Long before Best Buy...

[Guard Dad]

The sales floor was on the right side. On the left was the service department; they serviced what they sold and any other TV or radio. Of course, back then TV's broke down a lot more and they cost more in adjusted dollars than they so do, so it made sense to get them repaired when they broke. They also serviced the police radios. Since this was pre-cable/satellite and in teh Chattanooga area where there are mountains; they installed lots of antennas and many of them on towers to "see" over the hills. OSHA would have had a fit; my dad had me climbing 100' towers when I was in elementary school.

I remember being sent outside (even in the rain or thunderstorms) to "turn the antenna."

Yep. Since my dad had a TV shop, we have the cool stuff like the "rotator" we controlled from inside. We just turned a dial and the antenna turned by itself.

 

[mei lan]

The sales floor was on the right side. On the left was the service department; they serviced what they sold and any other TV or radio. Of course, back then TV's broke down a lot more and they cost more in adjusted dollars than they so do, so it made sense to get them repaired when they broke. They also serviced the police radios. Since this was pre-cable/satellite and in teh Chattanooga area where there are mountains; they installed lots of antennas and many of them on towers to "see" over the hills. OSHA would have had a fit; my dad had me climbing 100' towers when I was in elementary school.

I remember being sent outside (even in the rain or thunderstorms) to "turn the antenna."

Yep. Since my dad had a TV shop, we have the cool stuff like the "rotator" we controlled from inside. We just turned a dial and the antenna turned by itself.

Yeah, we had the dial rotary antenna thingy. crank...crank...crank...crank...finally! Good picture!

 

[LisaC]

There were seven kids - no need for fancy gadgets in our house.