There used to be a paper plant in my hometown, owned by the Toussaint (Too-Sont) family. My hometown was a hamlet by the Leaf River. Next door to Toussaint's was an old general store, and the guy who ran the store bought the first TV set I ever saw. When word got around he had this marvel in his store, one Saturday Daddy took all us little ragamuffins to see this miraculous thing.

The TV was about the size of a breadbox, sitting on a counter. In flickery black and white, a man was reading the news. The picture was snowy and the newsman's face rolled and jumped--but we were awestruck.

The store owner explained that the newsman was in Mobile, and his voice and picture was sent out in waves through the air that was picked up by his antenna on top of the store, and converted back to picture and sound by the tubes in back of the TV. Right away we started begging Daddy to get one, which was impossible.

A few years later our Uncle Clarence got one--the first color TV I ever saw. We went to their house one night and the Disney show was on. Once that TV was turned on, we were transfixed. I thought television was the most wonderful invention ever.

My grandparents generation went to bed soon after dark because they had to use lanterns--but the rural electrification system brought electric lights, and they quickly got used to it. But they never had a TV. They listened to the radio, and it didn't take long to think "How did I ever do without electricity?" What was once seen as a luxury was soon a necessity. That's the way we think about a lot of things we take for granted now.

susil