Edwards - Buffalo Stories Archives & Blog

Buffalo’s first look at TV

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Excerpt from 100 Years of Buffalo Broadcasting

Buffalo’s first television station, WBEN-TV Channel 4, did not officially sign on until 1948. But eight years earlier, Edwards—the department store at Main, Mohawk, and Genesee– hosted Buffalo’s first transmission and reception of “Farnsworth electronic television” signals from inside the store.

Seeing moving pictures on a small piece of glass for the first time must have been some sight, “comparable to the thrill of seeing your first automobile or airplane!”

This page is an excerpt from 100 Years of Buffalo Broadcasting by Steve Cichon

The full text of the book is now online.

The original 436-page book is available along with Steve’s other books online at The Buffalo Stories Bookstore and from fine booksellers around Western New York.

Buffalo in the 50s: On sale at Edwards downtown– your grandparents’ porch furniture

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

If you spent time on a Buffalo porch or patio anytime from the 1950s through the 1980s, chances are pretty good at least one or two of these summer furniture pieces from Edwards’ downtown store look familiar.

The metal chairs, especially, seemed to last forever. Many still survive in the backs of garages even after being replaced by plastic resin Adirondack chairs.