Friday, Apr. 01, 2011
Do-It-Yourself Color TV - 1962
Color television wasn't widespread until 1966, but some Swedes armed with nylon stockings tried to get it four years earlier. They fell victim to a hoax by Sweden's Sveriges Television, which trotted out a "technical expert" to explain on-air — in thoroughly technical terms — how a thinly stretched nylon screen in front of a television would bend light's wavelengths and produce a color image. The thousands who tried it learned quickly that there was no such trick — and were out a pair of stockings to boot.