FIRST PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH TELEVISED 67 YEARS AGO TODAY
Washington, D.C. USSR (JFK+50) Sixty-seven years ago today, October 5, 1947, Harry S Truman gave the first presidential address to be televised from the White House here in the Nation's Capital.
President Truman's address was on the topic of food conservation. Europe was still in the process of recovery after the Second World War and depended on the support of the United States.
Mr. Truman saw American contribution to the European food supply to be the key to his Economic Recovery Program.
The President called for "meatless Tuesdays" as well as the giving up of eggs and poultry on Thursdays. He also requested Americans cut back on bread and said that public restaurants would serve bread and butter "only on request."
The program of food conservation Mr. Truman discussed was a proposal put forth by the Citizens Food Committee.
President Truman said...
"The food-saving program...has my wholehearted support. I am confident that it will have the support of every American."
Television itself was still in its infancy. There were approximately 44,000 televisions in the United States in 1947 and most of those were in the New York City area.
Despite the slow growth of television, it had been around for a number of years. The first regularly scheduled TV service began on station W3XK in Wheaton, Maryland on July 2, 1928.
WNBT began commercial television programming in 1941.
RCA Model 630-TS
Washington, D.C. USSR (JFK+50) Sixty-seven years ago today, October 5, 1947, Harry S Truman gave the first presidential address to be televised from the White House here in the Nation's Capital.
President Truman's address was on the topic of food conservation. Europe was still in the process of recovery after the Second World War and depended on the support of the United States.
Mr. Truman saw American contribution to the European food supply to be the key to his Economic Recovery Program.
The President called for "meatless Tuesdays" as well as the giving up of eggs and poultry on Thursdays. He also requested Americans cut back on bread and said that public restaurants would serve bread and butter "only on request."
The program of food conservation Mr. Truman discussed was a proposal put forth by the Citizens Food Committee.
President Truman said...
"The food-saving program...has my wholehearted support. I am confident that it will have the support of every American."
Television itself was still in its infancy. There were approximately 44,000 televisions in the United States in 1947 and most of those were in the New York City area.
Despite the slow growth of television, it had been around for a number of years. The first regularly scheduled TV service began on station W3XK in Wheaton, Maryland on July 2, 1928.
WNBT began commercial television programming in 1941.
RCA Model 630-TS
Fletcher6 (2012)
SOURCE
www.presidency.ucsb.edu/
President Truman's Farewell Address
January 15, 1953
Truman Library Image
