I’m a child of the ‘80s, so that means I grew up watching endless hours of MTV. It also means my first exposure to The Monkees TV show was also on MTV. Peter Tork, Davey Jones, Mickey Dolenz, and Michael Nesmith became household names (again) to a new generation of fans because the quirky ‘60s show found a second life 20 years after its debut when MTV started showing full episodes as part of its schedule. It was such a big hit on the show, it was one of the many shows rebooted for Gen X.
It wasn’t until many years later that I learned just how important one of those fictional band members, Michael Nesmith, was to the creation of the all-video cable channel. He is pretty much directly responsible for it. Oh, and that was also long before I found out his mother invented one of the most important office supplies of the 20th Century. Let’s start with MTV.
The Birth Of Music Videos At The Dawn Of Cable TV
traced back to one man, Mike Nesmith.
Nesmith didn’t stay with the show when it made the jump to full-time network in 1981, but remained proud of the work he did to inspire MTV. The video channel launched in August of ‘81, famously playing “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles as its first video, and the rest is history. MTV has launched tons of careers, and for years, was the coolest cable station around.
But Wait, His Mom Really Invented Liquid Paper?
The Nesmith family is not only responsible for helping to reshape American pop culture with MTV, but office culture as well. In 1956, Mike Nesmith’s mother, Bette, invented one of the most important office supplies of the mid-century, Liquid Paper.
Bette was a secretary and was looking for a way to correct typos in documents produced by a typewriter. Using her home blender and her imagination, she came up with the formula for a liquid that could cover up the mistake, then harden and allow for new ink to be printed on top. Liquid Paper was born.
It’s quite a one-two punch from the family, don’t you think?