Memories with Radio

Radio boomed in the early 1920s and, though its end may be near, the radio has left a lasting influence on Regina and many others who grew up before the era of television.

Regina remembers her family always owning a couple radios, but credits the one in the living room for bringing her family together. “Listening to the radio together after dinner was real exciting,” she remembers. “It seemed like we had it on any time we could.” To some of us today, a buzzing radio is just obnoxious background noise, but in its height, radio served as a much more important tool, and due to its large size was considered a piece of furniture. Some of her very earliest encounters with the radio occurred during the height of World War II when her family would sit around the radio, absolutely silent, listening to the news of the world. While she may have not understood what was happening, “I knew it was a very serious time,” she says. Today, with largely the exception of National Public Radio, turning up the radio is not the first thing we think of to do to get our daily dose of news. And in a time where illiteracy wasn’t uncommon, it pushed aside the newspaper, bringing news to audiences of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Here is a picture of a 1940s family huddled around the radio (notice its size!): 

Besides news programs, radio served as a medium of storytelling, a format that has been lost over the years and been replaced by television. Regina remembers a few of her favorite radio shows—“Amos n Andy, Jack Benny, Lone Ranger”—and the excitement of the imagination bringing together the sounds and voices, creating a scene unique to the listener. “It wasn’t like going to the movies where you see the same pictures as your friends,” she adds.

 

 She credits the invention of the transistor radio shortly after the war with bringing radio to a younger population. Radio was no longer stationary. On clear summer nights, with the new popularity in FM radio, Regina remembers tuning her radio just right to receive signals all the way from Chicago. “Radio could take you anywhere you wanted to go. I made sure all my dates had radios in their cars, and we would drive around and sit and sing along on Saturday nights.”

When asked about the major differences in radio today, she says “the commercials.” And this is true—stations rely more heavily on advertisers today. “There just seems to be so many more advertisements,” she says. “I forget what I’m listening to.” She likes to keep a radio on in her kitchen and at her desk, playing “soft music” and “golden oldies.” When asked about the future of radio, she says she hopes it stays around for the rest of her lifetime.