Adventures in Old Time Radio

Before there was television, before there were computers, before there was the Internet with its audio and video streaming, before there were cell phones, iPods, and iPads, there was radio. Beginning in the early 1920s, electrical waves-mysterious to many-could be sent from senders or transmitters into boxes called radios in people's homes. Sometimes the boxes weren't boxes at all. In radio's earliest days, hobbyists built radios (called crystal sets) with wire and empty oatmeal boxes or similar materials. By 1930, radios were becoming massive pieces of wooden furniture proudly residing in living rooms. At first, the waves carried talks and music from transmitters in cities into radios nearby. But, in 1926, dependable chains or networks of radio stations were being put together with telephone wires, and people in many cities could listen to the same programs simultaneously. In the 1930s, local vocalists and other performers were being replaced on the air by network shows that informed,