The History of Radios

    The Forgotten Medium 

    Most people don't even bat an eye at the radio today. We aren't going out and buying new radios or interested in the hundreds of stations that they have. If you are listening to the radio its probably in the car and you will complain about the million commercials that they are playing. Once in our history we weren't like this, radios were once beloved and in every household. Let's talk about it. 

    It all started when in 1886 to1888, electromagnetic waves were proven and used by german physicist Heinrich Hertz. This went on to inspire many inventors to try and utilize these waves for communication. Guglielmo Marconi began experimenting with radio waves and by 27 years old he was able to send the first transatlantic transmission on December 12th, 1901. Though the message was just an 'S' sent in Mores Code it was a great start for what we know it becomes. 

    This first addition of the radio was used primarily by governments and ships at sea, using Morse Code to communicate to one another. But companies like General Electric, American Telephone and Telegraph, and Westinghouse wanted to be able to send more sophisticated transmissions. The first to transmit a voice was Reginald Fessenden on Christmas Eve of 1906. He was able to do this when he realized that discontinues waves will not carry music or voices, though great for dots and scratches, he moved onto continuous waves. His radio equipment was bought by Navies, armies, and shipping companies for them to utilize, his radio equipment was used during World War 1. Armies notably used them to communicate with airplanes. 

    By 1919 the radio boom began, people thought that the radio was an incredible source of entertainment and also for receiving news. There was a rise of licensed broadcast stations, with 500 in 1924. Some were colleges giving lectures, churches broadcasting their services, and others were variety shows and music. The Radio Corporation of America, also known as RCA, was led by David Sarnoff and while under him their stocks went from $85 to $500 in a year. With the crash of the stock market of 1929, stocks went down but surprisedly still radio ownership during the Great Depression were steady with about 12 million households. This is what is known as the "Golden Age of Radio" from 1930 to 1940 people would sit by their radio also everyday to tune into their favorite stations. Whether it was news providing information about the countries economic state or searching for a moment of peace and listen to a serial comedy or music. By 1940 over 80 percent of Americans had a radio. 

 

    Radio was a huge part of Americans everyday lives in the 1930's and 40's. Being a comfort and resource for people during times of war, depression, and even during the lighter days. The radio brought community, people would invited friends and neighbors over to listen to sports, dramas, new music from their favorite bands, and anything else you can think of. With the invention and rise of the television we see a fall in radios use for entertainment but they never fully fade out. 

     We still use radio waves everyday; our phones, laptops, and televisions. Without knowing it we are still utilizing the some things are older generations were trying to accomplish, communicating to one another with the most sophisticated technology. If only Marconi, Fessenden, or Hertz himself could see what their inventions and discoveries have inspired.