I remember it along with Saturday morning cartoons. I’d get up early before they started and turn on the TV. The farm report would be on (which is far more boring than you’re imagining – the screen was all black with the words “Farm Report” and voice reading a bunch of data about current farming production) and I would wait until it ended at 7AM to watch cartoons.
I remember the Test pattern followed by black & white cartoons, .. Krazy Kat .. etc. Then, black & white cowboy movies. This was each Saturday morning. I slept over at my Grandfather’s house. The night before I would buy a Bag of Bonamo’s Turkish taffee (10 bars) I would freeze some and smack it on the floor and eat the little pieces while waiting for the first cartoon. I was lucky to have one bar left by the time Hopalong Cassidy or Lash Larue arrived. Small kid times… 1950’s …
This happened in Britain as well. It would shut down about 11 or 12 o’clock. After the late night film or whatever it was, an announcer would come on and whisper, “Well that’s all for BBC1 tonight. Do be sure to lock your doors and switch off your appliances…” (Basically they’d tell you to go to bed). Then there was the spinning globe ident and “God Save The Queen” would play.
If you didn’t turn your telly off at that point, you were rewarded with the following; there was a small white dot in the middle of the screen, and a high-pitched tone which lasted until the following morning.
Also, before 1982 there were only three channels. Channel 4 came along in 1982 and the fifth, Channel 5, not until 1997.
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