It was the dream for many middle class American families in the 1950s and 1960s: color television. Although the technology was available beginning in 1953, the high prices of color television sets meant most families couldn’t afford the exciting advancement. There was, however, a cheap and easy alternative to get your programs in color. Plastic screens were available — transparent pieces of plastic — that could be stuck to the television screen. The top portion of the screen was blue for the sky, the middle had a reddish tint, and the bottom was green for grass. Of course, the screens looked nothing like the real color we have today, but they did add a little excitement to the otherwise boring gray scale that was dominant during the early years of television. Because the color screens only sold for a couple of dollars, they were more affordable than the color television sets, which at that time sold for around $1,500 ($17,233) today.
