Our Shrinking Five-Inch Screen

It was a Sunday evening when we arrived in Manitoba with our two retrievers. We had been travelling across Canada and parts of the United States, for the summer. As outdoor daylight began to dim, our Coleman lantern took over 'duty', making it easier to watch T.V. than to read. Into our tent we went.

Agatha Christie had peeked my interest, in the 70's, never having heard of her till my partner introduced me to this brilliant mystery writer. In high school, composition and literature classes kept our class focused on Shakespeare and Greek mythology. We had been told what to read. Pencil 'decor' seemed to mark the print, page after page, in the play we were studying, at the time. My textbooks were awash with these 'pencil inserts' signifying the importance of this passage and that. At one point, the printed word seemed invisible, having been covered everywhere, by my pencil 'opinions'. Everything seemed important yet nothing, relevant. ... Agatha Christie had restored my love of reading, I hadn't known I had.

As the sun set, the 'four' of us retired into our tent. Reading was now very difficult. Night time was here and with it little light from the Coleman lantern. It made sense to watch television on our Crown black and white 5-inch set, a unique little machine, ahead of its time. In a previous camp ground visit, its fully extended T.V. antenna had been broken when the tent, pitched on rock-laden ground, collapsed and made this portable modern convenience a most disappointing entertainment marvel. What else could go wrong, I wondered? We hoped the nearby city's cable network had something worthwhile for us to watch with our now somewhat broken and bent T.V. antenna. Reception would be difficult.

The movie held me in its grip. It was a change of pace, requiring nothing of me than to watch the story line unfold on this 5-inch screen. The antenna was holding. It had not snapped off as we thought it might, the other day, when the tent fell on it. I was riveted to this miniature screen even as it began to shrink. With the movie soon to end, I held out little hope the 'emergency' batteries would arrive in time. Could my husband return in time to reboot this incredible miniature picture machine? As sound and picture slowly began to diminish, again, superman returned, having troubleshooted his way into town looking for the batteries desperately needed. It was 1972, the period after prehistoric man and woman, when nothing was open on Sunday and the future seemed decades away. The screen was now a one-inch blur and dimming slowly.

As he parked the car, I waited as the one-inch picture - if you can call it that - began to diminish again, resembling a tiny postage-sized square on the television screen. As 'John' entered the tent, with 9 batteries in hand, I stopped the 'changing of the guard'. Though the picture was barely visible, the sound, barely audible, I asked him to wait until the commercial began. The end was near and I did not want to miss any of the dialogue, the engine of any movie, as my ear rested upon this tiny portable 'window'. We were quiet. I was prepared for the worst and hoped that the movie would be shown, again, for me to see it in its entirety on a normal-sized screen. Little did I realize, how small a television screen could become. How ridiculous I looked. (A magnifying glass would have helped immeasurably). Both of us laughed till we could laugh no more. That was camping.

John had recalled this moment in our camping history. I had forgotten the details of that evening and was reminded in glaring hindsight. We laughed some more. Who watches a 'tiny' movie, ear pinned to the screen, waiting for 'power' to be restored? Finding batteries, on a Sunday evening, was a miracle in itself. Most of the country did not have Sunday shopping, back then, and VHS/DVD recorders did not exist. Re-charging batteries was unheard-of. We simply purchased new ones.

Today re-charging is a non-event for nearly every form of technology. Television screens come in all sizes. Smart phones do it all, too. Our little 5-inch black and white television was tops in an exclusive entertainment club. We still have this miniature symbol of man's ingenuity. But it took 9 D batteries to complete the picture.