When TV Was New

The Family Doctors

GROWING UP in Berwyn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, I'd be glued to the TV to watch the weekly episode of Dr. Kildare. The series ran from 1961 to '66 and had a rival in Ben Casey, another doctor show of the same era.

Dr. James Kildare, played by Richard Chamberlain, was a kind, soft-spoken, sensitive intern. Dr. Casey, a neurosurgeon played by Vince Edwards, tended to be intense, macho and aggressive.

You had to proclaim your doctor. Being in sixth grade, I was a Dr. Kildare fan because he was cute. Mom favored Ben Casey.

Remember the fad with the doctor smocks—the white or mint-green shirts that buttoned on the right shoulder and down the right side? It seemed everyone wore them.

As a Richard Chamberlain Fan Club member, I received pictures, a newsletter and a Dr. Kildare button. I kept my favorite photo in my school desk where I could glance at it from time to time.

Returning to school one Monday, I was horrified to find the 8x10 black-and-white of my favorite doctor altered. Mr. Chamberlain now had glasses, pimples, buckteeth, a beard and a mustache!

—Vicki Thom
Harker Heights, Texas

Waves of Embarrassment

WHEN I was 8 years old, my father would come home from his job as sheriff of Big Spring, Texas, and tell us about a TV in the display window at Hilburn Appliance.

We'd heard about this, but we'd never seen this marvelous machine.

The wait to see the TV was unbearable, but finally Mother let us accompany her to town. Hilburn Appliance was right next to the grocer, so while Mom shopped, we three boys ran next door to gaze at Hilburn's window.

It didn't take us long to find the TV. Mr. Hilburn had turned it on, and the scene we saw showed the ocean. We watched in awe as the waves tumbled and crashed together. After a while, though, we got bored.

Mr. Hilburn eventually came outside and asked, "What on earth are you boys doing?"

We looked at him proudly and said, "Well, we're watching TV."

He started to laugh and said, "Why don't you boys come inside and I'll turn on a TV for you? You've been watching a washing machine."

—Nelson Hallford,
as told to Jessica Layman,
Perryton, Texas