Figure 1.--Here we see an Indiana family in Veedersburg, Indiana listening to radio just as coimmercial radio was beginning. Notice the both the speaker and the ear phones. This is a rural family as can be seen by the overalls. I am not sure, however, this is a farm family. Few farms had electricity in the 1920s. Perhaps some of these radio ran on batteries, I am not sure about this. A reader writes that this is an electrical appliance and batteries were not used. Click on the image for a more detasiled discussion.

The first American commercial radio broadcast took place on November 6, 1920, in Pittsburg Peensylvania. The station was KDKA. A Westinghouse employee climbed into a wooden shack on the roof of a company plant and spoke into a converted telephine mouth piece. The first words were, "We shall now broadcast the election returns." He went on to provide details on the election of Warren Harding as president. It did not take long for radio to become a major industry. By 1925 about 10 percent of Americans had radios and by 1933, despite the Depression, 63 percent of Americans had acquired a radio.

Impact on Modern Broadcast Media

Though forgotten today, these stations--which often featured popular broadcasters, and catered to working class and rural audiences--played an important yet overlooked role in shaping the future course of American broadcasting. Many of the television staples like news programing, detective shows, adventure shows, sitcoms, quiz shows, variety shows, evangelists, and others were all developed on the radio. So was the western, a now forgotten program type.

Pervasiveness

Radio came first to urban America. The early sets were very expensive. The first stations had weak signals. Gradually stations with stronger signals were built. Another limitation was that few farms had electricity. Electrical companies were unwilling to run limnes into sparsely populsated rural areas. This changed in the 1930s with the New Deal. The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) brought electrity to American farms. A reader writes, "The radio here is an electric appliance. We can see a set of plugs at rear. While farms were no connected to electrical lines, some farms had limited electricity generated by windmills whichy were once very common on farms in America and Canada. Before the rsadio here there was crystal radio. And batteries came only in the beginning of 50s." Virtually every American family had a radio by the 1930s which was usually given a place of honor in the living room. The radio was at the time a major piece of furniture. There were no transistors in 1941 and the vacume tubes used in radios made sets much larger than modern radios. Most American families would gather around the radio after dinner. Listening to news broadcasts and special programs on the radio was a familiar after dinner activity.

News

The radio by the late 1920s and especially the 1930s had become a major medium delivering news to Americans. Rhere were those marvelous fire-side chats from President Roosevelt in which he established a unique link with the American people. Most Americans listened ro Edward VIII abdigte over the radio. They listening to Edward R. Murrow describe the horrors of the NAZI blitz over London and many heard of Peal Harbor over their radio. Estimates indicate that Three-quarters of all Americans used the radio as a major source of information on the war. Parents would often update war maps after listening to overseas correspondents. Edward R. Murrow was best know because of his London broadcasts during the Blitz, but other correspondents such as Eric Severide and Robert Schrier also broadcast from Europe, insome cases from Berlin and some occupied countries before Hitler declared War on America in December 1941.

Fireside Chats

The Great Depression of the 1930s was the worst economic slump ever to affect the United States. A new era of the American presidency was initated on Sunday evening, March 12, 1933. Most Americans sat down after dinner in their living rooms to listen to the newly inagurated president. Most were worried. The Depression was rapidly paralizing the country and the Government seemed unable to take effective action. With all this gloom, a calm, reassuring voice came through the radio exuding confidence in the future. President Roosevelt explained in understandable terms just how the Depression had come about and what he planned to do to get the country out of the Depression. The radio seems almost made for President Roosevelt. It offered the ability to speak directly to the whole country with out the complications of visual images. The fireside chats were a revolution in communication and in many ways profoundly change the office. The presideny was a much more formal office before FDR. The fireside chats seem very casual and informal. They were of course swrewdly calculated. Primarily previous presidents communicated with the public through the press. Many important newspapers, however, in the 1930s were oriented toward the Republicans. Homey, "down-to-earth" language was carefully adopted so that the major issues of the day could be explained to the proverbial "common man". FDR had a wonderful feel for the power of words and phrasing. Terms like "lend lease" and the "arsnal of democracy" were used in the fireside chats to help win public acceptance of the administration's policies. Most of the fireside chats were dilivered from the White House, but a few were made at Hyde Park as well. They were carefully times. May were on Sunday knowing that the whole family would be home. Almost always they were in the evening, timed to catch the family after they had dinner and were gathering around the radio in the living room to listen to the evening programs. To many it was almost as if they were inviting the President into their living room for a personal chat. No other president had ever attempted talked to the average voter in this way. And none had the voice that the president possessed.

Programing

For the kids of course, especially the boys, it was those thrilling adventure series that attracted them to radio. Some parents also worried about the impact of the War reporting as well as some vilent radio programs would have on their children--a concern which has continued to this daty. Children listened to radio adventure programs an average of 14 hours a week, much less than the moder TV generation. Some of the programs most popular with children durig World War II were Captain Midnight, The Shadow ("Who knows what evil lurkes in the minds of men. The Shadow knows."), The Green Hornet, Jack Armstong--the all American Boy, Dick Tracey, The Lone Ranger, Tom Mix, Sky King, Terry and the Pirates and the most popular radio hero, Superman (who was introduced in 1938 just as the NAZI menace was becoming apparent to many Americans). These heros except for dated ones like the Lone Ranger pitched right into the War effort. The plots of many of the shows involved foiling the misdeeds of Japanese and German evil dooers. Many of these programs were based on popular comic strips and would be some of the most important eraly television programs after the War. The radio adventure programs as well as the daytime series had a simplistic moral tone of good versus. evil with justice always prevailing in the end. Listening to these programs today one is struck by how much more evil the Japanese milatarists and German NAZIs actually were than the comic book presentations. Children were often encouraged at the end of the program to help out in any way they could: collecting scrap materials, buying war bonds, planting a victory garden, writing to a service person, and a variety of other suggested activities. Radio continued to be important for a few years after the War before teklevision became dominate. There were more thrilling asventures such as Gang Busters and Gunsmoke.

Organization

Recent historical scholarship on American radio in the late 1920s has focused primarily on the emergence of the large, corporate-backed stations that were eventually consolidated into the major national networks. Other historians challenges this assumption by pointing out that many independent stations that flourished in this decade.

Modern Trends

American radio is today stronger than ever. There are 10,000 radio stations in America. Most Americans tune in at least once a week. The average person in 1999 listed to 2 1/2 hours of radio daily, more than spent watching eith cable or satellite television. Of course the programing today is entirely different. Calls-in shows, music, and news/public affairs now dominate American radio, not the drama, sitcoms, and variety shows of pre-TV radio.

Sources

HBC is just beginning to collect information on radio. one of the most interesting references uinclude: Susan Douglas, Listening In. Other good sources are: Susan Smulyan, Selling Radio and Michele Hilmes Radio Reader.

Created: 11:42 PM 10/24/2004
Last updated: 11:42 PM 10/24/2004