You still see ‘em from time to time - hotel signs that advertise “Color TV”. It’s the mark of an old sign for sure, but people my age hardly give ‘em a second thought. To young people though it must be like seeing a hotel sign that boasts “Indoor Plumbing!” Most kids these days have never even seen a black and white TV set, so they can’t imagine anything special about a new-fangled color model. Well young readers, you’re all a little spoiled… Why I can still remember when we got our first color mirror. That’s right kids, I had to brush my teeth in front of a black and white mirror until I was 6 years old. Don’t believe me? Go ask your grandfather.
And about those first hotels to advertise “Indoor Plumbing,” I can still hear Great Grandma Margaret saying, “Let’s stop here Frank, they got indoor outhouses,” and Frank saying, “That’s unsanitary Margaret. Outhouses need fresh air blowing through ‘em. You won’t catch me sittin’ on one of them in-the-house flush toilets.” And so Frank and Margaret continue on down the road in search of traditional accommodations. Yes folks, today’s TVs, computers, phones, and even mirrors are all in color now, but to us older folks the past will always be more colorful.
R.L. Johnson, 2020
