Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr.

Chief of Research, DuMont Laboratory

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The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

About this interview

In his four-and-a-half-hour interview, Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. (1910-2009) talks about his early years and his earliest awareness of the impending invention of television. He describes meeting Allen B. DuMont and going to work for DuMont Laboratories, where soon after the progress of television was halted temporarily by World War II. He recounts in detail his time at DuMont Laboratories including the various types of television sets produced and cameras used. Goldsmith discusses the rise and fall of the DuMont Network, and its subsequent sale to a company that would eventually become MetroMedia. He outlines his later career, going to work for Fairchild Camera and then becoming a teacher. He concludes by speaking of the then-future of television, including HDTV, and the integration of the television viewing experience and computers. Eric Bremner conducted the interview on November 14, 1997 in Lacey, WA.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"What's down the road? Digital technology, computers, students going to school, going to graduate school via computers and television. They are going to invent things that we don't even have an idea what it might be."

People Talking About ...

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr.

Highlights

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont founding the DuMont Laboratories Inc.

03:55

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the advent of color television broadcasting

07:21

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the early programming from DuMont and on adjusting signal strength

04:47

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont getting into manufactuing television sets and getting into broadcasting

05:49

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the proposed merger between ABC and the DuMont Network involving Leonard Goldenson and Ted Bergmann

02:20

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on watching an early baseball game on television with police outside the Lincoln Tunnel

02:26

Full Interview

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Chapter 1

On his early life and influences; on some of the early names involved with the technological aspects of radio and his early interest and awareness of television, including his experimenting with the cathode ray tube and microwaves

On seeing television at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair; on Allen B. DuMont founding the DuMont Laboratories Inc., and on the kind of person DuMont was; on what he and Allen B. DuMont were working on when he first started at DuMont Laboratories

Chapter 2

On the working conditions at Allen B. DuMont's DuMont Laboratories when he was hired in 1936, and on DuMont working with David Sarnoff; on Allen B. DuMont getting funding for his DuMont Laboratories, and on the competing British experiments with television; on Allen B. DuMont's vision for bigger tubes for early television, and on British "Cossor tubes"

On developing an in-house broadcast system at DuMont Laboratories, and on early test patterns; on his wife, Helen Wilcox; on working with inventor Lee De Forest at DuMont Laboratories

On Allen B. DuMont getting into manufacturing television sets and getting into broadcasting; on World War II interrupting and delaying the development of television; on the television sets that Allen B. DuMont's DuMont Laboratories manufactured before World War II

Chapter 3

On having his newborn son come home on the day he got his first television, the Model 180; on the Allen B. DuMont Foundation; on selling the DuMont Model 180 television set

On the early programming from DuMont, and on adjusting signal strength; on watching an early baseball game on television with police outside the Lincoln Tunnel; on the early development of the kinescope and videotape

On participating in the National Television System Committee and setting the technical standards for broadcasting television

Chapter 4

On why the NTSC made it so televisions do not have a channel one, and on how the NTSC impacted sets that were already sold; on Paramount acquiring a substantial portion of DuMont

On the reasons for selling part of DuMont to Paramount; on DuMont Laboratories' activities during World War II; on the use of DuMont Laboratories' Electronicam to film Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners

Chapter 5

On DuMont's Electronicam and the advent of Ampex magnetic videotape; on setting up an experimental local station (WTTG) in Washington, D.C. right after World War II; on DuMont's competition in putting out television receivers and camera equipment just after World War II

On DuMont dealing with FCC regulations in the wake of the FCC freeze on the granting of new television licenses in 1948; on the creation of ABC due to FCC regulations, and DuMont shedding its broadcasting operations; on the advent of color television broadcasting

Chapter 6

On the industry push toward color television in the 1950s involving David Sarnoff and Allen B. DuMont, and on the NTSC setting standards for color television; on competitors working together to arrive at standards for color television; on Kenneth A. Hoagland developing a computerized system pixels for full color television

On the achievements of the DuMont Network and on dealing with both the technical and the programming side of DuMont; on Paramount's detrimental involvement with the DuMont Network, and on the reasons for the end of the DuMont Network

Chapter 7

On the dissolution of the DuMont Network due in part to lack of channels available from the FCC allocation plan; on the coaxial television cable connecting San Francisco to New York; on DuMont having only three owned and operated stations while other networks had four

On the proposed merger between ABC and the DuMont Network involving Leonard Goldenson and Ted Bergmann; on the creation of the DuMont Broadcasting Corporation which later become MetroMedia run by John W. Kluge, and on how Allen B. DuMont took the failure of the DuMont Network

On the work he did with Fairchild Camera and on going into teaching; on his personal thoughts on Allen B. DuMont and DuMont's successes and failures; on his greatest career achievements

Chapter 8

On his own achievements, and the achievements of DuMont Laboratories and of Allen B. DuMont; on the then-current state of television and the then-future of television from a technological standpoint

On various people with whom he worked in his career

Chapter 9

On various people with whom he worked in his career

On b-roll pictures from his career- with Allen B. DuMont circa 1937; Iconoscope television camera; Iconoscope camera for military television circa 1938; the Joint Technical Advisory Council; Radio Club of America with Lee deForest, David Sarnoff, and Allen B. DuMont; Allen B. DuMont with an early television tube; with Allen B. DuMont with Stanley Cook at WABD television; WDTV cameras and microwave disk on a bus; Empire State Building drawing from Empire State Television Guild; an original DuMont television

Chapter 10

B-Roll- eating breakfast and chatting; tour of his broadcast studio; in the control room at his studio; walking and talking on a parking lot; behind the scenes of the Archive interview

Chapter 11

B-roll- behind the scenes at his Archive interview; looking though pictures; picture of Allen B. DuMont and Goldsmith

Shows

Honeymooners, The

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the use of DuMont Laboratories' Electronicam to film The Honeymooners

03:48

Topics

1939-40 World's Fair

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont's Model 180, their first television set, and demonstrating it at the 1939 World's Fair

01:43

Historic Events and Social Change

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on World War II interrupting and delaying the development of television

02:55

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont's Model 180, their first television set, and demonstrating it at the 1939 World's Fair

01:43

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont Laboratories' activities during World War II

04:55

Media Consolidation

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the proposed merger between ABC and the DuMont Network

02:20

Network Creation

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont having only three owned and operated stations while other networks had four

02:42

Technological Innovation

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on some of the early names involved with the technological aspects of radio and his very early interest and awareness of television, including his experimenting with the cathode ray tube and microwaves

04:02

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on seeing television at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair

02:13

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on his work on hearing aid devices, and on meeting Allen B. DuMont

06:10

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont founding the DuMont Laboratories Inc.

03:55

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on what he and Allen B. DuMont were working on when he first started at DuMont Laboratories

03:14

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the working conditions at Allen B. DuMont's DuMont Laboratories when he was hired in 1936

04:58

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont getting funding for his DuMont Laboratories, and on the competing British experiments with television

02:31

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont's vision for bigger tubes for early television, and on British "Cossor tubes"

01:34

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on developing an in-house broadcast system at DuMont Laboratories, and on early test patterns

04:19

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on working with inventor Lee De Forest at DuMont Laboratories

02:24

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the television sets that Allen B. DuMont's DuMont Laboratories manufactured before World War II

01:01

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont's Model 180, their first television set, and demonstrating it at the 1939 World's Fair

01:43

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the early development of the kinescope and videotape

04:36

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on why the NTSC made it so televisions do not have a channel one, and on how the NTSC impacted sets that were already sold

04:44

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the NTSC authorizing the start of commercial broadcasting in July of 1941 and where the entire industry was at that time

05:29

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the use of DuMont Laboratories' Electronicam to film The Honeymooners

03:48

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont's Electronicam and the advent of Ampex magnetic videotape

02:40

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on setting up an experimental local station (WTTG) in Washington, D.C. right after World War II

07:52

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont's competition in putting out television receivers and camera equipment just after World War II

03:45

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont dealing with FCC regulations in the wake of the FCC freeze on the granting of new television licenses in 1948

04:50

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the creation of ABC due to FCC regulations, and DuMont shedding its broadcasting operations

03:56

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the advent of color television broadcasting

07:21

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the industry push toward color television in the 1950s involving David Sarnoff and Allen B. DuMont, and on the NTSC setting standards for color television

09:03

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on competitors working together to arrive at standards for color television

01:31

Thomas T. Goldsmit,h Jr. on Kenneth A. Hoagland developing a computerized system pixels for full color television

04:12

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the achievements of the DuMont Network, and on dealing with both the technical and the programming side of DuMont

08:21

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Paramount's detrimental involvement with the DuMont Network, and on the reasons for the end of the DuMont Network

07:15

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the dissolution of the DuMont Network due in part to lack of channels available from the FCC allocation plan

04:09

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the coaxial television cable connecting San Francisco to New York

02:22

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on his own achievements, and the achievements of DuMont Laboratories and of Allen B. DuMont

07:39

Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. on the then-current state of television and the then-future of television from a technological standpoint

09:26

Television Industry

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont having only three owned and operated stations while other networks had four

02:42

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the proposed merger between ABC and the DuMont Network

02:20

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the creation of the DuMont Broadcasting Corporation which later become MetroMedia, and on how Allen B. DuMont took the failure of the DuMont Network

04:16

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont licensing its television set division to Emerson and DuMont Laboratories merging with Fairchild Camera in 1960

04:01

War

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on World War II interrupting and delaying the development of television

02:55

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont Laboratories' activities during World War II

04:55

World War II

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on World War II interrupting and delaying the development of television

02:55

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on DuMont Laboratories' activities during World War II

04:55

People

Barney Balaban

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Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Barney Balaban

00:24

Ted Bergmann

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Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the proposed merger between ABC and the DuMont Network involving Leonard Goldenson and Ted Bergmann

02:20

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Ted Bergmann

00:39

Jackie Gleason

View Person Page

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the use of DuMont Laboratories' Electronicam to film The Honeymooners

03:48

Leonard H. Goldenson

View Interview Page

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the proposed merger between ABC and the DuMont Network involving Leonard Goldenson and Ted Bergmann

02:20

Allen B. Du Mont

View Person Page

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on his work on hearing aid devices, and on meeting Allen B. DuMont

06:10

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont founding the DuMont Laboratories Inc.

03:54

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the kind of person Allen B. DuMont was

01:13

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on what he and Allen B. DuMont were working on when he first started at DuMont Laboratories

03:14

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the working conditions at Allen B. DuMont's DuMont Laboratories when he was hired in 1936, and on DuMont working with David Sarnoff

04:58

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont getting funding for his DuMont Laboratories, and on the competing British experiments with television

02:31

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont's vision for bigger tubes for early television, and on British "Cossor tubes"

01:33

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on developing an in-house broadcast system at DuMont Laboratories, and on early test patterns

04:19

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont getting into manufactuing television sets and getting into broadcasting

05:49

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the television sets that Allen B. DuMont's DuMont Laboratories manufactured before World War II

01:00

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Paramount acquiring a substantial portion of DuMont

04:52

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the reasons for selling part of DuMont to Paramount

04:29

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the industry push toward color television in the 1950s involving David Sarnoff and Allen B. DuMont, and on the NTSC setting standards for color television

09:03

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the creation of the DuMont Broadcasting Corporation which later become MetroMedia run by John W. Kluge, and on how Allen B. DuMont took the failure of the DuMont Network

04:16

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on his personal thoughts on Allen B. DuMont and DuMont's successes and failures

06:57

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on his own achievements, and the achievements of DuMont Laboratories and of Allen B. DuMont

07:39

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Allen B. DuMont and Bruce DuMont

01:19

David Sarnoff

View Person Page

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the working conditions at Allen B. DuMont's DuMont Laboratories when he was hired in 1936, and on DuMont working with David Sarnoff

04:58

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on the industry push toward color television in the 1950s involving David Sarnoff and Allen B. DuMont, and on the NTSC setting standards for color television

09:03

Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on David Sarnoff

01:16

Frank Stanton

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Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. on Frank Stanton

00:35