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The Afternoon Tea Times welcomes correspondence. Contact Afternoon Tea online, or by mail to: Afternoon Tea Times, MPT, 11767 Owings Mills Blvd., Owings Mills, MD 21117-1499. You may also reach MPT Afternoon Tea by telephone at (443) 394-1634.
Editor's Note
Here is the September issue, with wishes for a pleasant autumn. This month in the UK are Festivals celebrating Jane Austen (pictured) and Agatha Christie. On Maryland Public Television, look for plenty of TV Worth Watching from music, to musicals, to mysteries. Old favorites and new offerings are scheduled for you to enjoy both on MPT and MPT2.
Afternoon Tea programs are on hiatus September 13-17 so we can raise the money needed to bring them to you 45+ weeks of the year.
In Ireland and northern England, it has been thought that if you ate goose at Michaelmas holiday you would have good luck for the rest of the year. So for the sake of your good luck this fall and early winter, we include a recipe for your own roast goose with apples and prunes.
At your service,
Joe K, Editor
1
They Say It's Your Birthday!
Do you share a birthday with any of these people?
Queen Elizabeth I
September 7th, 1533
Queen Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death. She was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. Her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity.
Peter Sellers
September 8th, 1925
Peter Sellers was an English comedian and actor best known for his roles in Dr. Strangelove, as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series and as the guileless man-child Chance in Being There. Sellers rose to fame through radio but gained film success through British comedies like The Ladykillers, I'm All Right Jack, and The Mouse That Roared. His versatile acting style and knack for different accents mark him as one of the most unique British comedians.
Sir Ian Holm
September 12th, 1931
Sir Ian Holm is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles, including the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and the athletics trainer Sam Mussabini in Chariots of Fire. Holm has won countless awards including a Tony, BAFTAs, Emmys, and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Chariots of Fire.
J.B. Priestley
September 13th, 1894
John Boynton Priestley was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster. He published 27 novels, notably The Good Companions (1929), as well as numerous dramas such as An Inspector Calls. His output included literary and social criticism.
Dame Agatha Christie
September 15th, 1890
Dame Agatha Christie was an English crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. Her works, particularly those featuring detective Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, have given her the title of "Queen of Crime." Her work is timeless; according to the Guinness Book of World Records, only the Bible is known to have outsold her collected sales of roughly four billion copies of novels and her stage play Mousetrap holds the record for the longest initial run in the world.
King Henry V
September 16th, 1387
King Henry V was King of England from 1413 to his death in 1422. His military successes in the Hundred Years' War, culminating with his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt, saw him come close to conquering France. His legacy is immortalized in William Shakespeare's stage play Henry V.
Christopher Stone
September 19th, 1882
In 1927 Christopher Stone became the first UK disc jockey after eventually persuading the BBC to adopt his idea for a record program. His relaxed, conversational style as exception at a time when most of the BBC's presentation was extremely formal, and his programs became highly popular as a result.
H.G. Wells
September 21st, 1866
Herbert George Wells was an English author known as "The Father of Science Fiction." He was a prolific writer in a variety of genres including contemporary novels, history, politics, and social commentary. His early novels, called "scientific romances", included The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and The War of the Worlds. Through these Wells invented a number of themes now classic in science fiction.
Edmund Gwenn
September 26th, 1877
Edmund Gwenn was an English theatre and film actor who appeared in more than eighty films including Pride and Prejudice (1940), Of Human Bondage, and The Keys of the Kingdom. He is perhaps best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Upon receiving his Oscar he exclaimed, "Now I know there is a Santa Claus!"
Deborah Kerr
September 30th, 1921
Deborah Kerr was a Scottish stage, television and film actress. While she never won for her six nominations for an Academy Award as Best Actress, she did receive an honorary Academy Award, BAFTA and Cannes Film Festival awards. Her most famous films include The King and I, An Affair to Remember, From Here to Eternity, and Quo Vadis.
2
My Source
We'd Like to Hear Your Story...
The "Other" Television Station
"Maryland Public Television is my source for everything I cannot see on any other Network or Cable Station. That includes program such as Brit Wit, Masterpiece Theatre, Mystery, Outdoors Maryland, Great Performances, Up and Coming Artists, Nature Programs, etc., etc. Having been born and raised in England before emigrating to the U.S. at the age of 18 in 1956, programs such as Brit Wit, the Eastenders, Rosemary and Thyme, Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery, are very nostalgic for me. The British have a knack for great casting making their characters true to life. And the biggest bonus of all is - NO COMMERCIAL INTERRUPTIONS!"
Jennifer Macek, Towson, MD
Put a Smile On Your Face with MPT
"Maryland Public Television is my source for...special shows, British Mysteries and most of all Afternoon Tea. My husband & I have been looking at MPT for many years. We know what the characters are going to do & say on Afternoon Tea but we still laugh and enjoy them every time. What a great way to Put A Smile On Your Face ;) Thank you."
Elsie Parkhouse, Milford, DE
Most US Television Content is "I won, I'm Great, You Lost, You Suck"
"Maryland Public Television is my source for... the Britcoms whenever they are not chopped off the air) to be substituted for the eternally repeated "Pledge re-runs" (since clearly MPT treats them as time-slot "filler" only). Had it not been for this behavior, I would never have been motivated to order the DVD's of the shows from Amazon.uk so that I -don't- have to listen to the eternal Pledge Week/s reruns."
John C. Campbell III
What Say YOU?
Tell us about your unique and personal story on how public broadcasting serves as your source for information, entertainment and empowerment.
Get started: www.mpt.org/mysource
OR: Leave a voice message at (410) 581-4131
Thank you for your support and interest in MPT!
3
A Spot for Tea
Teavolve Café & Lounge
1401 Aliceanna Street
Baltimore, MD 21231
(410) 522-1907
teavolve.com
Monday-Wednesday 8AM-9PM Thursday 8AM-10PM Friday 8AM-11PM Saturday 9AM-11PM Sunday 9AM-8PM
Located near the Baltimore Aquarium, "Teavolve Café and Lounge" presents a relaxing atmosphere where you can order food as well as drinks and above all, enjoy a nice cup of tea.
When Baltimoreans want fresh, flavorful food in a fun, chic setting, they flock to Teavolve Café & Lounge. This lively neighborhood cafι serves up 48 different varieties of gourmet loose leaf tea by the pot, cup or iced, espresso based and coffee beverages using locally roasted beans to compliment a menu of freshly made to order panini, salads are wraps.
Couples wile away over wine and hors d'oeurves during Happy Hour. Friends gather for cocktails while listening to live music. Families relax and dine during Saturday and Sunday Brunch. Professionals meet for business meetings using the WiFi.
With a chic but inviting décor, a friendly staff, delicious, affordable, healthy menu and live entertainment you will see why Teavolve Café & Lounge has quickly become a favorite in Baltimore.
4
Roast Michaelmas Goose with Apples and Prunes
Serve the roast goose with the cooking juices and the apples and prunes. Plain boiled or mashed potatoes complement the richness of the goose. Braised red cabbage is also a traditional accompaniment.
Michaelmas Day - the feast of St Michael and All Angels - is celebrated on 29 September. A busy day, it used to be celebrated all over the country with great feasts, the centrepiece of which was the Michaelmas goose.
Michaelmas geese are leaner than Christmas geese, their flesh slightly paler and their flavour slightly milder. A goose for the table should be young not more than a year old. A 'green goose' is a bird up to the age of 3 to 4 months, a gosling one up to 6 months.
In Ireland and northern England, it was thought that if you ate goose at Michaelmas you would have good luck for the rest of the year. The roast bird was always accompanied by apples, as windfalls were plentiful. Geese are in season from September to December but are not so widely available nowadays.
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
- 4-5 Kilogram Oven ready goose with giblets (9-11 lb)
- 15 Gram Butter (1/2 oz)
- 1 Large Onion, chopped
- 450 Gram No-soak prunes (1 lb)
- 4 Tablespoon Port
- 1 Tablespoon Fresh sage, chopped
- 100 Gram Fresh breadcrumbs (4 oz)
- 6 Cox pippin, cored & cut into 8 pieces
- 300 ml Dry white wine (1/2 pint)
Method:
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas 6. Prick the skin of the goose all over with a sharp skewer or fork and pull the inside fat out of the bird and reserve.
- To make the stuffing, melt the butter in a large pan, add the onion and cook for 5-6 minutes, until softened. Separate the goose liver from the giblets and chop finely, then add to the onion and cook gently for 2-3 minutes. Remove the stones from half the prunes and discard. Chop the prunes roughly and stir into the onion with the port. Cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Add the sage and breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly together.
- Spoon the stuffing into the neck end of the goose, then truss with strong cotton or fine string. Weigh the bird. Put the bird on a wire rack placed in a roasting tin. Cover the breast with the reserved fat and then with foil. Roast for 15 minutes per 450g (1 lb) plus 15 minutes, basting frequently.
- Thirty minutes before the end of the cooking time, drain off the fat and discard. Add the apples to the tin with the remaining prunes. Add the wine. Place the bird on top, standing on the roasting rack. Remove the foil and fat and cook, uncovered, for the last 30 minutes.
Please submit your favorite recipes to mptrecipes@mpt.org or
MPT/Recipes
11767 Owings Mills Blvd.
Owings Mill, MD 21117
Let us share your recipe here, or in our upcoming cookbook and show, MPT Cooks. We might even invite you to come to the MPT studio and show our viewers how you prepare your favorite dish. Happy cooking, and thanks for your continued support of Maryland Public Television.
5
Tea Advisor
Aspects of Tea Production
When the first tea planters arrived in Assam there were virtually no usable roads The Ahom kings had built an extensive network, but these had almost all been neglected in the anarchy before the British conquest. Many of these roads had been raised above flood on large embankments, and the tea estates were able to rehabilitate short sections for their own use. A trunk road was built through Assam by the government in 186, but otherwise little progress was made before 1880. In many, tea growing areas the estates had to build roads themselves, and hope for a government grant towards the construction. During the rains, a planter might be marooned on his estate for several months.
The railway took many years to extend as far as Assam. In 1862 the line from Calcutta was taken through Kushtis on the Ganges, close to where the country boats had entered the river. This made the first leg of the journey to the Brahmaputra much faster and easier. !879 the railway was continued north to the Tista River, almost to Assam. Two years later it crossed the Assam border, and during the 1880 was extended into the tea districts.
In the early days, lack of good roads, and the dispersed nature of the plantations, meant there was very little socializing among European planters. The Assam company might have half a dozen planters bunched together in one area- and some of these set up the first club in Assam, the Hatti Putti Billiard Club, in 1881- but many of its planters lived on isolated estates many miles from each other. On the smaller estates a planter might have just one colleague (who hopefully was congenial), or else be on his own, many miles from the next plantation. There was almost no social interaction with Assamese. There was other European in Assam- mostly government administrative officers and missionaries- but not many. In general, neither of these groups was too keen on mixing with the planters.
Tea | By Roy Moxham
6
Tea News Bits
TV Worth Watching
IMAGINE THIS
The New Musical
• MPT: September 1 at 8-10:30pm and September 2 at 12:01am
In Nazi-occupied Poland, a troupe of Jewish actors struggle to keep the dream of freedom alive among the prisoners of the Warsaw Ghetto by performing the epic tale of Masada, the Judean mountain where 2,000 years ago a small band of courageous rebels held 10,000 Roman soldiers at bay. Laughter finds a way to rise above tears as the actors discover that they are faced with the same choices as the rebels of Masada. A recording of the recent London production.
WAKING THE DEAD
The Fall
• MPT: September 9 at 2pm
A mummified, sexually conjoined couple fall from a concealed office during the renovation of a city bank. The discovery awakens a fraudulent scandal buried in the city of London around the time of Black Wednesday.
ARETHA FRANKLIN PRESENTS: SOUL REWIND
• MPT: September 14 & 18 at 11pm; September 16 at 9:30pm
This comprehensive collection of rare performances by legendary R&B performers of the classic 1960s-70s soul era offers an abundance of long-lost archival material that has been recovered from film vaults across the United States, England, Germany and France.
"Respect" - Aretha Franklin
"What'd I Say" - Ray Charles
"Try a Little Tenderness" - Otis Redding
"When a Man Loves a Woman" - Percy Sledge
"In the Midnight Hour" - Wilson Pickett
"Let's Stay Together" - Al Green
"Dancing in the Street" - Martha and the Vandellas
"Uptight" - Archie Bell and the Drells
"Going to a Go-Go" - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
"Who's Making Love" - Johnnie Taylor
"Oh Girl" - The Chi-Lites
"When Will I See You Again" - The Three Degrees
"I'll Be Around" - The Spinners
AS TIME GOES BY REUNION SPECIAL
• MPT: September 13 at 1pm
IN SEARCH OF MYTHS AND HEROES
Arthur: the Once and Future King
• MPT September 17 at 4am
In the second segment, Wood explores the greatest British myth: the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Traveling around the Celtic world from Cornwall to Wales, Brittany, Ireland and Scotland, Wood uncovers the extraordinary story of how a shadowy Welsh freedom fighter - a Dark Age Che Guevara - became a medieval superman and, finally, the model of a Christian hero. On the way, viewers discover the real stories behind the Round Table, Excalibur and the Holy Grail itself: the unattainable, mystical cup of Christ, which has inspired poets, novelists and filmmakers from the Middle Ages right down to Indiana Jones, Monty Python and The Da Vinci Code. In an intriguing piece of historical detective work, Wood offers a tantalizing glimpse of a historical Arthur - but in the unlikeliest of places.
MASTERPIECE CLASSIC
Oliver Twist, Parts 1&2 of 2
• MPT2: September 1 and September 8 at 8pm
Dickens' tale of a young orphan sent to the workhouse. William Miller as Oliver, Timothy Spall as Fagin, Adam Arnold as Artful Dodger.
RICK STEVES' EUROPE CLASSICS
Great Side Trips from London
• MPT2 September 27 at 12:30pm
Day-tripping from London, we ponder Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford, the ultimate medieval castle at Warwick, a walk with Newton through Cambridge, ghost stories, a pub visit-all with the Steves children and other colorful sights.
MASTERPIECE CLASSIC
Cranford, Part 1
• MPT2: September 29 at 8pm
Follow the absurdities and tragedies of the people of a small Cheshire market town.
7
England's Calendar of Events
Crucible at Gloucester Cathedral
September 1-30
Gloucester Cathedral will be hosting Crucible, a world class exhibition celebrating contemporary sculpture from a cast of international renowned sculptors. Crucible, an exhibition described by organizers as 'one of the largest and most important exhibitions of contemporary sculpture to take place in Britain during the past decade', will be hosted at Gloucester Cathedral for two months this autumn.
When You're Strange at The Guildhall
September 17-23
See The Doors' lead singer Jim Morrison as he's never been seen before at Gloucester Guildhall, when the insightful documentary When You're Strange is shown. A compelling documentary about The Doors' enigmatic frontman Jim Morrison will be on the Gloucester Guildhall cinema screen this September. Narrated by Johnny Depp, and directed by Tom DiCillo, organisers say the film sees the legendary 60s singer go from the Nietzsche-reading son of a senior naval officer to poet and onto drugged out shaman.
The Jane Austen Festival in Bath, England
September 17-25
Regency Bath Celebrates Its Most Famous Resident. Jane Austen was not only Bath's most famous resident, but her novels and the television and film adaptations of them have probably made the South western City of Bath more famous to most people than the fabulous Roman Baths themselves. The annual Jane Austen festival features at least 30 different Regency themed events, from tea parties and 18th century dance workshops, to street fairs selling Regency themed foods and goods.
Here are some of the highlights:
Costumed, Regency Promenade
Festival dance workshops
18th century Country Dances with buffet suppers
An 18th century public breakfast
Walking tours
Costume photography sessions (bring your own camera)
Tea with Jane in an elegant Regency dining room
Live performances of Austen adaptations
Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay
September 12-19
A UK Celebration of Agatha Christie - The "Queen of Crime" Fictional detective Hercule Poirot in Torquay, Agatha Christie's home town
A Week for Classic Mystery Lovers in Torquay. Torquay, Agatha Christie's hometown and part of the English Riviera, celebrates its native daughter, one of the 20th century's most famous mystery writers, with a week of events and performances. Christie fans come from all over the world for the September festivals.
Events vary from year to year, but usually include:
Free screenings of Agatha Christie films
Teas and tours
Live performances by the Agatha Christie Theatre Company
Illustrated talks
Murder mystery parties and dinners
Tea dances
Tours and boat visits to Greenway, Agatha Christie's home
Treasure hunts,
Classic car events
A Village Tradition, The Findon Sheep Fair Dates Back Almost 800 Years
September 10-11
The Findon Sheep Fair, originated in a 13th century charter for a three day trade fair and market. In the 18th century, a summer lamb sale was followed by the Great Fair in September.
At one time, large flocks of sheep were driven across the South Downs and through the town on the way to railway yards. For more than 200 years, the fair was the occasion for a sheep auction where as many as 15,000 sheep changed hands. Sadly, the sheep auction is no more.
Today the fair features:
amusements and rides
rural crafts and food stalls
barn dances
music
a dog show.
8
Britcom News Round-up
The latest updates about your favorite British comedies and the actors who appear in them.
Celebrating the last of Last of the Summer Wine
The final episode of the stalwart series aired in Britain on August 29.
Did Compo and Co. change television?
Lessons learned from the gang of pals.
Roy Clarke reminisces about LOTSW
The series' success surprises no one more than its writer.
Mollie Sugden interview clips
A compilation of chats with the actress who created "Mrs. Slocombe."
Rare interview with Sugden's Twin Sons
Meet Robin and Simon Moore, a.k.a. Mollie's boys.
Disappointing news for Geoffrey Hughes
KUA's "Onslow" battles a recurrence of cancer.
Isn't it rich?
Judi Dench sings "Send in the Clowns" for Sondheim celebration.
Dawn French has a new sitcom
A subtle celebration of the quiet life.
"Pearl" opens care home
Oddly appropriate following the retirement of Summer Wine.
5 minutes with Josephine Tewson
KUA's "Elizabeth" finally gets a word in edgewise.
9
John Logie Baird: Forgotten Pioneer of Television
 This article re-published
by MPT with permission from our friends at British Heritage Magazine. Subscription Information |
This article was written by Barbara Roisman Cooper for British Heritage and published online February 1, 2005.
'A potential social menace of the first magnitude!' proclaimed Sir John Reith, first Director General of the British Broadcasting Corporation, describing John Logie Baird's 1926 invention: television. Reith also compared the new medium's social impact to 'smallpox, bubonic plague and the Black Death.'
Millions of viewers today would disagree with his description.
John Trenouth, Senior Curator of Television at the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television in Bradford, North Yorkshire, explains that 'the reason we have this and much more of Baird's equipment is that we not only acquired the Kodak Museum collection and the Royal Photographic Society collection, but also all the television technology from the last three-quarters of a century, including Baird's. And now we have the largest collection of television technology in the world!'
The Museum, which is celebrating its 22nd anniversary this year, has a massive array of essential artistic and the technological elements associated with the photography, film, and television media, 'I've got less than .1% of it on display,' he notes.
Although much of the collection is stored in the Black Dyke Mill not far from the museum, 'the really big stuff is stored in the Science Museum's disused Second World War aircraft hangars.'
Fortunately, Baird will be well represented in the Museum's new Television Gallery, scheduled to open in autumn 2005. Until then, Baird material can be seen at the Insight: Collections & Research Centre.
During the early decades of the last century, Baird was one of several inventors in Germany, Hungary, France, Great Britain, and the U.S. who were in a neck-and-neck race to claim the title of 'first' to develop the technology to transmit and receive moving pictures, television. It was Baird, however, whom Britain recognizes as the pioneer who was the first in the world to demonstrate the technology as early as 1925.
Baird most likely never imagined the impact of his work and how it would ultimately change society, culture, and the world.
While a visit to the MPFT, which houses much of Baird's early apparatus, answers many questions about the inventions, the man himself remains an enigma.
Pointing out one of the gems in the Baird equipment collection, which is stored in a below-level area at the Museum until the new exhibition facilities are ready, Trenouth points to 'the world's most expensive pile of scrap. It's a fake but faked by Baird himself.'
Trenouth explains: 'Baird, whose system was mechanical, would in ten years' time be in competition with a rival system, which was electronic, proposed by EMI [Electrical and Musical Industries, Ltd., a British entity with a strong relationship, including patent sharing, with RCA].
Associates of Baird suggested that he donate his original apparatus to the Science Museum in London, thereby reinforcing his position as the premier scientist, engineer, and the true inventor of television, quashing anyone else's claim to the title.
'The only problem was,' continues Trenouth, 'that the original [transmission apparatus] no longer existed. Baird, in his frugal Scot's manner, reused parts as he improved the design of the mechanism. He cobbled together something that used many of the original pieces.' As he points to various parts of the ersatz device, Trenouth clarifies, 'We know that the motors are original and the discs are original, but the baseboard, originally a coffin board, is not.'
Typical of Baird, who was obsessed with anyone having access to his work, he built the 'fake' so it wouldn't work. 'The arrangement of the machine would actually stop it from working,' explains Trenouth. 'He was terrified that when it went on display someone would walk out with the plan.' Born in 1888 in Helensburgh, Scotland, not far from Glasgow, Baird became interested in electricity early in life. With a homemade generator, he electrified his parents' house and set up a telephone system between his home and those of some of his school chums. He was greatly influenced by science fiction writer, H. G. Wells, particularly The Sleeper Wakes.
After studying at the Royal Technical College in Glasgow, he earned a diploma at Glasgow University, but his studies came to a halt at the outbreak of World War I. He volunteered, but was deemed unfit for duty due to a recurring chest illness he contracted as a baby and which left him vulnerable to colds and flu throughout his life.
He turned to a some odd commercial ventures, including the Baird Undersock 'for soldier's foot' and the Speedy Cleaner, a 'revolutionary soap.' He even ventured to Trinidad, hoping that the warmer climate would benefit his health and financial state. He started a jam-making business in Port au Prince, but returned home after failing the business failed and he suffered a bout with malaria left him than left him both weakened and demoralized.
It was when he moved to Hastings in the early 1920s that Baird began serious work on ideas he'd had about the transmitting and receiving of pictures.
According to Trenouth, whose background is in physics, electronics and technology, 'Baird was not a scientist in the strict sense of the word. He had a lot of ideas, and he could sketch out what he wanted even on tablecloths in restaurants, where,' he laughs. 'They had to put the cloth on the bill so he could take it away with him!'
The system that Baird selected from several possible available to him in that technologically distant past was one that used a disc with apertures cut into it, which scanned the image to be transmitted. A 30-line picture (compared to the 600-plus lines today) was repeated 12 1/2 times per second. Not only was it small, but it also flickered. But it was eminently suitable for the head and shoulder shots, just as on web-video today.
As with every inventor, Baird had assistants. One of these assistants still stares at the equipment in which he was used for an early experiment. 'Here is the original Stooky Bill,' points out Trenouth. He gestures toward the head of a ventriloquist's dummy. 'Because the lights for the experiments were so hot, Baird couldn't use a human for the tests. So Stooky Bill was 'recruited." His hair is singed; his face is cracked; and his lips are chipped, but he is still smiling. Stooky Bill's visage ('stooky,' also spelled'stookie,' is Glaswegian slang, according to Trenouth, for someone who is wooden in his movements; it is also a plaster-of-paris which is used to immobilize bone fractures; hence, immovable) was the transmitted from room to room in Baird's laboratory at 22 Frith Street in London.
'If only we could interview Bill, what stories!' muses Trenouth.
One of Baird's early engineers, Thornton (Tony) Bridgewater, who became the BBC's chief engineer in the 1960s, could tell stories. 'Baird was an absolute charmer,' he told Trenouth in a late-in-life interview. He also told the story about Baird's typical greeting upon visiting him in the laboratory: 'Have you anything to show me?' he'd say. Bridgewater revealed that Baird might take him for dinner at the local Lyons Corner House, drawing on the tablecloth during the meal, then hand it over to Tony saying, 'Have this working for me in the morning.' And Tony would have to work all night!
The first demonstration of true television anywhere in the world occurred on 26 January to invited members of the Royal Institution. The same year the inventor formed the Baird Television Development Company, he made demonstrated long-distance transmission from the London area to Glasgow in 1927, made in direct response to an AT&T demonstration between New York and Washington, D.C., a mere 250 miles. Baird's was a 400-mile transmission.
In early 1925, Gordon Selfridge, Jr., scion of the famous department store founder, came to see the latest developments. The young Selfridge was looking for something that would attract customers to the family department store during its anniversary celebration in early 1925 and also create some interest from the press. Selfridge was impressed by Baird's television system and made the inventor an offer he couldn't refuse: for 50 guineas a week, Baird would demonstrate his apparatus in the Oxford Street store three times a day for three weeks. Selfridge's was able to boast in a newspaper advertisement in April 1925 that it presented 'the First Public Demonstration of Television in the Electrical Section (First Floor) '
Both Selfridge and Baird benefited from the presentation: Selfridge's garnered the publicity and the inventor had a means for promoting his work, and also obtained badly needed funds to continue his work.
Baird received more headlines when Ben Clapp, one of his colleagues, sailed to New York, and in early 1928. From Clapp's home in Surrey, Baird broadcast a picture of a moving head across the Atlantic and it was received in Hartsdale, a town just outside New York City.
Between 1930-32, Baird accomplished a trio of firsts. At the Coliseum cinema, now the home of the English National Opera, Baird transmitted a 3Χ6 foot image, an early example of 'large screen television.' He also 'broadcast' from the Derby finish line at Epsom to both an audience at the Metropole cinema in London, and to those few who had purchased receivers; this was considered the first 'remote' broadcast of television images. And during the famed running of the horses in 1932, he broadcast the race on a large screen at a pair of London cinemas.
If anyone had purchased a receiver,' says Trenouth, 'they would have had to spend about 25 guineas, a huge sum and not within reach of the general public.' Later, there were 'do-in-yourself' kits which could be purchased for considerably less and assembled by the buyer.
Television historians consider this the first time an outside event had been broadcast.
'Talk about clever,' says Trenouth. 'Baird called his transmission equipment a'scanner' because it scanned the image. For the Derby he mounted it in a caravan and shot the scene in a mirror mounted on a door of the van. By hinging the door open and closed, he overcame, somewhat, the problem of panning the action.' To this day in Britain, the outside broadcast trucks that the BBC used are called 'scanners.'
Baird appeared to the public as the quintessential absent-minded professor: shortsighted; wearing rimless glasses; shaggy hair; so focused that he often forgot to eat or shave; and often seen wearing a heavy overcoat, muffler, and spats, even in the warmest weather, to ward off a chill. He was still susceptible to the persistent illness that, over the course of the next decades, would hamper his work and business arrangements, including those with the British Broadcasting Corporation.
He continued to develop an amazing array of ideas. Besides those already demonstrated, he devised 3D television and color television, demonstrated in 1928.
'And here we have Eustace, the equivalent of Stooky Bill, but used for the color experiments,' Trenouth points out.
One of the most spectacular of Baird's accomplishments has only recently established him as the forerunner of the video recording industry but not credited with the technology. Despite the fact that an American company, Ampex, is often recognized as the inventor of the video recorder in 1946s, it was actually Baird who made such a recording starring in 1927, again starring Stooky Bill. Baird, who called the process 'Phonovision,' could record on wax discs, which look something like 78-rpm gramophone records, but he couldn't have seen recognizable pictures on play back because there was so much distortion and noise. Don McLean, whom Trenouth describes as 'an industrial archaeologist for the electronic age,' developed computer software tools capable of restoring the picture some 20 years ago.
'There are six extant discs. We have the first, which belonged to one of Baird's engineers,' says Trenouth.
According to McLean, another three are dated 10 January 1928. Two of them are at the NMPFT, and the other is housed at the Royal Television Society.
'The last, dated 28 March 1928, of Mabel Pounsford, a secretary to Baird, is in private hands,' notes McLean.
Baird was living in comfortable circumstances by 1931 and had a reputation as a noted inventor and engineer. He'd had a long relationship with a mysterious married woman for several years, but he realized that, at 42, he should begin to think about the next step in his personal life. It took a dramatic and romantic direction when he met Margaret Albu, a concert pianist 19 years his junior. After a three-month courtship, they were married in a New York, where Baird had been negotiating with several potential financial backers. He was dressed in robe and slippers for the ceremony, as he had, again, become ill. A daughter, Diana, was born in 1932, and a son, Malcolm, arrived three years later.
By now, not only had Baird developed the technology for transmitting television and had also designed the device to receive the picture, a television set. Both inventions going back to the mid-1920s!
'If we jump ahead a bit to the next major event in the history of television,' suggests Trenouth, 'we know that Baird realized that to make television a viable option as a medium, he would have to develop a relationship with the broadcast giant, the BBC.' The head of the broadcast giant was someone whom Baird had inadvertently slighted decades earlier at school in Scotland, and that person, John Reith, held a grudge. Although he later admitted to a mild respect for Baird, Reith made many attempts at destroy the relationship between the BBC and the inventor.
In what Trenouth describes as 'true government fashion,' a board was organized, the Selsdon Committee. Their task was to investigate systems suggested from those submitted from around the world. They narrowed the selection to two, both British, the only ones that could be demonstrated as working. One was Baird's; the other was from EMI, now Marconi-EMI. The Committee could not agree which system should be awarded the contract with the BBC; a competition between the two systems was instituted. Every other week, the BBC would broadcast the alternate systems each evening for six months and then they would decide which was best.
According to Simon Vaughan, archivist of the Alexandra Palace Television Society, the first 'public' broadcast occurred during August 1936 from Ally Pally. The identical programme was transmitted twice a day to the annual National Radio Show at the Olympia, and included singer Helen McKay, a pair of acrobatic tap dancers, as well as Miss Lutie and Pogo, the wonder horse. Transmission was from the Baird studio and the Marconi-EMI transmission from the other one.
The official launch began at 3 p.m. on 2 November 1936, with broadcasts from Alexandra Palace. A former Edwardian entertainment complex, it was chosen because it is high on a hill overlooking London. The building still stands and hosts a variety of events. The Baird Company's system was used for the opening broadcast.
The inaugural programme on the BBC included a series of speeches, including one from Lord Selsdon himself, notes Vaughan. A cinema newsreel began the opening program followed by musical comedy star Adele Dixon singing 'Television'; the American comedy dance team of Buck and Bubbles, the first African-Americans to appear on television; and a series of vaudeville-type acts. The service was offered to viewers from 3 to 4 p.m. and again from 9 to 10 p.m.
Vaughan points out, 'It was acclaimed as the first fully public service in the world because the high-definition television receivers were on general sale, and the service was recognized by the government, the Post Office [which had to sanction such broadcasts] and the BBC as a permanent entertainment medium.' 'Keep in mind,' he continues, 'that the number of sets available to receive this new service was less than 400 and the range of the transmitter was between 30 and 50 miles from Alexandra Palace. There was a 1,000-pound allocation for the programmes for the week, 'with no television on Sundays!'
Trenouth approaches a huge apparatus, saying, 'And here is the camera that Baird used in the 1936 experiments that first time.' And he explains the process: 'Baird used the 'intermediate film system.' What he did was actually film the program. The film came out of the bottom of the camera and went directly into the developer, into a fixer and while it was still wet and underwater, 58 seconds later, it was 'telecined' into a TV picture. But it was complete madness!' he exclaims.
There were so many problems: noise, was one; limited pan and tilt because of the large pipe where the film came out, and again, 'the Scot's thriftiness was evidenced as Baird modified the camera to 17.5mm, half the width of 35mm, getting twice as much for his money! To make matters worse, as the film with its sprocket holes was dragged into the water; it dragged air bubbles with it, which became lodged in the sound head. So halfway through the program, there was a burbling sound.
'Now comes the funny bit. They had a very high-tech solution to the problem,' says Trenouth with a tinge of sarcasm. 'A technician with a cricket bat would whack the side of the tank to dislodge the air bubbles. So, first the viewers heard the burbling and then a peal of thunder and the sound was restored until the next burbling and thwacking!'
There were other complications, but 'the really sad thing is that someone told Baird a lie. He was told that he could store the film and reshow it. So, where are all those programmes? He was told that he didn't need to dry the film, that he could store it wet. So everything is lost except 16 frames,' Trenouth says sadly.
Although the trial was supposed to last six months, it was obvious that only one system would work, and it wasn't Baird's. He was devastated, even though by 1936 Gaumont-British had taken over his company and he was relegated to working on his own at his home in Sydenham. 'He had a laboratory built on the side of his house where he devised another set of devices during World War II,' says Trenouth. 'One was the Telechrome tube, the first color tube that didn't use anything mechanical. And the NMPFT has the only surviving Telechrome tube in the world.'
Trenouth, who has been with the Museum for twenty years, notes that it wasn't just television technology that was new, but the vocabulary of the new no one knew what to call people who watched the new technology. Initially, they were called 'lookers in.' Then The Daily Mail invited its readers to submit an appropriate designation for those who watched the medium. Some entries included 'audiovisor' and 'audioseer.' Oddly enough, although one of the suggested names was 'viewer,' it was thrown out. Of course, today it is the only one we use today.'
Baird's health declined and the family moved to Bexhill-on-Sea, Surrey, where he continued his work. He continued developing his ideas throughout World War II but the evidence of his contribution to the war effort has never been confirmed.
Baird, who died of pneumonia at the age of 56, has never received any formal accolades. To many people, he had been 'tarred with the brush of failure,' according to Trenouth. According to McLean, however, 'Baird was a legend in his own lifetime, at least until the start of high definition television service in 1936.'
John Logie Baird's legacy to the medium of television is kept alive and presented with respect at the NMPFT. Some may quibble about the significance of his 'firsts.' The term 'father of television' may be a misnomer to others, but with 177 patents to his name, the term 'inventor' goes unchallenged. What he did accomplish under the direst of personal and financial circumstances is preserved for 'viewers' to see.
Several plaques have been erected to commemorate his contributions. The one on Station Road, Bexhill reads;
John Logie Baird
The Pioneer of Television
by Barbara Roisman Cooper for British Heritage magazine
10
Afternoon Teaisms
Rhymes and Wits
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
– C.S. Lewis
"Where there's tea there's hope."
– Arthur W. Pinero
"Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things."
– Chaim Potok
"Tea and books - Mmmm, two of life's exquisite pleasures that together bring near-bliss."
– Christine Hanrahan
"The spirit of the tea beverage is one of peace, comfort and refinement."
– Arthur Gray
"Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea."
– Author Unknown