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Undead Molten Llama
Original Poster
#1 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 3:50 PM
Default A question for folks who play Strangetown
I put this on my Tumblr, might as well put it here, too.

I am currently working on building a revamped version of Strangetown -- all of the existing lots have been demolished, to be replaced with midcentury-style stuff -- that's set in the American Southwest (think “Roswell”) in the mid-1950s. (Or so; I’m not being terribly insistent on period-accuracy or anything. ) So here's the question:

In the US, television began to become more popular and TVs more affordable for an average family around 1955 or so. So, in the mid-50s, some households had TVs and some didn’t. And it wasn’t entirely a rich-vs-poor thing because at the time — at least in the social circle that my very wealthy grandparents were part of — very rich people tended to look down their nose at the whole concept, seeing it as vulgar and beneath them. TV was, at first, definitely more of a middle- and lower-class thing. But class and wealth definitely wasn’t the only thing that determined who’d have a TV and who wouldn’t. Given all that, in your opinion, which Strangetown households (including those in the family bin because they’re all getting moved into their own places) would own a TV and which would not? I have some ideas about this myself, but I’m curious to see what other folks might think. So, discuss!

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
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Forum Resident
#2 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 4:16 PM
Mmm...the Curiouses, for sure. They've got their whole sci-fi thing going on and a TV would BLOW THEIR MINDS.
The Smiths, maybe? They definitely seem to be the 'perfect' middle-class family so I can see them having one.
As for the others...well, I'm not sure.
Lab Assistant
#3 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 4:32 PM
I think the Grunts would-strictly to monitor things. I am wondering if you could find some modded black & white TV's. I grew up in the 60's and everyone had a (1) TV, but I only knew of one of my peers who had a color TV. His Dad worked for a company that made TV's. It was a big deal!
Forum Resident
#4 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 5:29 PM
General Buzz Grunt would definitely be against this modern TV. There can't be anything on there that's more important than training your body and mind to protect your country. Besides, if that green Mr Smith has one, that's all the more reason not to!

I agree about the Curiouses, they were probably the first to get a TV.

The Singles probably would have one because Chloe wants one. Lola and Kristen disagree, but Erin and Chloe are bonding over their love for the first soap operas. Lola flees the house when a particularly tragic episode is on.

I can't see the Beakers much interested in a TV, although they use it for a study of it truly rots brains. Circe claims Nervous is a terrible subject for this, because his brains are already rotten.

While Olive would probably be interested in horror movies, those haven't become popular yet, so probably no TV in the gloomy house. It might sound too happy.

No idea about Ajay Loner. He's kind of a blank file anyway.
Test Subject
#5 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 6:02 PM
I guess General Buzz Grant won't let his sons spend time watching TV instead of studying or training, but he could have one in his room since there is a PC in the actual game.

Ajay Loner has Fortune aspiration so he certainly wants to get one... but first he will need to earn simoleons !
Theorist
#6 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 6:29 PM
The Curious Brothers and the Smiths, yeah.

With General Grunt I can see him being really vokal about being against it...but secretly having one he uses to watch sports on (and the 50s equivalent of Telenovelas)

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Taking an extended break from Sims stuff. Might be around, might not.
Mad Poster
#7 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 6:34 PM
The Curiosi: Lazlo brings home the first TV in town. Pascal and Vidcund are contemptuous at first, but after a year everyone in the house has one favorite show that they insist on watching. Also, they invent the MST3K game, having the TV on in the background and competing for who gets the best zingers heckling its failures of realism. "That's not a serum, buddy, that's a vaccine." "Talk into the mouthpiece, we don't need to see how your face looks when you're on the phone." But the real fun is when they start tinkering with it, trying to tune in the secret government channels they're convinced are out there.

The Smiths: PT9 is addicted to soaps. The kids watch Wonderful World of Disney faithfully every Sunday. (Sunday supper is popcorn in front of the TV.) Jenny never has the time for it.

The Grunts: TV rots your brain. The boys are forbidden to watch it even at their friends' houses. ("What friends?" Tank thinks bitterly.)

Specter: TV? Olive doesn't even have electricity. Or indoor plumbing.

Singles: Kristen bought it so she could watch All the Sports. Chloe wants to watch the soaps and the comedies. This is one of the things they're always fighting about. Lola listens to radio soaps while she does dishes and Stays Out of It. Erin is convinced she's getting psychic messages from Ed Sullivan.

Beaker: They have a set in Nervous's basement to pacify, and occasionally to experiment, on him. They have also invented closed circuit TV so they can do remote experiments on him.

Loner: TV is too distracting because he has to count all the dust that accumulates on the screen due to the static charge.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Alchemist
#8 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 7:31 PM Last edited by mdsb759 : 12th Jul 2018 at 8:45 PM.
past times playing, I think all pre-made households in any neighborhood eventually got at least one.

current time playing; households that have any would keep their's. households that do not have; would get one when at least one sim has a Want for one.


edit::
if I remember correctly, most pre-made occupied lots start with at least one TV.
Mad Poster
#9 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 9:22 PM
Ajay Loner is a. a loner and b. a bachelor. I believe he needs the best TV, the best stereo and a bar - to keep himself busy, of course
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#10 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 11:33 PM
I think most of the playables would but for very different reasons.

The Smiths I think would be first. With the TV taking pride of place in the living room watching leave it To Beaver type shows.

Grunt would say no and speak on the evils of TV, but he would have a secret one hidden away for surveillance.

Single girls would have one but argue over what they were watching.

Specter- no. I think she would be quite disdainful of the whole idea.

Beaker's would have one to keep nervous amused and it would double also as surveillance.

Ajay I don't know, I think he might see it as a waste of money.

The Curious Brothers I think would get a top of the line model. I see them liking all the gadgets.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Undead Molten Llama
Original Poster
#11 Old 11th Jul 2018 at 11:46 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Mom50409
I think the Grunts would-strictly to monitor things. I am wondering if you could find some modded black & white TV's. I grew up in the 60's and everyone had a (1) TV, but I only knew of one of my peers who had a color TV. His Dad worked for a company that made TV's. It was a big deal!


Yeah, I was born in '64, and my family had the first color TV in the general area because A) my dad was a tech nerd, ahead of his time that way and B) we could afford one. He bought it a couple years before I was born, I think. It was pretty stupid to have one because at the time he bought the thing very little was actually broadcast in color, but he had to have it, of course. (My 82-year-old mother, on the other hand, looks down her nose at TV to this day.) Anyway, pretty much my entire extended family on my dad's side (and sometimes everyone within a few miles' radius, it seemed) would come camp out in our house to watch the TV, once shows did start being broadcast in color in '65 or so. I was too young to understand the hullabaloo, but yeah, it was a very big deal at the time. It's amazing how far we've come in only 50 years...

Anyway! To everyone else, thanks for your responses! I pretty much agree with everyone that the Curious bros would definitely have a TV, as would the Smiths (And PT will definitely be all about Guiding Light, having gotten addicted to it on the radio first. ) with Buzz Grunt being very anti-TV, much to Ripp's and Buck's chagrin but that's what cultivating friendship with the Smiths is for. Everyone else I'm not positive about yet, but I like the idea of the Singles household fighting over what to watch. (Their house is pretty tiny, though; I'm not sure I can fit a period-appropriate TV in it! You couldn't hang 'em on the wall back then. ) I kinda think the Beakers ought to have a computer that takes up half the basement of their (much-smaller-than-their-Maxis-house) house instead of a TV, though... Or maybe the giant computer can be in the garage, hmmmm...

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 2:51 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
Lola listens to radio soaps while she does dishes and Stays Out of It.


That made me wonder. Is there actually a working radio in Sims 2?
Space Pony
#13 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 3:13 AM
Curious need 2, one is not enough.

~~~~Call me Ellu ~~~

My love, my love, my fearless love, I will not say goodbye..
Sea may rise, sky may fall, My love will never die..
My heart, my heart, My drowning heart, Oh all the tears I've cried
Oh I may weep forevermore, My love will never die..
Mad Poster
#14 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 8:03 AM
Nobody had two TVs in those days. Ever. That only became routine in the 70s.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Lab Assistant
#15 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 8:16 AM
It's funny, I imagine Buzz definitely having a tv. He would control it very strictly, but I can see him watching the News faithfully, and shows like Dragnet, and (in about 9 years or so) Combat!.

I agree that I don't imagine Olive would have one, and so Ophelia (and Ripp) would probably head over to the Smiths to watch.

And yes, of course PT 9 would have one. He would watch it of course, but he would also occasionally hook it up to the computer he smuggled out of his ship, and use it as a monitor to talk to family back home.

The Curious Brothers have one, although they might be working on trying to build another themselves when they're not scanning the heavens.

Singles, if they don't have one, I can imagine that they're saving up to get one. Lola making sure that everyone is contributing not just her.

Loki would have one, but I can't imagine Circe watching it (at least not where anyone can catch her). Nervous wouldn't be allowed, but he probably would slip out at night and watch it with the sound down as low as he could.

Ajay would probably be saving up for one. You can only count so many grains of sand in one day after all.
Mad Poster
#16 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 9:40 AM
I think a 1955 computer would take up most of the Beakers' castle! It's the only building in Strangetown big enough to hold one!

We got our TV in 1953 for the Coronation. It was a brown box about 2 feet (60 cm) square with a 9 inch (ca. 22 cm) screen. Of course it was black and white -- they all were. In fact I remember hearing some "expert" saying that colour television was impossible. (Rather like human space flight ) I was about 18 months old when we got it, so I don't remember not having one. We kept our TV in a small black cupboard that we called the "television cabinet", but it could just as easily have sat on a small table. In Sims terms it's basically a one tile object.

As far as the Strangetown families are concerned, I agree that the Curious brothers and the Smiths would have one. I'm not sure about the Grunts: the General wouldn't want the boys to watch T V, but he might want one himself for the news. If he didn't have a TV, he'd have a good radio (wireless) set. Olive probably wouldn't have one, but my recollection is that, if older women did get a TV, they could quickly get addicted to game shows and soap operas. I am currently playing along in Jo's Strangetown Trading Places contest and I recently moved the Beakers out of their castle, so I can't check what furniture they had, but I don't recall them (or Nervous) ever watching TV, so I think they didn't have one. So, if they didn't have one in the 2000s, thy wouldn't have one in the 1950s either. Though it's just possible that, as a scientific couple, they might have been early adopters, who then got rid of their TV when everybody else got one -- just to show how superior they are.

I've only played Ajay Loner for one day, and I don't feel I know him well enough to know whether he'd get a TV. I don't know the Singles at all yet, but they're young, and they modern, and (provided they don't get pregnant) I see no reason why there wouldn't be four incomes coming into their house. So, yes, they would get one.

All Sims are beautiful -- even the ugly ones.
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The Veronaville kids are alright.
Undead Molten Llama
Original Poster
#17 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 4:37 PM
Some random replies to comments on this thread.

Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
Nobody had two TVs in those days. Ever. That only became routine in the 70s.


...Except my great-uncle, who had at least four of them in the 50s. But he was eccentric (probably siphyllic, actually) and very wealthy, so he probably doesn't count. But yeah, for normal families, there'd be only one TV, in the living room, which the whole family would watch together. And no one had one in their bedroom.

Quote: Originally posted by Charity
That made me wonder. Is there actually a working radio in Sims 2?


I already have some period "antique" radios, so those definitely exist. But period-appropriate radio stations? Not as far as I know, aside from the game's Big Band station. But if I get ambitious I want to kinda replace all the radio station content, anyway. Like, I have a TON of music from the 30s, 40s, and early 50s (Pre-rock-and-roll, though I have early rock and roll, too) because it's a genre I like to listen to. So, I'm thinking about changing out all the music in all the radio stations so that someone doesn't turn on a radio autonomously and it starts with the salsa music. I'd also like to make a couple of spoken stations, especially for those households that don't have a TV. Like, have it run the "War of the Worlds" broadcast and maybe some radio serials if I can find some. Like Perry Mason and pre-TV soap opera broadcasts and stuff like that. It'll all be in English, of course, and then there'll be dancing to Perry Mason, but...eh. At least it'll provide some authentic atmosphere for me as the player.

I'd also really like some period TV shows (or at least just stuff in black-and-white), but I think that's a little TOO ambitious.

Quote: Originally posted by LauriMizutani
It's funny, I imagine Buzz definitely having a tv. He would control it very strictly, but I can see him watching the News faithfully, and shows like Dragnet, and (in about 9 years or so) Combat!.


See, I see him as more of a radio guy. I can see him listening to radio serials and such -- Like Dragnet, actually -- for entertainment and listening to the news, of course, but...not TV. I mean, at first, TV didn't have the "brain-rotting" reputation that it eventually gained. In fact, at the time, young families were ENCOURAGED to have a TV in order to stimulate the kids' brains! (My, how times have changed! ) Really, TV was just seen as a natural progression from radio, which at the time, in the 40s, was much more spoken-word than music-broadcasting. Many of the early TV shows were radio shows first, and they ran on both TV and radio for a while, until pretty much everyone had a TV. So, I guess I see it more as a resistant-to-change thing for him, which in my scenario will be even stronger in him....because of Reasons.

Quote: Originally posted by LauriMizutani
And yes, of course PT 9 would have one. He would watch it of course, but he would also occasionally hook it up to the computer he smuggled out of his ship, and use it as a monitor to talk to family back home.


Like "PT phone home?" Yeah, that would be the case if he was his "canon" self in my little scenario, but he isn't. Alas, there will be no phoning home for PT. He's kinda an exile. But yeah, he'll wholeheartedly embrace TV, that's for sure, and so will his entire family. Well, OK, Jenny might not have as much time for it, being the breadwinner and all, but PT and the kids? Oh yeah. (Also, there'll probably be more kids, since I aged down PT so he won't die more or less right away.)

Quote: Originally posted by LauriMizutani
Singles, if they don't have one, I can imagine that they're saving up to get one. Lola making sure that everyone is contributing not just her.


The problem, though, is when that household breaks up, which I'm very sure it will, eventually. If they all chipped in, who gets "TV custody" when one or more moves out? I'd almost be more tempted to have each of them have their own TV...but then I'd lose the "fighting over what to watch" thing. So, maybe I'll consider them as "renting" a furnished house, so that they have a TV but it doesn't belong to them. That might work...

Quote: Originally posted by AndrewGloria
I think a 1955 computer would take up most of the Beakers' castle! It's the only building in Strangetown big enough to hold one!


True...But there's such a thing as artistic license, luv! I seriously need to find some old-style-but-not-grungy computer banks/consoles, even if they're just deco. They must be out there somewhere. Even if they're grungy, I can retexture them.

Quote: Originally posted by AndrewGloria
We got our TV in 1953 for the Coronation. It was a brown box about 2 feet (60 cm) square with a 9 inch (ca. 22 cm) screen. Of course it was black and white -- they all were. In fact I remember hearing some "expert" saying that colour television was impossible. (Rather like human space flight ) I was about 18 months old when we got it, so I don't remember not having one. We kept our TV in a small black cupboard that we called the "television cabinet", but it could just as easily have sat on a small table. In Sims terms it's basically a one tile object.


See, this is the kinda TV I'd really like to find for this neighborhood! A little tabletop one, because that's pretty much what the earliest ones were, before they started building them into consoles. Something like this:

...but the closest I've found so far is a 70s-era portable. (Which I could use, sure, but it's a little too anachronistic for me.) I have some 50s-era TVs, and they're one-tile, but they're larger, taller consoles that sit on the floor, more like they made in the later 50s/early 60s, and since the houses I'm building are small (because I have a goal of the neighborhood being as high-res as possible, so small is better so as not to choke the game), they're just taking up too much room, in Sims terms. But I could put a tabletop one on an OMSP and put it on a table or a shelf or a fireplace mantel or maybe on top of a short bookcase or something....

Anyway, color TV being "impossible" is kinda funny...given that the first US coast-to-coast color broadcast was in 1954, and I think there were smaller-area ones before that.

Quote: Originally posted by AndrewGloria
...but I don't recall them [the Beakers] (or Nervous) ever watching TV, so I think they didn't have one. So, if they didn't have one in the 2000s, thy wouldn't have one in the 1950s either. Though it's just possible that, as a scientific couple, they might have been early adopters, who then got rid of their TV when everybody else got one -- just to show how superior they are.


Yeah, you know, I haven't figured out what the Beakers's "story" will be in this scenario. I'm not even sure if I'm going to do the whole "studying/torturing Nervous" thing. (I'm pretty sure I'm breaking up that household, with a renamed Nervous being a twitchy, PTSD'ed ex-POW.) They certainly don't live in a castle-like house anymore. But I can definitely see them wanting to be "superior," like wanting to be the "Joneses" that everyone else keeps up with. And since the Curious bros have a TV... But I dunno. Maybe not. I don't really have a firm grasp on them yet at all.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Theorist
#18 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 5:43 PM
Somethin like this?
BEOS 5000 Computing Set

BBB has some good old time police station stuff too. I think that's where those belong too.
Undead Molten Llama
Original Poster
#19 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 6:14 PM
Those'll work! Thanks much, @CaliBrat

I also managed to find a TV that might work. The second one on that post. It's grungy, but it's functional and about the right size/shape, and it's surface-placeable. I'm hoping I can clean 'er up a bit, give 'er a nice wood finish.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 6:41 PM
I went strolling through the thread where you got the TV and found a link to a replacement file to make the music sound more like an old radio station:
http://gardenofshadows.org.uk/garde...p?topic=13281.0
I haven't listened to it, but she says it's in mono!

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Undead Molten Llama
Original Poster
#21 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 6:49 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
I went strolling through the thread where you got the TV and found a link to a replacement file to make the music sound more like an old radio station:
http://gardenofshadows.org.uk/garde...p?topic=13281.0
I haven't listened to it, but she says it's in mono!


Ohhh, that's pretty cool! Thanks! If I do the Big Radio Overhaul, I will probably keep those stations, so that'll be good. (Although I'll probably add more songs to them, which won't sound so nicely old-timey, but still...)

Speaking of the radio, though, I also found this treasure trove of old radio shows for streaming/download: https://oldradioprograms.us/ I love old radio shows, so I'm going to have fun just listening, although I would like to replace the songs on a few of the stations with radio shows. Especially the salsa station, since that's the one that gets turned on by default. I know I've seen a tute on how to do custom music somewhere around, and I know you can add music. I wasn't sure it was possible to completely replace the music on a Maxis radio station, but that download would seem to indicate that it is.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Lab Assistant
#22 Old 12th Jul 2018 at 8:19 PM
When I saw this, I thought about your neighborhood.

http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=344762

Might be perfect for your TV's.
Lab Assistant
#23 Old 13th Jul 2018 at 3:44 AM
I also wanted to say that just talking about this has got me planning my own version of this.

ETA: I love how we all have different visions of these Sims and their viewing habits!
Mad Poster
#24 Old 13th Jul 2018 at 6:50 AM
This TV from Freetime is vintage and is also placeable on a table.

Screenshots
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