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Okay, now you're scaring me. You ACTUALLY clicked on the Indian Head Test Pattern link.

> > the glorious indian head test pattern

This was what daytime television was like in the early 1950's, on the only channel in town. Most of the early channels didn't begin programming until about 3:00PM in the afternoon, and broadcast this image along with the oscillator tone for the station engineers to adjust their studio equipment and for viewers to adjust their home TV sets.

It was an icon of the Baby Boom generation and was broadcast at sign-off until 1981, when successful and well-publicized lobbying by the American Indian Improvement Association convinced the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to order it off the air because it was considered derogatory to Native Americans.

It's just as well; the Indian Head Test Pattern was considered one of the eeriest and most frightening images on TV. It scared the hell out of me as a kid when I woke up to see my parents asleep in front of the TV to this thing after the late late late show. The head looked so angry.

If you are a retro television purist and want to watch this infamous test pattern as it was meant to be seen, then click here, you weirdo!

Now here's something REALLY scary...

People have ACTUALLY googled this page just to watch a simulated test pattern. Yup, there are actual Indian Head Test Pattern fanboys, fangirls and groupies. Glad to be of service, I guess. For crying out loud, this page is a JOKE! REAL test pattern tones didn't stop and resume after 30 seconds like this one does since this tone is an embedded sound loop!

And yet it seems so calming after a while. Oooooooooooooh... whoa, peace and love, man! With such a trip like this, who needs marijuana?

I mean, it's an old movie about Indians, man, but it's really boring! (That's a cheesy line from an old Cheech and Chong routine about modern TV.) Just sing along to the oscillator just like the kids do in my animated film Late Night TV.

If you ever get tired of watching this, click here to return to the previous page. Eventually you'll need to.

©2009 by Rich Rodriguez