Invasion of the mind snatchers
Subtitle: television's conquest of America in the fifties
By: by Eric Burns.
Publisher: Temple University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Philadelphia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 342
ISBN-13: 9781439902882; 9781439902905
Subjects: Television broadcasting -- Social aspects -- United States; Television broadcasting -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Description: "In this book, the author, an Emmy award winning broadcaster chronicles the influence of television on the baby boomer generation. Spellbound by Howdy Doody and The Ed Sullivan Show, those children often acted out their favorite programs, purchased the merchandise promoted by performers, and were fascinated by the personalities they saw on screen, often emulating their behavior. It was the first generation raised by TV, and the author looks at both the promise of broadcasting as espoused by the inventors and how that promise was both redefined and lost by the corporations who helped spread this revolutionary technology."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : Philo T. Farnsworth's discontent; title: The medium. Damning the "theenk"; title: The new American family; title: The hula hoop and the bomb; title: Invisible doughnuts and coonskins caps; title: Really big shows; title: The competition; title: The messages. The first senator; title: The second senator; title: The third senator; title: Advertising for President; title: The mystic knights of the sea; title: "The technological equivalent of a crucifix"; title: Sexless objects; title: The constant parade; title: Serving the sky chief; title: The Black Sox of the airwaves; title: Epilogue.