1950 House & Garden - 3 ideas to set your television as the centerpiece of the living room

From now on, "a night at the opera," concert or theater is more apt to mean a seat in your own living room than in the Grand Tier. Television has worked this change. Since you are now responsible for the setting of your theater at home, it behooves you to see that it has something of the glam- you will want our you associate with theater-going. To achieve a gala mood harmonious colors, comfortable chairs (possibly the excellent ones which swivel), a cushioned carpet, a galaxy of small tables for ash trays and drinks. conveniently placed. For its part, television is creating increasingly good programs to inspire your decorative efforts. To us, it seems that opera is the field of music which opens the most exciting new vistas for this medium. 

During the past year both CBS and NBC have experimented with opera, tailoring it to meet the requirements of the home screen. For example CBS presented Carmen and La Traviata; NBC has sponsored Madame Butterfly and The Tales of Hoffman. Response to these productions was so enthusiastic that they can be definitely counted as harbingers of a larger operatic future for television. It is interesting to note that though audiences in auditoriums are still debating the question of opera-in-English, the television audience is. solidly in favor of opera-in-English. This would seem to prove that in the friendly, familiar confines of our own living rooms, we like to know what is going on. Having established itself as a favorite guest and an accomplished one, we expect this delightful newcomer, television, to speak our language.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | July 1950