1920s Radio Was Really Cool

[@beadyeye2312]

My grandfather was a Navy wireless operator on a troop transport ship (later becoming a hospital ship for Spanish flu victims) during WWI. After he died, among his belongings were several editions of a military produced magazine called The Oscillator.

[@elainebaird2091]

Do you know which ship? The Leviathan?

[@beadyeye2312]

@@elainebaird2091 I don't recall but it wasn't the Leviathan. Years ago in all my family stuff I found the name of the ship and looked it up but unfortunately I don't remember the name and it would take considerable time to find it again.

[@aalexjohna]

He was an old gay.

[@gregh6719]

@@beadyeye2312 there was another transport called USS Melville.

[@HowShouldIKnow6543]

Would love to read an issue of that 🥸

[@ellen4956]

This was so enjoyable, and full of information! I love everything to do with the "jazz age" (apparently not everyone liked it), and have collected old radios for years. My favorite is the Philco 90 Cathedral, because of their beauty and sound quality. Today there are adapters to let music from other devices play through the speaker of an old radio without having to install it or alter the radio, so that's nice too. I have playlists online of music of the 1920s. I heard there was a "war" between two stations in New Orleans, because one wanted to play music and the other wanted to play news broadcasts. For a couple of years music was banned from the radio there (I think it was 1930-31) but then it was changed back to both.

[@abpccpba]

Fascinating keep up the good work. First Article I liked a lot. Thanks so much. Your choice of images match quite well.

[@davero9704]

What made radio popular in the 20s was Bing Crosby and he was not mentioned. At least Paul Whiteman got in his two cents.

[@gregh6719]

Where did you find the "How I listen to the world by radio" article online? I wanted to print it up but can't find it via google. Thanks. This is very cool. I'm a lifelong radiohead.

[@The1920sChannel]

@@gregh6719 You can find it on the Internet Archive. I don’t know if I can send links, but if you search “Popular Science 1921-11” you’ll find the Nov. 1921 issue. And that article is right at the beginning of that issue.

[@Janika-xj2bv]

As a teenager in the early 1980s, me and some boys from school were avid shortwave radio listeners, tuning in to Deutsche Welle, Voice of America, Radio Moscow, Radio France Internationale, everything we could catch.

[@gregh6719]

12 yrs old...early 70's....Avid SWL...and been one ever since through today. also Mediumwave DX'er. 54 yrs now. When the bug bites...it bites.

[@ChatGPT1111]

Love radio. I was into CB living in a suburb of Los Angeles in the mid 70's and later became a ham radio operator. After working Comm/Nav in the USAF in the early 80's, I worked my way up the licenses to the highest one, Amateur Extra, and then that same year tested and got all of the commercial licenses, 5 in all. I now have a collection of over 30 ham radios including the old tube transceivers.

[@stevenfromer3816]

Your description is a crystal radio set. Way back when every Cub Scout learned how to make one these fun projects. Times change

[@christophercox8237]

Had one of those myself. Every once in a while I think about ordering a kit if they are still available. Many nights spent listening to it under the covers. Some evenings, if the skip was right, I’d get WSM out of Nashville.

[@LetArtsLive]

I still like to listen for skips I live in Western New York I have gotten Chicago Ashville New York

[@christophercox8237]

@@LetArtsLive wonderful! I live in North East Tennessee. Picked up a station one night, where they were speaking French. I believe it was being broadcast out of Quebec.

[@stevenfromer3816]

@@christophercox8237 yep

[@JoeBlow-fp5ng]

Thanks for posting this content. I'm really enjoying it. Those pioneering radio times must have been very exciting to be a part of.

[@davidmartin8211]

His interesting how the growth of radio in the '20s parallels the birth and growth of the personal computer in the 1970s.

[@allenschmitz9644]

Radio was the bees knees back in 1916.😅

[@Creative_name_5]

If you think this is interesting, you should check out a book called The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage. Computers evolved like television. Which evolved like radio. Which evolved like telegraphy. It's really amazing.

[@billinflorida2628]

I worked at WGY engineering from 1967 to 73, well past the radio drama era. We were still carrying live opera from the NY Met on Saturday afternoons tho. Most shows were live studio then with music on records and cartridge tapes and local news with NBC News on the hour. Call in talk shows were new in those days. Btw I'm 80 now! Where did the time go? BG

[@uslines]

WGY was great. I listened to The Lone Ranger, Gene Autry, X minus 1, Jack Benny...I could go on...Later, good music...before rapcrap and talk radio. I lived down rte 5. Age 85.

[@trueKENTUCKY]

thank you for your service 🗽🇺🇸

[@bpekim1]

This was a great idea for you to read articles from the time. It really gave me a different perspective on understanding people’s attitudes during this time of great change with the advent of radio. It was funny to hear the guy at the end describing jazz and giving it a bunch of back-handed compliments.

[@allanalogmusicat78rpm]

Henry Ford hated Jazz so much he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on recording traditional "American" dance music. Then they paid to have schools give classes in "folk dancing," using these recordings. Those programs limped along into my own middle school years, circa 1976, with a Physical Education unit on folk dancing.

[@g.finaldi4302]

@@allanalogmusicat78rpm Me too!

[@ConceptuallyYour]

Nothing compares to the peaceful feeling that vintage music brings, like a colorful dream. 🌈

[@deetalland2551]

Very well expressed ❤

[@DoctorBillTheRadioMan]

I am a radio amateur. I have always been told we were also scientists as we were always experimenting with different things.

[@2150dalek]

I use to listen to Art Bell radio shows. Later on I would listen to classical tunes in the garage tinkering. Radio is cool, I can relate. But in 1920, this must have been a treat.

[@delausa]

I love this stuff. Tangential to my own doctoral research in social impacts of media and technology of the long 19th century.

[@HumanBeanbag]

I love those old radio shows! Good topic ❤

[@alandesouzacruz5124]

Very good if i could i would give 100 likes

[@kennixox262]

I think that were the United Stated failed in broadcasting was making it a commercial medium. I think that the BBC in its day was better. That ship has sailed. What I find sad is that radio is pretty much dead. Have not listened to it since the 1990's. AM, with its wall-to-wall talk format is worthless. FM is not much better. I would even say that over the air TV is also pretty much a dead medium.

[@Calc_Ulator]

"What I find sad is that radio is pretty much dead." "Have not listened to it since the 1990's." Then how the fuck would you know it's dead? What a wildly stupid comment. "AM, with its wall-to-wall talk format is worthless. FM is not much better." As if you would know, you haven't listened in three decades! I can't imagine how many dumb comments you've left over the years.

[@ChatGPT1111]

Not here in Central Florida. There are tons of stations to listen to or watch, both TV and radio.

[@ray4142]

My father was a crystal radio builder as a boy back in the 30s. He would have loved and been able to relate to this broadcast.

[@elemenopi55]

duquesne is pronounced doo-KAYn. it's french, or whatever.

[@zacharyrome3432]

Anybody who doesn't live in the Pittsburgh area or watch college basketball is probably not going to be able to pronounce it proper .

[@holden190]

@@zacharyrome3432That’s why if you see an unfamiliar word it’s always good to check its pronunciation.

[@floatpvnk]

Doo que ess nee

[@PhilippinesFarmLife]

Very interesting. Thank You. I remember using a crystal radio up in my tree house in the early 1960's. It made the old radio programs sound NEW and felt like I had gone back in time to when those shows were brand new.

[@ryanwarren2970]

I have this old looking radio with a Bluetooth feature. I had some fun and listened to this video that way. Great video, keep up the good work!

[@MarkBrantner]

Sounds like a modern Crosby unit

[@boopah4365]

Such memories..These were my teenage years.

[@senior_ranger]

Thanks, good fun to review use of language a century ago!! You don't hear the word celerity much these days

[@st8275]

Vintage. Love it❤

[@Friezadragonballz]

We should hear samples of radio bulletins from the 20s

[@McTagh1]

That would be cool. I wonder if they were recorded?

[@Friezadragonballz]

@@McTagh1 I just wanted to hear their voices

[@MarkBrantner]

Back then, there were only wire recorders. Wax cylinders by Edison were around, too.

[@Friezadragonballz]

@MarkBrantner I See. I still wanna hear what a news bulletin from the 1920s sounds like

[@Gribbo9999]

Yes the problem here is that recording apparatus was not commonly available in the 1920s except in a recording studio making 78s. So your radio studio just wouldn't normally have any recording apparatus at all.

[@andrewstallings6548]

“Let me tell you that it’s the thrill of a lifetime when your government first communicates with you direct by wireless.” I feel that my experiences with the government over wireless has been much less fulfilling. 😂

[@glennso47]

The founder of the modern practice of Chiropractic DD Palmer’s son BJ Palmer was a pioneer in commercial radio broadcasting. Was the founder of WOC radio station in Davenport Iowa. WOC was one of the first radio stations to affiliate with the NBC Radio Network. To my knowledge WOC is still broadcasting to this day.

[@historyfanboy1066]

Grew up in the east suburbs of Pittsburgh--a five minute walk to the site of KDKA's pioneering broadcasts. Thanks so much for creating these great videos.

[@kdizzystl]

Are you sure about the call sign? Stations east of the Mississippi are supposed to start with a W. Like WKRP in Cincinnati, lol.

[@kdizzystl]

Nevermind. This was the first 'commercial' station. That rule must have come later.

[@G.L.McCarthy-vr1oe]

Very enjoyable, did my mending & learned about radio in the '20s😊

[@perpetualmotion357]

When my grandpa was a kid back then he said how he remembered when his old neighbor got one of the first radios. He said all the kids would go to his house and he would hold court. The old neighbor told the kids that there were tiny elves in the radio. He would play a game called Toot My Honker and whoever did it best got to pick the channel.

[@joeneil5485]

'Toot My Honker' is suss af...

[@davidmoser3535]

TOOT MY HONKER THAT WOULD GET YOU ARRESTED IN 2024

[@joeneil5485]

@@davidmoser3535 I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR...!

[@simonsimon325]

Anyone who enjoys having all the local kids coming round their house is suss even before you factor in toot my honker.

[@joeneil5485]

@@simonsimon325 I tooted an old man's honker once and I got herpes of the eye...

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

A middle boomer, love this focus on '20s stuff. Lets me time-travel and spend time in the same company my grandparents kept.

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

One of my grand-uncles, a Mr Potter, was an early radio-ham and carried on for years. Inherited a pile of his 'radio call cards', important in their own way for historical reasons but meaningless to me. Passed then on to a serious radio enthuasiast knowing they woud be in good hands. Mr Potter was head of Stanley Tools Accounting Dept for many years. Still have his 'Stanley Tool Box', a bit beaten up but perfectly servicible, full of well used tools still perfectly servicable . . . Made quality stuff and people back in those days

[@kdizzystl]

Fun fact- all stations east of the Mississippi start with a W. Western stations a K. Saint Louis University had the first station west of the Mississippi.

[@davidmartin8211]

@@kdizzystl fun fact. I live in North Texas and we have several W stations.

[@kdizzystl]

@@davidmartin8211 that's the rule. Look it up. I learned this in school. Somebody gots something fucked up. The first radio station to exist is KDKA. In Pittsburgh... So blame my textbooks.

[@timburr4453]

Great upload - I'm a huge history buff and really enjoy your work.

[@RaveDave871]

Radio killed the vaudeville star ! 😥

[@josephgnatek5984]

a fine presentation and fabulous historical value...thanks

[@anndeefam]

while listening I was reading a Wikipedia list of the oldest radio stations, just a mere second or two after reading the listing for WGY New York I clicked back on KZbin wondering if you had mentioned about WGY when you read about WGY amazing. WGY is still in operation today. Very entertaining thanks first time viewing your channel.

[@RadioHist]

I've been fascinated for 50+ years in the early build-out radio broadcasting. Few people of today know of even a tiny fraction of the saga of success and failure to get to the point of where radio broadcasting had its flowering in the depths of the Great Depression. Your long form presentation does a good job in assembling commentary of the day with contemporary photos. Thanks!

[@BillyLapTop]

Absolutely!!!!

[@d00vinator]

I made an even simpler radio receiver than the first one described when I was a kid. Instead of a crystal it used a safety pin and a razor blade. 😊

[@5DollarShake420]

This is so fascinating. Thank you for your hard work!

[@darkgreenambulance]

What a lovely commentary from an early age - with developments steadily occurring!

[@RADIUMGLASS]

I have two never played archive records from a Detroit radio station from the 1940s where you have to start the needle on the inside and it plays outward. their still in the original sealed packaging.

[@DoctorBillTheRadioMan]

Oh Thunder ! Shades of Foley Sound Effects.

[@d.c.8828]

I really enjoyed this! Thank you!

[@SallySallySallySally]

When I was a young kid, I was given an old RCA 813K. It was a tall, very heavy multi-band console receiver circa 1937. Besides the usual broadcast AM band, it had four shortwave bands with various countries or capitals on the frequency dial, and a green "tuning eye". It took a while to get it all fixed up but I learned a lot about electronics while working on it and I even sent reception reports to overseas shortwave broadcasters. I had quite a collection of QSL cards!

[@sifridbassoon]

I love all the different fonts they used in the 20s

[@MarkBrantner]

Unusually, it was Parisian. A Very art deco font.

[@aDistantLight]

The preacher could've just used a speaker phone instead of setting up an elaborate, expensive radio transmission/receiving rig. That would have saved his congregation a lot of money..

[@funwithmaverik]

Narrator talks agonizingly slow, thumbs down

[@MintIceCreamEnjoyer]

We lost the radio. It was a great medium, but nowadays the program became so bad that it is unusable...

[@BeeHatGuy]

I have wanted a documentary on radio from this time period for so long. This is awesome, thank you!!

[@ditto1958]

I’m not sure if it was your channel, but I’ve seen that first story before. Fascinating.

[@you8164tube]

I am from Asia so a lot of things are a little behind. Therefore I went thru similar things described in this video.

[@unclekranky3454]

Really really interesting content…thanks a lot 👍🏼

[@jalcobo]

Regional radio and even tv was such a cool and interesting thing. It is sad that it is all but dead now.

[@swan6290]

I've got to say, Isn't this just the bee's knees?! Bravo!

[@donaldfeger91]

The guy talking radio sort today on the Internet

[@TennysonLouis-s6p]

Gonzalez Ronald Lewis David Harris Deborah

[@PiotrSiedlecki-qv2cd]

Mój dziadek walczył wtedy w wojnie z komunistami

[@JenkinsTim-h2y]

Lopez Kenneth Thomas John Taylor Maria

[@MaudWinston-t8n]

Clark Richard Lee Charles White Amy

[@UQRXD]

Temm me that is not a real voice on this video. It is to grueling to listen to.

[@kellykiernanray5745]

Hello, I recently learned that my grandmother was a contralto singer in early radio in NJ on WAAT and other stations. Her stage name was Hilda Kay. Can you direct me to where I might find any recordings of her?

[@The1920sChannel]

Unfortunately there were only a handful of radio recordings in the 1920s because it was only in the experimental phase. If her career continued into the 1930s, there’s a slightly better chance, but even so only a small percentage of radio recordings were recorded then. You may be able to find her mentioned in radio magazines though, and you can find those on the world radio history website.

[@FieldBonnie-p9q]

Garcia Donna Walker Daniel Smith John

[@DefoeBob-p6r]

Clark Mary White Carol Miller Jennifer

[@MuratDagcan]

Clark Daniel Walker Donna Anderson Angela

[@ДмитрийВербицкий-у7д]

Lee Helen Davis Brian Hall Gary

[@YerkesVeronica-e3m]

Martin Linda Hall Barbara Taylor Brian

[@HopkinsDean-r8i]

Taylor Helen Lee Paul Moore Kevin

[@jeffking4176]

I have , in my collection, a radio made from the parts ordered from a Catalog, and a homemade cabinet. One single tube. Very simple. I have been told it’s ca: 1924+/-. Battery operated, so I’ve no way of trying it out. [ I have other radios from 1935, on, that I regularly use.]. 📻🙂

[@kirbytrooper]

if ur ever in east texas theres a texas broadcasting museum and they have a bunch of radios and broadcasting cameras

[@kirbytrooper]

its in kilgore texas

[@kostis2849]

2:44:20 Gloria SWANson duhhh The last piece about Jazz was very much spot-on

[@bucksdiaryfan]

If u stop and ponder it, it was never preordained that people would figure out that you could do mass entertainment broadcasts using radio. After all u were just broadcasting sound and there would have been no precedent for pure verbal entertainment, let alone verbal entertainment served to a mass audience

[@jimstokes6742]

:) That was very well done! I've never heard it broken down into components & the differences btwn radio and live theater.

[@tonymartinez3058]

Dont talk! Let us listen

[@trishmcl9055]

Cool 😎. I remember reading this stuff in school.

[@hueyiroquois3839]

Racing fans whenever you mispronounce Carpentier.

[@kviz1111]

Very cool 😎

[@carl77242]

I remember making a radio band called thanks to to information about how to make a radio station I was born in the early 40s

[@SteveMoser]

This is great. Thanks!

[@MarkBrantner]

I worked for WCRW 1240 AM Chicago which started broadcasting in 1926. The call letters stood for Clinton R White, the owner. Most call letters back then stoid for something.WGN was World's Greatest Newpaper ( The Chicago Tribune.) WLS stood for World's Largest Store (Sears, Roebuck &Co.)

[@redtandem8483]

KFI. - ‘Farm Information’ now a top rated AM news channel in Los Angeles

[@robertbruce7686]

As a radio ham feeds into my love for the dark art.....😂😂

[@TheTruthResearchers]

Fantastic! Many Thanks, Dear Sir❤

[@thatstheguy07]

Neat

[@BlueberryStinkFinger62]

It would be nice just to hear the music

[@sarahshanahan2222]

Thank you. This is so amazing to hear😊

[@UnDark1]

Fascinating. Sounds like our AI revolution today. Also radio tech has come so far.

[@nrrork]

No, radio changed things for the _better,_ huge difference.

[@иванепифан-к8ж]

С удовольствием посмотрел про ДРЕВНЕЕ РАДИО в Америке ! )) 73 ! Спасибо автору.

[@GldnClaw]

Do you use subtitles or do you understand English?

[@иванепифан-к8ж]

@@GldnClaw Yes... subtitles of course. But much is already clear. Anyone who conducts radio communications using a standard set of phrases in English for amateur radio communications will understand a little)) 73!

[@ambigoush203]

Dude I’m sorry I really want to listen to your videos but your cadence is unlistenable

[@jerdonsbabbler3515]

I really disagree. I think he’s doing a good job. At least he’s not a computer.

[@ChatGPT1111]

Have you tried the speed feature in settings. Takes 5 seconds to change.

[@SoothingSounds-kq6yg]

Why were they sitting in front of the radio, staring at it? Were they hoping it would turn into a television? They were thinking: "If only we had a tv set. Maybe we can mind-will it into a tv."

[@edensdreams2890]

I suppose it’s like focusing on a person who is speaking to you. We’re more used to listening to audio streamed from a recording or broadcast, but they’d be more used to focusing on a ‘speaker’, I’d think. Also - any pictures demonstrating people using a radio by… ignoring the radio, might not quite sell it for people who didn’t yet have a radio or understand what was going on with it, maybe.

[@ChatGPT1111]

You have zero imagination, don't ya?

[@DarrylRuiz-s1w]

Old time radio.is fascinating thanks!

[@MarkBrantner]

It no longer exists. It's just a photo now

[@TjSpoonManJacques]

I block every channel that uses AI eleventh labs) too damn lazy to narrate of video this basic.

[@The1920sChannel]

@@TjSpoonManJacques It’s not AI, it’s my real voice. I spend hours trying to get the right takes.

[@TjSpoonManJacques]

@@The1920sChannel WOW, please accept my apology. I am an AI programmer and that's how perfect your voice is. Job well done and much respect to you from New Orleans.

[@The1920sChannel]

Not a problem, I get that a lot lol

[@TjSpoonManJacques]

@@The1920sChannel you may want to go check out some of these AI voice cloning site because I think someone has stolen your voice. I'm pretty sure of it because you have so many subscribers and what a lot of these scammy ai programmers are doing are stealing the voices of KZbin content creators. One of them stole my book. Nevertheless you have amazing content and an Awesome channel - I'm happy to be a subscriber.

[@Muonium1]

Your pronunciation of more obscure terms has improved markedly in the 7 or so years I've been watching!

[@jamesanonymous2343]

MESSAGE TO THE ""HOST"",,,,,,,,,,,GET A LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@barnard-baca]

73 de XE1GXG