Back Where? A Prologue

Anemoia: Nostalgia for a time
one has never known.


Welcome to Back There! Back There is a phrase I coined myself to describe all things vintage entertainment. From TV to movies to radio, it's all things old school cool. My inspiration for this came mainly through Pinterest. I've collected  over 1200 (and counting) photos of actors, TV shows, TV guide covers, etc from the 40s through to the 70s. It's become a favorite hobby of mine and I'd like more than anything to share it with like-minded people.





Perhaps I never grew up with a set like this,
but TV did kickstart my interest
in all things vintage.

As a young person myself, it's easy to forego the past and look squarely to the future, but I find that quick, short trips back there, sitting up in my room with the lights off watching a good film noir has brought me a certain kind of nostalgia that I just can't quite explain.


That's why I put the definition of Anemoia on top, as that's where "back there" really comes from. I'm not gonna say that I was "born in the wrong generation," or anything like that, in fact I might say just the opposite. I'm incredibly glad that I was born when I was. The early 2000s was a great time for opening curiosity for anything back there related. 


Now, my favorite childhood TV shows are Spongebob Squarepants, Teen Titans, and Match Game 76. An odd combination, sure, but one I claim nonetheless. Best part is, most things from back there are public domain, and can be found anywhere. Some companies still keep things under lock and key, but if you play your cards right, back there is an ancient mansion with a broken latch - Open and ready to be explored.


Another thing which perhaps brought me back there is game shows. Jeopardy, Let's Make a Deal, the Price is Right, no day home sick was complete without tuning in at just the right times to catch them. Most of these shows have their roots back there, so all it took was for Drew Carey to make a reference to What's My Line, and I was hooked.

My phone and some headphones may have
taken the place of a hi-fi set, but
there's nothing like an old radio drama
on a rainy bus ride.


Back there is a place not only of sight and sound but of mind, a journey into a wonderous land of imagination that you've just crossed into. Back there is more than a concept, it's a movement, a campaign. A continuing effort not to forget the past and those who trudged through it. A tribute to those who walked so modern entertainment could run. 


There'd be no Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show if Steve Allen hadn't proved the concept had promise, there'd be no sitcoms if Lucille Ball hadn't sent studio audiences rolling for so many years, there'd be no Law and Order, no NCIS, if Jack Webb hadn't dug up the LA police files and brought it straight to your television sets with just the facts, Ma'am.


What I'm trying to say is that by examining past entertainment, how it's evolved, what worked, what didn't, we can juxtapose it to the future, what should have stayed, what was best left out, what only worked at the time, what would be amazing now. Some things are timeless, of course, but even the small drop back there could ripple in to the now, into our present, in ways we would have never anticipated.


This is my thesis, my raison d'etre. I present to you a menagerie of vintage entertainment. I shall open the door, bring you examples of what I personally enjoy, but the rest is up to you. I urge you above all else to do your own digging if this sort of thing appeals to you. Perhaps then we could meet up back there, and take a stroll down Maple Street before ending up at our destination. 

In any case, we're a little late, so good night, folks:


I hope to see you Back There.



Pinterest board: https://pin.it/1ZZMa3v


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