Listening to radio, 1920-1950
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Listening to radio, 1920-1950
Praeger, 1996
Available at 6 libraries
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  Kyoto
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  Wakayama
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  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
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  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [207]-209) and indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Ray Barfield has done something quite new in media studies. Rather than trace the history of radio through the usual route, he has sought out a body of oral history from those who grew up with and listened to radio. He has not only collated the responses of his informants but placed their comments in a larger cultural and historical context and thus provided a kind of history from the ground up. He demonstrates thereby just how important and influential radio was in the lives of ordinary Americans. General readers and scholars alike will learn something from Barfield's engaging narrative about why radio was once such a compelling force in our culture. (From the Foreword by Thomas Inge.) This fresh and engaging account of early radio's contributions to U.S. social and cultural life brings together varied perspectives of listeners who recall the programs that delighted and entranced them. The first electronic medium to enter the home, radio is examined as a chief purveyor of family entertainment and as a bridge across regional differences. Barfield draws from over 150 accounts, providing a forum and a context for listeners of early radio to share their memories-from their first impressions of that magical box to favorite shows. Opening chapters trace the changing perceptions of radio as a guest or an invader in U.S. homes during the exuberant 1920s, the cash-scarce 1930s, and the rapidly changing World War II and post-war years. Later chapters offer listener responses to every major program type, including news reporting and commentary, sportscasts, drama, comedy series, crime and terror shows, educational and cultural programs, children's adventure series, soap operas, audience participation shows, and musical presentations.
This fresh and engaging account of early radio's contributions to U.S. social and cultural life brings together varied perspectives of listeners who recall the programs that delighted and entranced them. The first electronic medium to enter the home, radio is examined as a chief purveyor of family entertainment and as a bridge across regional differences. Barfield draws from over 150 accounts, providing a forum and a context for listeners of early radio to share their memories-from their first impressions of that magical box to favorite shows.
Opening chapters trace the changing perceptions of radio as a guest or an invader in U.S. homes during the exuberant 1920s, the cash-scarce 1930s, and the rapidly changing World War II and post-war years. Later chapters offer listener responses to every major program type, including news reporting and commentary, sportscasts, drama, comedy series, crime and terror shows, educational and cultural programs, children's adventure series, soap operas, audience participation shows, and musical presentations.
Table of Contents
Foreword by M. Thomas Inge Preface Introduction: "No Radio" and No "Radio" How They Listened Listening in the 1920s Listening in the 1930s Listening in (and After) the 1940s Car and Portable Radios Radio Families What They Heard Events and Commentators Sportscasts Cultural, Educational, and Religious Programs Morning to Mid-Afternoon Programs Children's Adventure Programs Other Children's Programs Comedy Programs Drama Anthologies Crime and Terror Programs Music Programs Audience Participation, Amateur Talent, and Related Programs Radio Travels: Memory, Time, and Place Staying Tuned: Contemporary Sources for Old-Time Radio Bibliography Contributors General Index Index
by "Nielsen BookData"