TV at London Waterloo- in 1936!
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- Опубликовано: 4 ноя 2021
- In the 1930s, television was an expensive luxury which was out of the reach of most people. There was a place in London though where the general public could experience this new and exciting technology: Waterloo Station.
This is the intriguing story behind the terminal’s tiny TV theatre, which was established in 1936…
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Illustrations by Robert Lordan
Vintage television footage:
/ @televisionheaven8003
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Music used in this video:
Cab Calloway, The Viper’s Drag (1930)
• Video
While A Cigarette was Burning (1938) Will Osborne and His Orchestra
• Will Osborne & His Orc...
Organ Grinders swing (1936) Will Osborne and His Orchestra
• Will Osborne & His Orc...
The Way You Look Tonight (1940), Will Osborne and His Orchestra
• 35 - Will Osborne -- T...
Soul and Mind E’s Jammy Jams
• Soul & Mind - E's Jamm...
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Thanks again for watching friends. Stay well, and please be sure to stay tuned! 
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Hello everyone, thanks so much for all the kind comments. Thanks also to those of you who've said they'd like to see a video looking at John Logie Baird's London. This will definitely be happening, although it probably won't appear until January- I'll need to get some footage from Scotland for the video, and will be there over the New Year! So thanks for your patience :-) There will be more videos before then of course, so please do stay tuned! Thanks again friends; stay well.
I would be interested in the John Locke Baird video, this little film was great.
Thank you so much Kerry. And thanks for giving a John Logie Baird film the vote 😉 Stay well and thanks for your support.
I love how your intro is the old ThamesTV introduction. amazing vibe
Thanks! 😉
Yes, a video on Baird would be great!!!
Thanks for the vote! I think it's going to happen ;-)
Yes, John Logie Baird video please!
Thanks Linda 😉
Hi Rob, this popped up in my watch list, ansoluty fabulous and now see how far media has evolved. I remember when TV's went from 425 to 650? lines. I think you could buy or have a conversion done. I even remember TV's had a switch for both sets of lines. Oh happy simple days. Cheers DougT in Mancs
Great comment, thanks so much Doug ☺️
Splendid Rob. I knew nothing of the Waterloo TV room. How exciting it must have been for travellers to have seen this 'miracle'. I knew of John Logie Baird's system and how he had lost out to Marconi/EMI, which must have come as an almighty blow to him. I for one would appreciate a special edition on the great man. Our first family TV was in about 1956 and it was a tall console unit with a 12 inch screen. I remember the frequent interludes when broadcasts failed.
😄 I love those old interludes, the music used on them was wonderful- you can find them on RUclips in case you didn’t know
A bit of quality. Have known Waterloo station my whole life and still its history amazes me. Thanks for putting this up.
Thanks so much Clive. Stay well.
Great video! Britain and Germany were well ahead of the world in television just prior to the War. In 1938 the BBC televised a life performance of "For Me And My Gal" (known for the "Lambeth Walk") the first time it had been attempted. The Germans were broadcasting 12 hours a day by 1937, but of course it was largely propaganda and instead of encouraging home receivers they had television theatres for the masses. Fascinating subject and love to see more of this!
Many thanks! Yes, it’s an era I find fascinating too. Thanks for the kind words and stay well.
First class documentary.
Thanks 😉
Fascinating journey through some of television's interesting history: great research, archive images and narrative. I'm not old enough to remember Waterloo's TV lounge, but in my childhood I recall that barely more than half a dozen people in my road had a TV set, (and only one that I know of had a telephone!). After school, I'd go across to my friend's house to watch the children's progamme on one of only two channels transmitted, which was promptly followed by 'close-down' and the test card. Programmes didn't start again until my bedtime! A far cry from 24-hour TV today!
If you do a piece on Logie Baird, count me in as a viewer.
Thanks so much Richard; wonderful memories! And I think there is certainly enough support for a Logie Baird video 😉 Stay well
Fascinating! Love the English accents and the pics of the old tv’s. ❤️
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
I don't know many (ie none) English people who speak like that!
Thanks for that, it was very enjoyable.
It’s a pleasure; thanks very much for watching.
Very interesting - thanks - thumbs up for a John Logie Baird video :)
Cheers Zippy 😉
Always fascinated by the history process of early TV. This wee film is a welcome addition to the canon. Look forward to the JLB film. Enjoy your time in Scotland.
lovely comment; thank you and stay well 😊
Picture house's I remember,
But the TV's in the station wow, is that we're all this madness started?
To see them at the station, I thought how people look at phones today.
Threw the TV out age's ago🤬🆘🇬🇧💯 So thank you ROB👍👑🗣️ from a LONDONER😁🌍
Cheers Gary 😉
Very enjoyable all the programs!
Thanks Simon! Much appreciated 😉
This is fascinating, Rob, and something I never knew about until now, but typical of the "Go ahead" attitude of the old Southern Railway. This was similar to the "Television lounges" set up by the Germans, for the Berlin Olympics, as domestic sets were unavailable. Television was to be a purely communal affair in the Reich, and much inferior to the 405-line standard which the Marconi-EMI system finally opened with in November 36. Interestingly, Alan Blumlein the genuis who was chiefly responsible for this technological quantum leap, only saw it as a temporary "stopgap", until something better could be devised for permanent use. His system was to last until 1986!
Blumlein was later killed in 1942, whilst working to develop the cutting edge H2S radar system, when the RAF Halifax he was flying in crashed and exploded in Herefordshire. His was a great loss.
Thanks Mark; an incredible comment. I know Germany had TV around this same period, but what you've told me has opened my eyes even more. Thanks for this and stay well.
@@Robslondon The main difference between the BBC Television Service and other early tv services at that time, is that when the BBC started regular transmissions in November 1936, apart from technical differences, it set out to be a regular ongoing service, rather than an experimental service, aimed at people viewing in their own homes on tv sets they had bought themselves, to watch a whole range of programming with a schedule and listings that were published in advance in The Radio Times. Just like today in fact!
That's really interesting stuff.
Funny as I used to use this station every day.
Thanks for the info
Many thanks Basil 😊 Stay well.
Whoa! Incredible stuff .
:-D
Such details, give yourself a pat on the back, very 👍 good
Many thanks Dave; much appreciated. Stay well.
Great video, 85 Guineas (£102) in 1936 equates to £7,372.05 in 2020 according to the Bank of England calculator!
Thanks John! ;-)
Fantastic video yet again, I do look forward to a notification of a new video from you! 🤩
Really appreciate that; thank you so much 😊 Stay well
Very interesting.....thank you.
It's a pleasure David; thanks very much for watching and stay well.
Very impressively researched, and an absorbing video. Well done, and thank you!
For your younger viewers, a guinea was one pound and one shilling, so 85 guineas would have been 85 pounds and 85 shillings. 85 shillings was 4 pounds and 5 shillings, so the total is 89 pounds and 5 shillings. That's £89.25 in 'new' [1971] decimal currency, but I've no idea what the equivalent worth would be today!
Any video from Rob's London is worth watching, so yes, let's learn more about John Logie Baird's time in London!
Thanks so much for your kind words David; really appreciate it. Thanks also for giving Logie Baird the vote! Stay well.
According to the CPI calculator, £89.25 in 1936 is worth £6,624.56 today so they weren't cheap.
Oldest TV I remember was a small 14 inch CRT in the 90s.
😄
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love it. Thanks.
Thank you Snoopy ;-)
My mother used to work at Alley Palley. Nostalgic to see women looking rather like my Nan as a younger woman. 👍🏼
Beautiful comment, thank you ☺️
Hi Rob Quality video sir Waterloo was my local station with the Film Theatre etc but knew nothing about the TV studio - Had to laugh at the boys getting in with their 2 d tickets for Vauxhall which was 120th of a pound !! Once again thanks for this info. - looking forward to many more 👍🇬🇧
Really well filmed and researched
I really appreciate that Rowena, thank you. Stay well.
Very informative Video, thanks. One on Logie Baird would, I’m sure, would be just as interesting.
Thanks so much Malcolm; and thank you too for voting for a Logie Baird video! Stay well.
More great work Rob. Perhaps there should be a dedicated TV theatre for your channel at Waterloo? That'd be great while waiting for the replacement bus (dis)service!! 😄
Ha ha! I love the idea Brian 😁 One can dream 😉 Stay well sir and thanks for your support.
I’d love to see a logie Baird vid! Love your content also 🙂
Thank you so much Jade. I've not forgotten about Logie Baird and am hoping to cover his story in London at some point. May take a while though as I need to do quite a bit of research! Thanks again and stay well.
Splendid !!!
Thank you!
I remember when I was a small child in the early 1960's authough my parents had a television they had little interest in watching it, they were from a radio generation, and thats what they were addicted to.
Interesting, thanks for sharing Alan.
What a great insight, Rob.
We didn't get television DownUnder untill 1956.
My first memory of TV was watching Princess Margaret marrying Anthony Armstrong Jones in glorious B&W.
Would love to see more on the history of the Ally Pally... 👍
p.s. A Guinea was 1 Pound and 1 Shilling, so 20 Guineas was actually 21 Pounds. Very dodgey and beloved by used car and used house salesmen... Totally inflationary!
Great comment and thoughts Bryan; cheers! Stay well.
It was said that the BBC television service was closed down just before the commencement of WW2 because of the fear that German bombers could use its transmission frequencies to home in on London. Whether that was true or not, I think that the real reason was that the UK government wanted to use the experienced tv technicians based at the Alexandra Palace studios for war work such as the advancement of radar etc. Also I think television was considered to be an unnecessary luxury in time of war back then.
My mother born in 1918 said she first saw television when she was around 20 years old. An old rich lady that lived nearby had bought one of the early sets and she invited as many young people and children as she could to crowd into her home to watch the F.A. Cup Final live from Wembley when it was televised for the first time by the BBC.
Thanks for sharing that Trevor; fascinating. And yes, I believe the technicians were required for radar work. Stay well.
I believe they only shut it down so they could dedicate the work to the still more popular and cheaper radio to transmit important messages and speeches
@@Robslondon During WWII Alexandra Palace was commissioned by the RAF and used for "Beam Bending" activities. Luftwaffe navigation beams were received crossing the coast, these signals were relayed to Alexandra Palace. The vision transmitter happened to operate on the same frequency as the navigational beams (the weak link in their system).
The beam worked by transmitting a steady tone if the plane flew along the centre of the beam, if it deviated to the left or right the navigator would hear dots or dashes - and could guide the pilot back on track. As the Alexandra Palace transmitter was bought up to power the beams were widened, resulting in the plane weaving from side to side trying to find the dots/dashes and continuous tone. A second bean was broadcast which intersected the original beam above the target, but as the aircraft was lost in the first beam it was impossible to find the second. As a result they could not pin-point their target and often called off the raid. This system of jamming remained in place for some months before it was detected by the Luftwaffe, when other more sophisticated systems were developed. However, it was Alexandra Palace, with a mixture of BBC and RAF technicians that were the first!
Many television engineers moved overnight into radar work, other more senior engineers were deployed within other areas of the BBC, and some to train the new female recruits that were joining the BBC.
OB Producer Ian Orr-Ewing always claimed the UK began the BBC TV service so the factories had the production capacity for cathode ray tubes, which could be switched to radar work in the event of war, as indeed they were.
Thanks for yet another well-researched and engaging video. 85 Guineas was a fortune! Nearly 30 years later when I started work, I got £11 for a full weeks work! Well done.
Tell us more about Loggy Beard!
Cheers Wayne 😉
America has the 'Golden Globe' awards for TV and Australia has the 'Logies' named after John Logie Baird for TV too!
That's great, I didn't know about that!
@@Robslondon I had to google Logies when I first saw them because I wasn't certain of the connection., It's amazing- because apart from some early prewar experiments there was no real TV in Australia until 1956. My partner tells of Tasmania with two stations in the late 80s.
@@matthewbrunswick Great comment, thank you. I didn't realise TV reached Australia so late- that would be a fascinating subject in itself; the history of television in Oz :-) Thanks again and stay well.
Interesting video, I used to go ice skating at Alexandra Palace
I'd be useless at that Richard!
Fantastic historical journey back in the TV history of London. I would love to see more, as I am sure any films you make would be well researched and put together. You so deserve many more subs Rob, and your clearly someone that puts effort into your videos to keep us entertained and to even learn a bit from. Keep up the great work.
Really appreciate than John; thank you so much, and thanks as ever for your kind support. Stay well and best wishes for the new year.
Fantastic. Thank you so much.
It’s a pleasure Lynwen, thank you for watching!
I’ve been in what had been one of the original studios at Alexandra Palace; it’s tiny.
Wow, I’d love the opportunity to see that! Cheers Stephen 😊
Having worked in television, it's a shame such a marvellous invention has been so misused today!!!?🤔
Yes, I often wonder what the pioneers of the technology would make of it today!! Cheers Johnty ;-)
I have a tv in my room that I never use the channels just aren’t my thing like once or twice a week it’s on for no more than a hour or two
Another interesting video, next time I go up to SoHo I will be taking my camera with and visiting Frith Street to get a picture of the Blue Plaque to add to my collection, always look up when wandering about and there are many Blue Plaques to see
Many thanks Butch, much appreciated. Bar Italia and Logie Baird’s plaque are well worthy of a visit. There’s one for Mozart a few doors up too! Cheers and stay well
So interesting! Thank you. I'd love to hear more about Ally Pally.
Thank you Marj :-)
John Logie Beard, for sure!!!!!!
:-D
These are brilliant, keep it up 👍 😊
Really appreciate that Cheech, thank you 😉
@@Robslondon The pieces, you create on the railways are a particular favourite. Im hoping you’ve done one on the ghost stations of the underground and if you haven’t I will always wait with anticipation for the day you do. Keep up the good work 🙂
@@cheech7900 Bless you Cheech, thank you :-)
I'd love to do a ghost stations video; it's a subject which fascinates me.
he main one I've covered so far is 'North End' (aka Bull and Bush) which, funnily enough, I covered in the first pubs video!
@@Robslondon Im working my way through your channel, so I’ll seek it out. I look forward to when you do cover the ghost stations in more depth, places once full with life, now lost and forgotten from living memory, existing now as nothing more than a flash, as the world charges by. I like to think of them as little bubbles of history, left behind as treasures for our descendants to discover. History has always been a deeply fascinating subject to me and you present it so well, virtual walking tours from the past to the present. 🙂
Excelllent stuff, as usual tbf. As you say, unlikely anybody watching this can remember the TV room I assume you include yourself on that list - how do you find these things out? The Pubs, now thats much easier to research - good excuse n all, just off to so some research....but this Well done mate. On the teaser I was certain it WASNT Waterloo, did guess at Olympia or Aly Paly!!! So close but so far!!! Keep it up mate, lovin it ( not in a MacDs Blandburger way) Cheesey
Ha ha! Thanks very much for the kind words; really appreciate your support. I discovered the Waterloo TV whilst researching a book last year 😉 Stay well.
If you do a Logie Baird, have a gander at the book Vision Warrior by Wadell & McArthur (Orkney Press, 1990) beforehand. Truly fascinating.
Thanks Paul, I’ll see if I can get a copy. Stay well.
Just found a copy; many thanks Paul 😉
@@Robslondon In 2009, Waddell co-authored, with a Dr Brown, a fascinating 4-parter entitled Slow Scan Video on Very Low Frequency Carrier Waves - part one opens with Air Ministry officials visiting Baird at the Crystal Palace in the summer of 1936. Again, well worth a read. The series was published in a journal called Transmission Lines. Have a good Christmas.
Apparently a guinea is only 1.05…so in modern money 85 Guineas is around 5 thousand pounds allowing for inflation. I actually expected it to be far more expensive for some reason
Ha ha! Thanks; still quite a bit of money I fork out though 😉 Stay well.
@@Robslondon Especially as a lot of people at that time were earning three to five pounds a week.
It's amazing that TV ever took off with the type of programming shown, but I guess tastes were different at those times? I wonder what people would have thought about the types of things that are shown today, celebrity love island maybe?
Gosh, can you imagine?! 🤣
To say nothing of Naked Attraction…
Actually, given the resources available at the time, the programming looks pretty reasonable to me. An expensive technology only recently invented? A couple of hours of assorted this ‘n’ that would have given viewers something to measure against their expectations while pondering whether popular music, circus acts and news bulletins could possibly be worth 85 guineas a pop, whether the Crazy Gang would ever be on, and whether that ‘orrible Hitler fellow would throw a spanner in the whole show.
@@SkepticalSteve01 Thanks Stephen, interesting comment! Stay well.
They would probably,(quite rightly), have thought that they were shite! 😂
Engaging history video, very well researched. How did you go about unearthing all the the necessary sources?
Many thanks. I’m lucky enough to have access to a newspaper archive which is a goldmine. For this video, the BBC’s Radio Times archive was extremely useful too.
@@Robslondon Thanks for the info. Keep up the good work
@@StereoHistory No problem; thanks again for watching and stay well.
Baird video - yes!
Cheers Tony 😉
Over here Phylo T. Farnsworth is thought of as the inventor of television (despite RCA's claims.) So how do Baird and Farnsworth compare?
@@Blade_Daddy it’s an interesting question, will look into it if I make a video 😉 From what I understand though there were several inventors around the same era working on the concept of television; all geniuses in my opinion. Cheers Tony and stay well.
A Guinea was one pound one shilling (1.05 pounds) so 85 guineas is roughly 90 pounds. Adjusted for inflation, however, and that's over 6600 quid in 2021 money
Wow! Thanks Lauren.
85 Guineas equates to £89/5/0... that's £89 and 5 shillings. (£89.25p in decimal currency) A lot of money back then.
Yep! Cheers Trevor ;-)
According to a quick bit of research, 85 gns is worth £6,618.13 today.
Great video, although The Way You Look Tonight was recorded in 1936, not 1940
Thank you
1 Guinea was £1 1 shilling in predecimal currency so 85 guineas is £89 5 shillings so in decimal currency is £89-25., more than the majority of working peoples annual wages in 1936. 1 shilling is equivalent to 5 pence.
Interesting; many thanks. I’ve never been good with pre-decimal money!
@@Robslondon I was 10 years old when we went decimal so after 5 years of having to chant timetables and money,length and weight in class at school, it was well drummed in. The trouble is when you convert modern prices , especially food prices back to Pre decimal values you hair tends to stand on end!
@@schwarzalben88 What a headache! 🤣
The Baird system was inferior to the Marconi system, lower in definition and very cumbersome to use, so it was discontinued at the trial stage and was never used for regular broadcast service. So the Baird TV at the station could not have been used for public viewing after the trial stage - the systems were incompatible. Also the Walt Disney cartoon was cut short, without any testcard or announcement as the outbreak of war was imminent. This was on the orders of the homeoffice who demanded immediate suspension of broadcasting, but the BBC management was not pleased as an announcement would have been the least they could do. After the war the service resumed at the same point in the cartoon, in principe, as if the war had been a delay in broadcasting!
My father worked for Mullards, a subsidiary of Philips, in conjunction with the BBC, that how I know this.
Thanks EPC
looking it up a guinea was worth £1 and 1 shilling so works out at £1.05 in todays money so 85 guineas would hav worked out at around £6,309.11 going off the internet!
Cheers Sean!
Is it true , the first programme after the war was the ending of the Mickey Mouse cartoon was shown , because the plug was pulled before it ended in 1939 .
As far as I'm aware the cartoon was shown on the day TV returned, although it was preceded by introductions and so on (as opposed to just opening in the middle of the cartoon) :-)
@@Robslondon Thank you for your swift answer
@@samsum3738 No problem Sam, stay well.
I'm happy to find your channel. Your channel is promoted by YT. See today's explore page, it's recommended there. You've got a fan.
(Fri 12 Nov 2021 20h29)
Thank you so much! It’s a great honour to be promoted; glad you found my channel through it. Stay well 😊
@@Robslondon Welcome
My Dad saw it..
The TV at Waterloo would be around £1750 odds in todays money there or there about which compared to other TVs on the market today isn’t to bad
Also I’d just like to ask why do you reply to every comment it must be hard sometimes
Thanks 😊
As for the comments, it doesn’t take that long to reply (although I guess I am quick at typing).
But as far as I’m concerned, if someone has taken the time to leave a nice comment, then replying is the least I can do.
RUclips is tough, and anyone leaving kind words here is really helping my channel. It honestly means a great deal to me that people have noticed my videos and taken the time to interact with them.
In short, I really appreciate it and can’t help but reply; the viewers are what make the channel.
£1750 for a TV is approaching ridiculous prices in my opinion. I get that some go for that but I would feel suckered if I paid that much. I know that people in the late 30’s felt TV’s were very expensive through accounts from my grandparents. TV’s just aren’t viewed as the same luxury item today. They’re practically giving away large HD tvs, as UHD has come down in price.
@@kless001 Thanks, yes it's incredible to think how easy they now are to obtain.
@@kless001 I know what you mean
@@Robslondon wow I think your one of the few RUclipsr who isn’t just doing it for the money but instead cares about his/hers/there viewers seriously I love this channel and this just makes me more happy if you get my meaning
85gns = £89.25 = £5296.23 acording to the Bank Of England inflation calculator in 2024.
Thanks
Hi Rob Quality video sir Waterloo was my local station with the Film Theatre etc but knew nothing about the TV studio - Had to laugh at the boys getting in with their 2 d tickets for Vauxhall which was 120th of a pound !! Once again thanks for this info. - looking forward to many more 👍🇬🇧
it’s a pleasure Ray; thanks so much for the kind words and watching. Yes, I loved the story about the two lads with the tickets; had to include it! Thanks again and stay well.