Propaganda became a weapon every nation could use with the emergence of electronic mass communications. Many people recognized the opportunity to sway people’s thoughts, both for the good and also, for the bad. ![]() Radio’s underbelly was that anyone could say anything. At the same time, it was a very inexpensive way to reach millions of people. It was cheap entertainment for the listener, and audiences loved it globally. In the run-up to World War II, it wasn’t surprising that radio was being used for propaganda purposes. My aunt told me that everyone in their family was an inveterate radio listener. My grandfather fussed with the dials and they all listened to their favorite shows. By the late 20s, competitive networks such as CBS and NBC were established.īy the early 1930s, more than half of all homes in the US had a radio, including my mother’s family. ATT released the first radio commercial in 1923. Westinghouse received the first license to set up a station (KDKA) in Pittsburg, PA, in 1920. While first used in the late 1800s, radios only started to become generally available for private civilian use after World War I. Unlike today’s generations, my mother grew up with radio as a teenager. She’d fiddle with the dials, decide on a program and happily tidy things up. In her later years, she had my father – who was a very good trim carpenter – mount a radio right above the kitchen sink so that when she was washing up the dishes, she could listen to the news, a ball game or opera. She’d settle into one of their beds, with the radio on low, listening to some talk show or WQXR, New York’s classical music station, or one of the Mets games if they were on the west coast. Back at home, when she couldn’t sleep, I remember that she’d retreat to one of my sister’s rooms, as they had moved on to college and jobs by then. It did help pass the time on our way to the beach. The radio trailed us in the car too, which in the warmer months included listening to the New York Mets games on WOR 710 in the afternoons or evenings. ![]() Panasonic 1280 “Flip” Clock Radio (1970s) – Source: eBay ![]() To this day, the staccato news break sound brings me right back to the 1970’s, like an old friend. You could faintly hear the tinny news tone upstairs, with the time check every three minutes or so, as we filtered downstairs to breakfast. When I was young, she had 1010 WINS tuned in on a tiny little black “flip” clock radio in our kitchen.
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