By David Rose
Mark Twain came into the world with Haley’s Comet. I arrived with Television. TV and I came into focus at the same time.
We have both nearly come full circle now. People under 30 hardly watch television at all. It’s a dying art.
Looking back over my decades of faithful service to the tube one program stands out. Winky Dink and You was light-years ahead of its time. The character was simple and the plots even more so but it was, in 1953, the dawn of interactive Television. Some may even go as far as to say that Winky Dink pioneered touch screen technology.
At the beginning of the show each week, we viewers were encouraged to send in money and get the official Winky Dink Kit. It included the magic screen – a thin sheet of plastic that was basically industrial strength Saran wrap, erasable crayons, and a small flannel cloth. The plastic sheet was placed on the television screen and rubbed with the “magic” cloth. Static electricity held it in place. That was the magic part.
A typical episode would go something like this – Winky Dink, pursued by evil in one form or another, would come upon a deep canyon or raging river. There would be a long pause while good and evil stood suspended. Kids with the magic screens and crayons would draw a bridge on their screens at home. Winky would then cross the bridge to safety.
I never had the Winky Dink kit. It cost 50 cents which was above my pay grade. But I just couldn’t let the Dinkman down. I know I’m not the only one who ever drew directly on the television screen with hard-core Crayolas, but I was the only one my father caught.
