Our first television set
by Joe Reinschmidt
In the mid 1940s many folks we knew were starting to acquire the latest consumer product which was now available to average families, specifically televisions. Joe and Anna didn’t seem too interested in getting one very soon probably because of the cost and also wanting to wait and see if they were all they claimed to be or if it was a fad that would soon fade away. Little did they know the profound effect that television would have on life as we knew it at that time.
We, the kids, of course thought we should have one as soon as possible but that didn’t make any impression on Dad and Mom. We probably even offered to empty our piggy banks and pool the resources to help pay for a TV set. There wasn’t much, if anything that was going to hasten the acquisition of it until the heads of the household made up their minds. That decision seemed a long way off.
Our prayers were answered one night when my parents had gone to visit and play cards with some friends. We were home playing board games or listening to the radio when suddenly there was a knock on the door. We opened it to find a family friend standing there with a box in his arms. The man was Fritz, the 40 something son of a couple that were very good friends of Joe and Anna and frequent visitors to our farm. We loved to see them come because they were always happy and the mother could play the harmonica as well as sing and yodel. She was also ready to help in the fields if there was work to be done. They were from Switzerland and lived in Rochester.
But let us get back to Fritz and the box, which he happily informed us, contained a table model television for us. We were surprised enough by his unexpected visit but could hardly believe what he had brought. We wondered why, and he quickly explained that he owed Joe about $100 for hay that we had provided for his horses. He had a horse farm on Lexington Avenue near Lee Road where we had tried riding several times.
The television was, of course, black and white, with a 10 or 12 inch screen. He set it up for us and left a little while later. We all watched it until it was past bedtime and the other kids went upstairs to bed. My room was downstairs so I continued to watch it and was still watching it when Joe and Anna came home. I proudly showed it to them and explained how it had arrived. Joe wasn’t too impressed. No doubt he really would have preferred to have the money.
Fritz was quite a talker and what you would call a smooth operator, who could convince you that what he said or promised was the gospel truth even though you knew it wasn’t. He convinced Joe to keep the television, and yes, maybe the hay was worth more than $100, but this television was just a trial model and if we like it he would bring a bigger one to make up the difference.
The television set stayed and we enjoyed it for several weeks until one day when two business-like men appeared at our door. They were detectives and wanted to know if we had a television set that came from Fritz. Joe said yes and explained how it arrived and the matter of the money due for hay. They asked to see it, checked it out and made some notes. We were certain it was the last we’d see of it. Instead they said it could remain here for now, but under no circumstances were we to dispose of it, since it may be needed as evidence. There obviously was a continuing investigation going on.
Fritz had been employed for some time as a delivery and warehouse employee of a relative of his that operated a jewelry and appliance store in Rochester. Apparently there were a growing number of items that had “fallen off the truck” or been lost in the warehouse.
Eventually there was pretty clear evidence that Fritz was the culprit and charges were prepared against him. As the case progressed, the investigators discovered that Fritz had been born in Switzerland and came here with his parents who had immigrated legally. However, they had never applied for citizenship in the United States while Fritz was a child, nor did Fritz when he became an adult. Legally he was still a Swiss citizen having been born in Switzerland of Swiss parents, and the Swiss never lose their citizenship. That made Fritz a candidate for deportation which was probably easier and cheaper than going through a trial and eventual imprisonment. He, of course, protested but to no avail. Apparently the fact that he had a wife and children here didn’t deter the deportation.
The television fared better – it stayed here with us indefinitely, but Fritz had to leave.
