There were few, if any, tears shed when the news hit the airwaves above the path around the Falls. It would have been a much different story a couple of generations ago.
It was in the 1950s when people living in homes all across the country began to feel their living rooms were not complete without a television. Reception could be fuzzy. The pictures were in black and white. The start and end of the day’s programming were bookended by the “test pattern.”
Reception was provided by “rabbit ears” or a rooftop antenna, both of which needed to be adjusted, depending on the direction of the station watched. Homeowners in valleys would have poorer reception than those on hilltops.
Reception depended on whether or not the home was in reach of a signal from a station or stations affiliated with the three networks. Program content was limited, with the Friday night fights, brought to you by Gillette, and pro wrestling having a lot of air time.
Saturday morning was different. The kids were not in school. TV was a good babysitter. Youngsters made up the primary audience, and the content was made up of cartoons. There were many sponsors. Breakfast cereal commercials were very common, perhaps to suggest what youngsters should be doing while watching Saturday morning cartoons.
That tradition going back to the Eisenhower era came to an end a little over a week ago. Saturday was the first without a regular network broadcast of morning cartoons. There were many factors that contributed to the world moving on: the proliferation of cable and satellite networks, the availability of Netflix, and access to unlimited types of media on the Internet.
In the past, access to television programming had a noticeable impact when students came to school. We previously worked in a school district in hilly southwestern Wisconsin where public television programming was only available to those people in town where a cable system was in place. Many rural students could not get the signal unless they were living on top of one of the ridges.
When youngsters came to school for the first time, quite often there were marked differences in the language and letter identification skills of those students who watched “Sesame Street,” broadcast on public television. The “farm kids” quite often were a little behind their classmates, who lived in town. They would catch up, but they started from a spot further back on the learning curve.
Flash forward to this past weekend with no Saturday morning cartoons. The contrast in what rural students bring with them on that first day of school is much less pronounced than it once was, as far as learning based on the time spent watching television.
If there is an access issue now, it has to do with the quality of Internet access. Rural areas are still disadvantaged in many places because of bandwidth limitations. It would take a very perceptive teacher to be able to sort students by the quality of Internet access at home, but there are differences.
One can argue the merits of watching Saturday morning cartoons. Some were mind numbing. Others were quite sophisticated and had great subtle messages for the adults who may happen to be in the living room audiences. One of the classics was “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” that seemed to have something for everyone. The continuing plots kept people watching week after week.
While some parents back in the old days might have allowed unlimited viewing, the majority realized that there were better things to do in life, and the comment, “Why don’t you go outside and play,” was uttered fairly often on Saturday mornings.
Today, rather than overdosing on cartoons, conscientious parents are more concerned about Internet content that youngsters might be viewing or how much time is spent with online games. That content is available 24/7, not just on Saturday morning. Never let it be said that parents have an easy job today.
Skipping to another tradition going back to a time before Eisenhower, the Memorial Field tradition will soon be coming to an end, not on a Saturday morning, but on a Friday night. If in the future an individual wants to be able to say “I saw the last Panther football game played at Memorial Field,” make plans to take in the game this Friday night. Fans can sleep in on Saturday morning. There will be no cartoons.
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