A Pictorial History of Radio: The complete story of radio broadcasting in America-from crystal sets to transistors with all the stars, all the great shows of radio’s golden age

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WITH OVER 400 NOSTALGIC PHOTOS INTRODUCTION BY BROCK BROWER "Wanna buy a duck?" 'I'se regusted." "Vass you dere, Sharlie?" ·'Good night, Mrs. Calabash ... " "That's a joke, son." "I'll mow ya down!" For the generations that grew up before the advent of television, these well remembered tag-lines ( and countless others like them) can evoke the whole flavor of a wonderful but vanished era. It is this period - the bittersweet depression ears and the grim but pulse quickening clays of World War II - that this hook focuses on, for these were radio's glamorous days. But it encompasses the whole history of radio hroadcasting in America, from Mr. Bell's wonderful telephone to today's ubiquitous transistor radios. By its nature radio must enlist the imagination of its audience, and perhaps that is why the great radio shows of years ago often remain fresher in the memory, than last week's TV programs. The hundreds of pictures and captions in this book can flick the switch of memory and all the old voices and sounds play back: Here is the New England twang of Fred Allen ... and now the clipped accents of H.V.Kaltenborn ... the twitter of Gracie Allen ... Ben Bernie's soft Southern drawl ("Yowsah!") ... the harsh clang of Major Bowes' gong . . . the mellow tones of "your obedient servant, Orson Welles" . . . the lovesick screams of Frank Sinatra's fans ... the pounding hooves of Silver, the Lone Ranger's horse ... the soaring soprano of Jessica Dragonette ... the crash that always followed when Fibber McGee opened his closet ... the calm Hoosier voice of Elmer Davis ... the maddening chant of the tobacco auctioneer ... the clink of the silver dollars - sixty-four of them, if the contestant was lucky - on "Take It or Leave It" ... The Shadow's hollow laugh . . . Edward R. Murrow intoning, "This ... is ... London." They are all here, the hundreds of personalities and programs that have brightened the airwaves during radio's forty -year history. People who lived through these years will find this stroll through "Radioland" a stirring experience; those who are too young to remember radio's golden age will begin to understand what Fred Allen meant when he said, "We were too big for television. We had to be shrunk to fit that little screen." IRVING SETTEL has long been associated with broadcasting. He is the creator of ABC Television's "Who's the Boss?" and NBC -TV's "Who Pays?". He also coproduced "Where Have You Been" for the NBC Radio Network. Some of Mr.Settel's previous books are Television Advertising & Production Handbook, How to Write Television Comedy, and The Best of Armstrong Circle Theatre. He is an Associate Professor at Pace College in New York. JACKET DESIGN BY HOWARD MORRIS BONANZA BOOKS distributed by Crown Publishers, Inc. 419 Park Avenue South New York 16, N. Y. enjoy the photos and learn more about radio ** A Pictorial History of Radio......Page 2 Books by Irving Settel......Page 3 Copyright......Page 5 For Mom and Jules......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 7 Contents......Page 8 A Lament for Old-time Radio by Brock Brower......Page 10 Part One : THE BEGINNING......Page 14 This flow chart shows why no one man can be credited with having "invented" radio or television.......Page 15 The Beginning......Page 16 Signals Through the Air......Page 17 The Telephone......Page 23 Representative Bell System instruments from 1877 to 1900......Page 26 Radio Telegraph......Page 27 The Human Voice Through the Air......Page 29 Part Two : THE TWENTIES......Page 34 The Twenties......Page 36 KDKA Makes History......Page 37 Part Three : THE THIRTIES......Page 72 The Thirties......Page 74 Part Four : THE FORTIES......Page 120 The Forties......Page 122 Part Five : THE FIFTIES......Page 156 The Fifties......Page 158 Bibliography......Page 173 Index......Page 174