Radio Broadcasting On American Society In The 1920s And 1930s

America has always been searching for new types of entertainment. In the early twenty-first century, cutting-edge technology and pastimes were introduced. Nightlife was increased due to flappers and jazz music, and the invention of the radio provided amusement and paved the way for more technology. Entertainment provided a way to relieve stress in the Roaring Twenties. Even sports offered a time of leisure for the busiest individuals.

The impact that these things made still affect us today, if it was not for the radio we probably would not have a tv and if we did not have cars we would be walking still. Just in America by 1929 cars impacted 122 million people with 23 million cars ("Science par.2). That alone helped many people. The radio later made its way into many people's lives and labeled as Americas pastime. The industry jump in value from $10.6 million to $411 million and that helped evolve the radio to what we know it today as.

Four million babies were born each year, the introduction to rock and roll music took place, and more schools and homes were constructed in its cities (History), having a great impact on America and its people at this time. But nothing had as big of an impact on American society and its peoples ideas, as the grand emersion of the television. “Television was not merely entertainment. It was a teacher, offering lessons in what was acceptable in society.” (Stereotypes, page 3) Television and it’s forms of entertainment itself, changed the way people saw gender, class, and moral values

At the beginning of the decade the nation was still groggy from waking up to a new decade after fighting in World War I. In 1921 President Harding took office and set the course for economic prosperity and a self-propelling nation. The decade of 1920 presented many national shifts of aspects in economy and culture that would include outrageous activity in the stock markets, the use of the radio as a mass media tool, the artistic movement known as the Harlem Renaissance and the age of prohibition. With such changes occurring on a national level the decade became known as the Roaring 20’s.

After World War One, major changes in American culture occurred, paving the way for modern day entertainment. The 1920s brought a decrease in the work week, and nearly a 30 percent increase in wages. Extra money called for extra activities to feel up the abundance of time given to the American population. This is why entertainment, between 1919 and 1929, collected almost 4 billion dollars. Choices were not limited due to the fact that several forms of mass entertainment emerged such as, the radio, “Talkies”, spectator sports, the phonograph, and many other things that had never been seen before.

Radios were a great communication invention in America during the 1920s (Cruxton and Douglas, 1980). Slowly, it was passed in Canada. Guglielmo Marconi created the first wireless radio in 1919. Voices, news reports, and music would be broadcasted through a radio, which helped citizens with entertainment and the Canadian government has a better insight what is happening globally. It was affordable as well, so all citizens could buy the radios (Cruxton and Douglas, 1980).

The radio helped shape the 1920 in a way nothing else at the time could by bringing the life of America into the homes and lives of every american. The radio when it first came out was not so expensive that only the rich people could afford to buy one it was a cheaper pleasure that most people could have. In the article 1920’s radio it states that The government viewed the emerging radio

As the years progressed, the people craved for a new sort of entertainment to amuse themselves. Within these two decades, numerous kinds of media either arose or improved drastically over the years. It was the changes in the media and how it was used to makes the 1920’s and 1930’s prominent from any other time period. Without a doubt, it is safe to say the radio dominated the 1920’s. The device was not only a source or entertainment, but also a source of communication that can broadcast throughout the country at any given time.

The radio was almost in every household all over the Americans, Great Britain and a majority of Western Europe during the beginning of the depression and on the eve of World War 2. By the middle- to late 1930’s, the information that was broadcast over the radio influenced not only public opinion but politics. The voice of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States, was heard all over the American public radio stations during the early 30’s and into the early 40’s. His now famous fireside chats were created by Roosevelt as a way of informing the people of the issues plaguing either the economy, the general public, the world and how his administration intended to fix these issues. The British government utilized the radio

Radio broadcasting was a new system of mass communication. This was the first time the common man was familiarized with the world at large and international relations (U Chicago). With international affairs brought about the fear of war. FDR preached, "The only thing we need to fear is fear its self" this statement accurately sums up what life was like in the 1930's. Fear suffocated Americans.

Enter the free entertainment world of radio.” (The History of

n today's world the majority of people rely on the mainstream media to get educated about the events happening all around the world. Getting the news out quick and accurate for people to read, has always been the problem for the people working in the media. At first newspapers was the popular way for spreading the news. Then the introduction to the television made newspaper news absolute, since news can be spreaded out rampant and across different platforms. In the 1920’s the very first media outlets to make a appearance were ABC, CBS, and NBC news. The original three broadcasted the news to the public, but from a liberal point of view. As it turns out, being focused on left ideas dominated the mainstream media even with the launch of CNN and MSNBC in 1990 which offered a greater

The 1920s is called the Roaring Twenties because of the sustained economic prosperity in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. Followed by a middle class “Radio Boom” in early 1920s, by 1929 there were 5 million radios had been sold, and it became big in the U.S society. People did not need to leave their house to get news or listen to music. Radio became a safe home leisure for middle class whites. It also was a private sphere of entertainment.

The Radio was introduced to society because of the telegraph and the telephone. These inventions don’t do the same things but their similar branch of technology. “Radio technology began as “wireless telegraphy”. “It all started with the discovery of radio waves, electromagnetic waves that have the capacity to transmit music, speech, pictures and other data invisibly through air.” [Bellis] Majority of technology uses electromagnetic waves to send data information or TV broadcasts. During the 1860’s, Scottish physicist, James Clerk Maxwell predicted the existence of radio waves; and in 1886, German physicist, Heinrich Rudolph Hertz showed how fast the variation of electric current could be placed into space in the form of

The radio is one of the most influential pieces of technology ever invented. From political debates to Taylor Swift’s latest hit, with the help of the radio, society stays informed on a plethora of topics. Freddie Mercury wasn’t lying when he said, “and everything I had to know, I learned it on my radio.” In almost every country in the world, there is at least one radio station used to broadcast news to it’s people. Since the creation of the FM radio, it has been used to reach out to people over a certain area and keep them informed about the society they live in. During the 1930s and the 1940s, the radio played a very important role in history; it was a tool used during World War II by America, Great Britain, and Nazi Germany. By sending