"Eater of Evenings"

The boom in television strikes ARCHITECTURAL FORUM as a very mixed blessing. Blinking nervously, the current FORUM takes a quick, appalled look at TV's pres, ent and foreseeable future. Sample findings:

TV & Children: "A television set is better than hashish in calming active children in the late afternoon . . ."

TV & Beds: "There is some ugly talk in the industry of a ceiling installation to take the place ... of reading in bed."

TV & Tourists: "A number of hotels already have made television installations. Here . . . the family group is sometimes discovered intact, mesmerized in front of the screen on their first trip to see the grandeurs of a large city, with only room service to turn to for sustenance."

TV & Architecture: "There won't be room in most small living rooms for both fireplaces and television sets." Because TV sets are best viewed headon, "this mechanical fact may elongate the room, to avoid waste space on either side of the optimum viewing arc. Windows must be disposed to preclude the advent of any glare . . . Furniture groupings will be theater-style . . ." As screens grow larger, light in the room will be reduced. This, naturally, will require the use of luminous knives, forks and china.

Noting that "Dr. Lee de Forest, one of radio's pioneers, has described the new eater of evenings as a 'Benign Frankenstein,' " the FORUM wonders if there are not "many who would question his use of the word benign." Is there any basis for optimism? "The U.S., essentially unchanged by such other modern advances as the supersonic airplane and the super-septic tank, may survive television. A remote possibility."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.