ON THE GADGET ROAD As I recall a great many of the gadgets which have invaded our homes over the years came to be with us as part of our family habit of Christmas gift giving. Almost every year some mechanical apparatus or electronic contraption came into our living area our life - and stayed.
The first such things were beneficial and largely machines made to made to lighten then workload of keeping a house in order. The Telephone was an early one and of genuine use for all of us. Ours was a ten-inch tall, black pole with a microphone built into the upper portion. On the side of that,perhaps one inch upright there was was a hook which held the listening part when it was not in use.. Other homes, primarily in rural regions, had wooden boxes which were hung on the wall, usually either too high or too low for comfort during any extended conversation.
There was no set schedule but we also acquired a coffee percolator fired eclectically, a big "Easy" washing machine, an electric refrigerator and a pop-up toaster. There was a time, too ,when some people felt they had to have a player piano in their house. We got regular piano After 1925-26 when it was as discovered that more than one disc could produced with each studio session. A flood of record firms took over as radio came alive commercially and enhanced recorded music to new heights.
The advent of radio was major era. It is still with us more than we may realize. As a family we were very much a part of it. It was those years which determined the occupational future of many of us and it led us into the Computer Age in an eager and ready state. We have many of the gadgets but the giver of the gift under our tree told us "It's something you may not think you need - but which you do! If it appears to be all broken, I'll be over tomorrow to fix it!"
My wife Vivian and I - the two of us - are now into TIVO too.
Andrew McCaskey Sr amccsr@adelphia.net 12-25-06 [c371wds]
