Storymania - Radio Days Of Yesteryear by Frank Dunsmore

Radio Days Of Yesteryear
Frank Dunsmore

I was in bed listening to the radio while the wind whistled and howled and blew torrents of rain against granddad’s house. The jagged lightning bolts turned night into day as the deafening thunder rolled across the sky. A scraping tree branch against the window made my body tense. Finally it was time to hear what I had waited for all day.

"Good evening, friends. This is Raymond, your host, welcoming you in through the squeaking door to the Inner Sanctum. We have another tale to thrill you, and to chill you. It’s nice to have someone here who really believes in black magic, the supernatural, zombies, and goblins.What’s that? You don’t believe in those things? Well, our story is about a man who didn’t believe in them either. But he found out that he was wrong - dead wrong. Ha-ha-ha-haaaaa..."

I tuned the radio dial one last time and gave it a love tap, hoping to clear the static caused by the storm. The static persisted but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t miss listening to Inner Sanctum for anything. My granddad said they didn’t have anything like Inner Sanctum when the radio first began. He said the radio came about from the wireless, whatever that was.

Guglielmo Marconi invented the wireless telegraph in 1896. Inventors continued to experiment. They wanted to replace the telegraph’s dots and dashes with the human voice. Alternators were built to carry sound on electric radio waves for long distances. In 1906 Lee De Forest invented an amplifier called the vacuum tube.

Christmas Eve of 1906 was very quiet in the wireless operator’s office. Except for an occasional season’s greeting tapped out in dots and dashes from another telegrapher, the operator’s headphones were still. The wireless was usually chattering in Morse Code from morning through the night.

The operator had just settled back in his swivel chair for an evening nap. Suddenly he jumped to his feet. He always heard dots and dashes from his headphones but at that moment he heard music and a man singing. Telegraphers on land and sea were hearing the first radio broadcast from Brant Rock, Massachusetts over the wireless. The broadcaster was Professor Reginald Fessenden.

David Sarnoff envisioned the radio as a public entertainment and information source. He wrote a memo, "A Radio Music Box," to his supervisors at American Marconi Company. He believed that the radio would become a household item like the piano and phonograph. His bosses didn’t agree.

By 1917 several thousand broadcasters were talking from shore to ships at sea or just among themselves. Nobody realized any great use for the wireless invention but they were thrilled to talk with someone hundreds of miles away without a telegraph wire and without dots and dashes.

In 1917 during World War I, the Government took control of all broadcasting stations. When the War ended the Government realized the need for standardization and the General Electric Company helped create the Radio Corporation of America (RCA).

RCA standardized technology of General Electric, American Telephone and Telegraph, Westinghouse, and the United Fruit Company. At this time Sarnoff was employed by RCA and he decided to share his "Radio Music Box" idea, with his new employer. RCA liked the idea of being an entertainment and information source and believed it would sell more radios.

On November 2, 1920 for the first time, radio station KDKA broadcast the Presidential election returns and in June, 1921 President Warren Harding gave a speech heard by over one million listeners. In the Fall of ’21 a Newark station broadcast the World Series between the New York Giants and Yankees and other stations hooked on to the broadcast.

Many stations were able to share broadcasts by using telephone lines. In 1921, David Sarnoff directed RCA to bring together many radio stations around the country, creating a national broadcasting company. Over two million listeners heard the RCA broadcast of the Jack Dempsey vs. Georges Carpentier fight.

The government passed legislation that made advertising on the air and selling air time illegal. RCA was making money from the sale of their radios so they didn’t feel this would hurt their business until they heard that AT&T was able to smoothly out maneuver the law.

American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) started their own radio station, WEAF and sidestepped the law prohibiting the sale of broadcast time. They said their broadcasting was like their telephone service.

They only provided a telephone and the caller and receiver said what they wished. AT&T provided broadcast time and the businesses advertised what they wished. AT&T charged the caller for time and advertisers for broadcast time. WEAF’s first advertisement aired August 8, 1922 selling apartments by a real estate agency. The commercial ran for ten minutes and cost $50.

RCA and its affiliates were prohibited from directly selling air time but they created their own way to sidestep the law. RCA gave free air time to advertisers, provided they paid all expenses of airing a program including paying the performers.

The creative powers of David Sarnoff were never idle. In 1925 he represented RCA in negotiations with AT&T. RCA would lease telephone lines only from AT&T to connect all of its affiliates across the country. In return, AT&T would give up broadcasting and refer all of its affiliate stations to RCA.

On September 9, 1926 RCA formed the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). RCA cables and AT&T cables were linked together. On November 15, 1926 NBC made its first broadcast from the New York Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was heard by over 12 million listeners throughout the country.

In 1927 the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) was formed. William Paley joined together 16 radio stations and by 1939 CBS owned 70 stations. Paley also envisioned the radio as a great source of entertainment and information. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) was the result of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) forcing NBC to sell the Blue Network.

The beginning of radio programming was unorganized and without guidelines. If something worked it was used again. Everything was done on a trial basis. This didn’t bother the average listeners. They were thrilled just to be able to tune in their crystal sets and hear something. Often they only heard music.

During the early ‘20s, music was heard about ninety percent of the time. Record sales dropped since radio was free. A typical radio program included a baritone solo, a piano composition, and a soprano singing an aria. Sports also drew listeners from the earliest broadcasts.

Baseball games were broadcast but not live from the ball park as they are today. A sports reporter at the ball park telephoned the radio announcer at the station and told him what was happening. The announcer broadcast the action to the listeners as if he were at the game. Former President Ronald Reagan was an announcer and said he often dramatized plays to keep his listeners interested in the game.

Broadcasting Presidential speeches and the Democratic and Republican Conventions in 1924 made the listeners euphoric. Informal talk shows and live plays also brought excitement and a feeling of well being. Nobody before had ever had such an experience.

Prior to 1922 there were less than sixty thousand radios in America and by 1930 there were over thirteen million. David Sarnoff said, "Radio will create a new common fund of experience and information that is democratic in its touch-of-the-dial accessibility."

The 1920s were exciting times. Those years were called the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition of liquor brought about speak-easy night clubs and bathtub gin. Charles Lindberg flew across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. The stock market kept going up in value.

In 1928 RCA stock sold for $85 a share and in 1929 the same share sold for $500. The stock market crash came suddenly on October 30, 1929. Wall Street’s stock brokers and investors lost everything and the Great Depression followed. The Depression put nearly everyone out of work and into a bread line.

The Depression also closed down most Vaudeville houses. Vaudeville performers such as Groucho Marx, Eddie Cantor, George Jessel, Rudy Vallee, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, Fred Allen and other talented performers were suddenly out of work. Radio became their salvation and opportunity. They brought their acts on to the air and set the routines and traditions of what radio shows would become. Their era was later called the golden age of radio.

The Fleischmann Hour and The Maxwell House Showboat were radio variety shows. They featured light music instead of classical and vocalists sang popular songs accompanied by big bands. Listeners heard Rudy Vallee, Guy Lombardo’s Orchestra, Kate Smith, Al Jolson, and Bing Crosby. Vaudeville comedians were also a big hit on radio variety shows. Music held the listeners through the ‘20s and comedy became the focus in the ‘30s.

Americans were sad and beaten from the Great Depression of the early ‘30s and comedy was their best medicine. Everyone was broke and radio was free. A few of the shows that made them laugh were Amos and Andy, The Goldbergs, Fred Allen’s Alley, and the Jack Benny Show.

The Jack Benny Show was one of the all-time favorite comedies from 1932 to 1952. Mr. Benny was a very generous man in real life but on his show he portrayed himself as a cheapskate. In one of his shows he is walking down a street late at night. A man comes up to Benny and says, "Your money or your life!" Benny remains silent. The man says, "Come on, hurry up! What’s it gonna be?!" Benny hesitates for several more moments and finally says, "I’m thinking it over!"

The Jack Benny Show was an on going story of Jack Benny and his "gang." The characters were Rochester, his valet, Mary Livingstone, his girl friend, Phil Harris his rowdy orchestra leader, Dennis Day, his naive Irish tenor, Don Wilson, his jovial announcer, and Mel Blanc, the man of many voices. They each added to hysterical comedy situations.

Housewives and anyone else who was home during weekday mornings and early afternoons tuned in their favorite "Soaps." They were called soaps because the majority of the shows’ sponsors advertised soaps such as Oxydol and Ivory. The soap operas were fifteen minutes just like the kids’ shows.

Humorist and author James Thurber said, "A soap is a kind of sandwich. Between thick slices of advertising, spread twelve minutes of dialogue, add predicament, villainy, and female suffering…throw in a dash of nobility, sprinkle with tears, season with organ music, cover with a rich announcer sauce, and serve five times a week."

Some of the favorite soaps were Ma Perkins, Just Plain Bill, Life Can Be Beautiful, The Guiding Light, Our Gal Sunday, and One Man’s Family. To make these stories interesting the writers created marital problems, illnesses, treason, deceit, murder, and sometimes amnesia.

Anne Hummert, a soap serial writer, was asked why women tune in every day to the soaps. She said, "Worry, for women, is entertainment." Soaps were great company for the housewife and if she missed an episode or even an entire month of her favorite show, a few days of listening would bring her up to date because the story moved so slowly. The housewives were faithful every day, tuning in their favorite fifteen minute shows. The announcer would sign off by saying, "How will this affect Our Gal Sunday? Be sure to tune in tomorrow."

Children’s shows aired late in the afternoon on weekdays and Saturday morning. Almost all the shows advertised cereals. Wheaties, Cream of Wheat, Shredded Ralston, and Quaker Oats were a few of the favorites.

The afternoon weekday shows’ format started with Little Orphan Annie in 1931. All kids shows became fifteen minute serials. Little Orphan Annie advertised Ovaltine. If Mom would buy a jar of Ovaltine, remove the seal, and send the seal and a dime to the sponsor, the young listener would receive a decoder ring from Little Orphan Annie.

Announcers plugged the sponsor when they introduced the show: "Jack Armstrong, The All American Boy, brought to you by Wheaties, the breakfast of champions;" "Tom Mix, the real life cowboy and his wonder horse Tony, brought to you by Shredded Ralston;" and "Captain Midnight, ace of the airways brought to you by Ovaltine." These and many other radio heroes fought criminals who threatened or endangered the American way of life.

All of these shows were daily and fifteen minutes of action and excitement. If the young listener mailed a box top of the show’s cereal and a dime, the sponsor would make the young listener a member and send a decoder ring, a badge, a whistle, or a miniature bomb sight.

Saturday mornings were special. At 9:00 Let’s Pretend was heard every Saturday morning from 1939-62. Uncle Bill was the host and the show was always broadcast with a studio full of children. Uncle Bill greeted the young listeners and said, "Hello Pretenders. All aboard for Let’s Pretend." Then he would tell the story. Cream of Wheat was the sponsor for Let’s Pretend.

The children radio shows helped set a good example for the young listener. However, Jack Armstrong never explained how he had time to do his homework. Mom appreciated the shows because it kept the kids occupied while she was in the kitchen making supper.

A variety of shows aired in the evening. Comedy was very popular and some of the shows were Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Duffy’s Tavern, and Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Listeners laughed at Bob Hope’s jokes and Red Skelton’s portrayal of "the mean little kid." Dimwitted Archie of Duffy’s Tavern, and smart aleck Charlie McCarthy kept listeners laughing.

The Kraft Music Hall with Bing Crosby, The Hit Parade, Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, The Bell Telephone Hour, The Metropolitan Opera by Texaco, and The Grand Ole Opry were a few of the music shows. A few of the vocalists from the ‘30s through the ‘50s included Al Jolson, Kate Smith, Bing Crosby, Alice Fay, Frank Sinatra, and Jo Stafford. Big bands of Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey and many others performed on radio.

The evening also aired horror shows like The Mysterious Traveler, Inner Sanctum, Suspense, and Lights Out. The host of Lights Out greeted the listener and said, "Lights Out, everybody! This is the witching hour, the hour when dogs howl and evil is let loose on the sleeping world. . ."

One of the most frightening and shocking broadcasts was on October 30th, 1938. CBS’ Mercury Theater of the Air was performing an adaptation of H. G. Wells’, The War of the Worlds. The program sounded so authentic and caught many people by surprise. Actor Orson Wells described the Martians who had invaded earth so vividly that people frantically ran from their homes.

An evening wasn’t complete without a cops and robbers or detective show. Justice was served by Mr. District Attorney, Gang Busters, Mr. Keen, Tracers of Lost Persons, Dragnet, Sam Spade, Boston Blackie, The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, The Fat Man, The Thin Man, and many others. The good guys got bruised or wounded but always brought the bad guys to justice.

Ninety-nine percent of the evening shows were half an hour. The performers were Hollywood and theatrical stars and unknowns. Whoever they were, all were very talented. Some played the roles of two or more characters in a show. Others played either sex and some performed the role of an old person in one scene and a young person in another.

The listener visualized the picture of what was happening in the story, whether it was an ocean with gigantic waves or a robber holding up a bank. The listener’s mind and imagination brought him right there. Something else made the imaginary picture very real.

Sound effects were the real life palette of imagination. The listener could hear the avalanche of Fibber McGee’s hall closet, the squeaking door into the Inner Sanctum, or the fast gallop of the Lone Ranger’s horse, Silver. Whatever was heard, the sound effect man created it. He used whatever it took to create a sound.

Squeezing handfuls of cornstarch sounded like the crunch of footsteps in snow, a toilet plunger thrust into a container of water sounded like someone falling overboard, and a fist fight was created by punching a fist into the other palm in sync with the actor’s groans. Two dried out coconut halves created the sound of a galloping horse.

The sound effect person studied the show’s script and prepared by having every item needed to produce any sound in the show. And of course the sounds had to be produced on queue. The best sound effect men were paid as much and sometimes more than the actors.

News casting didn’t become daily until events such as the Democratic and Republican Conventions in 1924 and Charles Lindberg’s flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927 were broadcast as news. These events and others like them inspired networks to broadcast news on a daily basis. Eventually regular news commentators told listeners what was happening in the world on a daily basis.

Gabriel Heatter greeted his listeners, "Ah, there’s good news tonight." A Vaudeville performer, Walter Winchell, became a news commentator. He opened his commentary every night by saying, "Good evening Mr. And Mrs. North America and all the ships at sea. Flash! Let’s go to press!" H. V. Kaltenborn, Lowell Thomas, and Edward R. Murrow kept listeners informed.

Before World War II radio news was only 5% of broadcasting time. During the War it was 30%. Radio entertained and informed everyone who listened. Most everyone wanted to tune in and listen. Those who listened were comforted and given hope during the Great Depression. The American listeners were brought together by the coverage of World War II and the patriotic programming.

Just as the sound of voices and music replaced the dots and dashes of the wireless telegraph, the golden age of radio was tuned out by television. Many of us still play the tapes of the wonderful old radio shows. The comedies, mysteries, and detective shows are all preserved. Listening to them is tuning into happy days of yesteryears.