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Great moments in broadcasting: Uncrating the new color camera.

It was the flagship of the RCA fleet, built from old locomotive parts, requiring two engineers, a fireman, a brakeman and a conductor. It seated six. They should have dubbed it the "Orca" for it was big as a whale. It would take all day to test the tubes in that monster. But it was cutting edge technology for its time. Nowadays, a better camera can fit in your shirt pocket, and you may even have two of them. Don McDaniel, who used to horse this big old thing around on a daily basis, remembers they had to turn on every light in the studio to get a decent picture.

Mr. Crutchfield (left), who was determined that we be the first and the best, was proud as punch the day it arrived. The man fiddling with the lens is Tom Howard, vice president in charge of engineering. Notice that both men are engaged in an activity no longer permitted in most corporate environs: smoking cigarettes.

Photo courtesy Jim Scancarelli