Indian Head Test Pattern

Jim's story of going to watch the neighbour's  TV when he was 7 years old t before his family bought their own TV and being quite happy to watch the test pattern always gets a laugh.  Carol and Dave hadn't heard it. I thought perhaps he was the only person in the world who did this but thanks to the wonderful world of the Internet…of course other people talk about it.  As recently as this fellow in 2013 which is the date of this post.

I really miss that Indian head test pattern
By Van Craddock

Television has too much sex and violence. And that's just the commercials.

It's my contention that television has been going downhill ever since 1955, which is the year my dad bought the first TV set for our Longview home. It was mostly cabinet and couldn't have had more than a 10-inch screen. But to me, a 7-year-old, it was the most beautiful TV in the world.

We placed it in a spot of honor in the living room and Dad plugged it in and turned it on. It took several minutes to warm up, and when the picture finally came on, there it was: A test pattern! It was the head of a handsome Indian chief, complete with fancy headdress. (That's what we called it, an "Indian chief test pattern." Nowadays, of course, it would be referred to as a "Native American test pattern.")

There were no programs on at the time but nobody in the family was the least bit disappointed. We just sat there staring at that beautiful black-and-white test pattern. Television, we all agreed, truly was a modern miracle.

* I seem to have a memory  of it being different than this but this seems to be the main example that comes up on a google search.