My first memory of television was in 1958 in my grandfather’s house (we called him Dodo, which is the Slovak version of Gramps). We were living there while my mother regrouped from divorcing my father and leaving California, where we had been for a year in Santa Monica. On Saturday morning, with my mother and sisters off shopping in the metropolis of Ithaca and Dodo out puttering in the barn or nearby fields, I was left to sit on a kitchen chair about three feet away from the living room TV set. It was a black & white 17” Philco with a wooden cabinet, making it look like a piece of furniture. We only got NBC, CBS and ABC out of some combination of Syracuse and Binghamton and there was a rooftop aerial to supplement the rabbit ear antennae to capture the signal from 60 miles off in either direction, so reception was fuzzy at best. But I thought the Saturday cartoon line-up was the bomb and I sat up close to catch every minute (I didn’t yet know I was severely near-sighted with an astigmatism). After that 6-month stay at Dodo’s, we flew off to Costa Rica where my mother took a job at a tropical institute as a stepping stone to her eventual graduate degree applications two years down the road. Needless to say, Turialba, Costa Rica, had no TV. It barely had running water and indoor plumbing.
When we moved back to the U.S. in 1960, we were on the graduate school budget program, but somewhere in the annual budget of $1,800 that was left over from the fellowship after paying the $100/month rent on a 2-bedroom crackerbox house, my mother managed to buy a TV. The first one was an ill-fated 5-inch screen in a 200-pound cabinet. That one blew up almost immediately and we got a 19” used RCA (still B&W). Color TV penetration in U.S. households in 1960 was still extremely low and estimated at only about 0.5% to 1% of American homes…and a lot less in grad student homes. Color sets cost $500-$1,000+ (equivalent to $5,000-$10,000+ today) and that would have meant we wouldn’t eat much all year. B&W sets were $100-$300 new and probably $40 used. Besides that, most shows still broadcast in black and white and there were only a few hours of color programming per week. We all remember Sunday night Disney’s Wonderful World of Color that started broadcasting in September, 1961. It looked great in black & white also (and the 87% of American households that had TV’s enjoyed it the same way).
Around that same time, the American living room started to change to accommodate the TV. American living rooms underwent a dramatic transformation in the 1950s-60s as television became the dominant feature of home life. Before TV, furniture was arranged for conversation (facing each other), either seating in circles or around a fireplace. Radio as audio-only entertainment didn’t dictate layout, so the more formal “parlor” was unaffected. But after TV came along, all furniture was oriented toward the TV. The couch and chairs faced the television and it became the room’s focal point. The coffee table was positioned for TV viewing and the end tables became holders of snacks and drinks while watching. TV’s then were more of a corner placement item with some people keeping them on wheels, while the furniture guys were busy encasing them in fancy wooden consoles. Fireplaces lost their central focal point role. Gradually the TV moved up off the floor level to eye level when seated as it all made sense for the growing appetite of the viewing public. TV tray tables were also invented and became ubiquitous in American homes as no one wanted to miss a beat, even during dinner. I recall the conundrum of Saturday night when I was required to take my weekly bath. Should I forgo Have Gun Will Travel or Gunsmoke? Decisions, decisions…
And then came the La-Z-Boy recliner. The La-Z-Boy recliner was actually invented back in 1927. The idea was to have a chair that with one simple lever mechanism could recline and elevate the legs simultaneously. The invention was called the “La-Z-Boy”. By the 1960s, the recliner had become a mainstream furniture staple in American homes and by the 1970s-80s, it hit its peak popularity and cultural icon status. It was a symbol of suburban comfort. It was Dad’s chair in the living room (think Archie Bunker) and it was completely associated with watching TV and relaxing. In fact, it was a natural part of the American Dream furniture package. The original mechanism was patented, giving the company a competitive advantage for years and establishing the recliner as a distinct furniture category…one which has gone through extensive competitive innovation and improvement. There are now over 300 brands of recliners available, most of which are electronically controlled and have features like a full range of power features (motorized recliner, remote control, infinite positioning, memory settings, power headrest, lumbar support, zero-gravity, lift mechanism for the enfeebled, massage therapy, heat therapy, ventilation and cooling, Bluetooth, health metrics monitoring, charging stations, LED lighting, speakers, cup holders, fridges, laptop/tablet holders, storage for snacks, and built-in tray tables). and all of that is on standard models before any serious customizing. They are introducing AI into these things so that the chair can learn all about you and give you whatever you want in comforts. You can spend over $10,000 on a Ferrari recliner or you can go to CostCo and get one for $150.
About 18 months ago, on a whim at the San Diego County Fair in DelMar, I bought a top-of-the-line floor model massage chair that looked like something a body-snatcher might be grown in. It has been a very popular novelty for visiting guests and kids in particular. Everyone likes a massage chair…until you do it a few times. Then it gets old and, quite honestly, a bit uncomfortable. It has sat in the middle of our TV watching cluster (we have several seating areas in our large living room). It kills me that I am relegated to a less comfortable sofa chaise or the massage chair to watch TV (Kim and Buddy take the main sofa). I finally had enough this week and made a command decision (which I dutifully passed by Kim first) and I decided to move the massage chair into the garage next to the picture window across from the treadmill. This is our appliance purgatory where less-than-fully-appreciated-and-used items go while I pretend I will use them out there. That is, until I give them away eventually. The idea is to buy a suitable recliner for Dad and put it where the massage chair was…front and center. Very exciting for Dad.
I scoured the online world and finally, after considering all of those options listed above and debating the price point I was prepared to go to, I settled on a Sealy Posturepedic recliner (I simply could not bring myself to get a La-Z-Boy). It has five of the twenty features listed above and still seems pretty wiz-bang to me. I did not want a leather recliner and opted for a resilient dark fabric one that I hope will blend into our dark grey seating area. I had two guys move the monster massage chair out to the garage, where it works quite nicely in its new home. Now I await my new best friend, which is due to arrive this weekend. Enlightened people don’t watch TV, right? They certainly don’t sit in recliners that can recharge their iPads, right? Get real. I’ve come a long way, baby, from that kitchen chair at Dodo’s house and I am going to revel in my new recliner.