that can be adjusted for the driver,
DVD players in the back for the front seats to entertain the kids, either CD or MP3 players, surround sound,
blue tooth, built in Sat-Nav, built in computerised systems for fuel
consumption etc, cars that will not start up until all occupants have fastened
their seat belts, heating and cooling system, power steering.
I dare say I could go on and on how different modern cars are. And
maybe most people think all these changes are excellent and most are. Where the
problems lay are things like car maintenance. Any car engine knowledge you have
is probably irrelevant as they've changed so much you may as well know nothing.
People have also become lazy when it comes to navigation and
assume that everything the Sat Nav spits out is correct, which is why so many
turn up the wrong road of end up up to their necks in water when the car
plunges into a lake or river. Power steering and reversing signals also make
for a lazy driver and in the long term a dangerous drive as they become so
reliant on all these gimmicks, they forget how to actual drive.
When the episode 'Out of Time' was made many of these new
functions existed, some, such as computerisation, didn't. Ianto, like all
Torchwood operatives, will have been well paid and so will have had a very
nice, top of the range car. So it begs the question how John Ellis managed to
leap into his car and take off so easily. There would have been power steering,
5 gears, electric windows, strange dials, a security system to get past. Cars
from John's could have had a column change gear, meaning the gear changing
stick was attached to the steering column with only 3 gears. Ianto's car could
have been, like many modern cars, an automatic. There was no such thing back in
the 1950s. Then there's four-wheel drive. In the 50s the only four-wheel drive
was military vehicles. And like all modern cars, Ianto's car would have had
synchronized gear box. In the 50s this wasn't the case and so, as I said
earlier, cars were double-d -clutch. So as I said, I find it
unlikely he'd have left so quickly, if at all, as he apparently had.
The
first refrigerators for home and domestic use were invented way back in 1913 by
Fred W. Wolf of Fort Wayne. Now first of all it must be said that there
were still many homes, at this time, that still didn't own a refrigerator as
they were seen, much like a car or television, as a luxury and so not deemed as
a necessary purchase. Even today you can see, in a pre 1970s house, in the
pantry, a cold stone shelf where meat, milk, cheese etc. were kept to keep
cool. But saying that, they were also seen commercially as a must-have for the
1950s housewife. Today we take such things for granted, but not so much then.
If you didn't own a refrigerator, then you had to shop much more often and
would often waste money when something went off.
So
the refrigerator made life, if you could afford one, much easier as you could
keep food much longer than you could on a cold stone. Many of these also came
with an ice-maker which was excellent on hot summers days for cold drinks.
A
top refrigerator/bottom freezer, also known as the bottom-mount fridge, came
into being in the 1950's. This had made life even easier than just the initial
refrigerator as you could now freeze many foods and so keeping them even
longer.
Also
in the 50s we saw the development of the auto defrost system. Earlier systems
saw the problem of ice-crystals forming within the freezer. This was due to air
condensing inside the freezer after the door had been open. Though not all
freezers in the 50s had the defrosting system built in.
The
Fridge and fridge freezer hasn't, in truth, changed hugely since the 50s,
unlike the television or car. Where they have changed is such things as the
capacity, how economical they are on electricity, being more eco friendly where
we saw the banning of the use of Freon fridges i.e. CFCs gasses, variety of styles and reliability.
Today
you can choose to purchase a freezer that allows you to freeze non-frozen items
at a much quicker rate than a normal freezer. They can come with various extras
such as ice makers fitted in the door or water holder to keep cool water that
can be poured via a tap on the front of the door. You can purchase fridges with
built in wine racks.
In
the early 50s they were normally white, but by the late 50s through to the
present day both designers and manufacturers started to introduce colour. A
black refrigerator, in the 80s, was seen as luxurious. Now you can purchase a
fridge/freezer in white or black and if you are prepared to pay more and it’s
available, you will find them in bright colours. Most notably SMEG, who make
retro style fridge/freezers, sell them in mint greens, red and so forth,
surprisingly, however – kitchen equipment such as cookers, fridges, freezers,
washers etc., which are commonly referred to as ‘white goods’ are still mostly
bought in white – and surveys still show that it is most popular because it
looks clean & hygienic – something which has not changed in over 60 years!
Bibliography
Books
Torchwood: The
Encyclopedia by Gary Russell
The Torchwood
Archives by Warren Martyn aka Gary Russell
Doctor Who: The
Encyclopedia A Definitive Guide to Time and Space
By Gary Russell
Wikipedia
Television Sets
TV Programming
Refrigerators
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