Shows provide window to the past

We have been watching black and white television shows lately. Perry Mason has been on several times. I despise Perry Mason. I am convinced that Raymond Burr, who played Perry Mason, had a secret crush on Barbara Hale, who played Mason’s secretary, Della Street.

I believe that Della was a serial killer and in every episode Perry had to find someone to blame for her crime. In my opinion, Burr was in cahoots with the writers and they conspired to make his character a hero in order to impress Barbara Hale.

It didn’t work because Hale was happily married and her co-star was too much of a gentleman to make his feelings known. It also didn’t work because my theory was and still is not supported by facts. I made it up to justify my dislike of the show.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Perry Mason, the main story line is Perry Mason, a rather portly guy who always wore a suit, played a defense attorney who defended innocent people accused of murder. His secretary, Della Street, usually wore a dress, heels and makeup. Her hair was never, ever mussed even after a ride in a convertible with the top down. By today’s unrealistic standards she would be considered overweight instead of perfectly normal.

The show originally aired  from September, 1957 to May, 1966. My mom probably watched each and every episode several times.

Despite my feelings about Perry Mason, black and white shows seem to be less frantic and mean than today’s stories. Yes, a murder mystery needs a murder. However, we don’t need to see the villain torture the victim. The attraction of murder mysteries isn’t the crime itself but the way the crime is solved. The interactions between the characters is what makes it interesting.

I grew up in the age of black and white television. Color TV was for rich folks. When I was in third or fourth grade my friend’s parents bought their first color set. We were given their old black and white one. Once a year, when The Wizard of Oz was aired, I was sent to my friend’s house to watch the magical moment when the show turned from black and white to color.

I’m not sure if you can buy a brand new black and white console television today. Notice I said console. Yesterday’s televisions were mostly substantial pieces of furniture. They often took up almost an entire wall of the living room. They were suitable for holding plants on the top of their cabinets  along with a set of rabbit ear antenna. They were also big enough for a rather large snapping turtle to hide under.

Yes, I said snapping turtle. My brother, Michael, had caught it in our grandmother’s creek about a half mile away and managed to get it home and into the house without losing any of his fingers. I have no idea how he did this. Nor have I ever heard how he got it back down to the creek.

There were also portable black and white televisions. These were much smaller since they didn’t have all the cabinetry around them. When I was fresh out of high school I had a job at a donut shop. One of the customers had a small television for sale, It came complete with a stand and they wanted a ridiculously cheap price for it. That poor television endured a lot. I had to hold its rabbit ears in the exact position necessary for my daughter to watch the Christmas specials. It eventually quit working but I got my money’s worth out of it.

Even though Perry Mason isn’t my favorite show, I don’t mind that it serves as background noise. In addition to Perry Mason we have watched a few episodes of Hee Haw. This show was the definition of cornball humor. There was no profanity. The humor elicited groans as often as laughs. Other old series pop up as enjoyable reruns.

In addition to providing entertainment, the old shows illustrate how much we have changed. The humor was gentler. Maybe I’m looking at the past with rose colored glasses but it doesn’t hurt to go back in time to remember how things used to be.