In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, people used to listen to music
through the phonograph. There was no other way to listen to music, unless
one was to go to a concert, which might not have been a choice for many
since the cost of tickets were comparitively high for all to afford. The
phonograph was first made possible by a British scientist by the name of
Farraday. It was later improved upon by Hertz and various other
scientists.
The phonograph went from being a cylindrical contraption to
being a flat device. The disc was two-sided, meaning that songs could be
played on both sides. The disc had grooves on it on which a needle would
go around emitting sounds made by the various grooves. The cost of a
record in those days was approximately $0.25. To us, nowadays, this would
be the bargain of all bargains, but this was not all that cheap back in
the 1920s and 30s when compared to the prices of other things: a haircut
and shave cost around $0.30, a dozen eggs cost $0.29, milk was $0.10 a
quart and a roundtrip, two-month vacation package to Europe came for
$495.00 ("Entertaining", 231). In the late 1920s and early 1930s, a device
was
introduced that would revolutionize the meaning of entertainment in
America forever - the radio.
The radio, first introduced during the early 1930s, took the United
States by storm. Many people, like
president Herbert Hoover, endorsed the new product with vigor calling it
"an instrument of learning and beauty." (Green 187) There were others,
however, that viewed the radio as "outrageous rubbish" both in music and
style. (Green 187) The latter view did not have much of an effect on how
people reacted to the radio. By the year 1934, more than 60% of American
homes had access to a radio in their home. Within the next five years the
number grew and an astounding 86% of all homes had a radio. Radios were
also popular for use in the car. During the 1930s, Americans owned around
43% of radios in the world. (Green 188) Listening to the radio was the
preferred leisure time activity for most Americans and nearly 1 billion
hours per week were spent listening to the radio. This sounds like a great
luxury to afford during such harsh times but it is easier to understand
when we say that many people, working class, build their own radio sets by
the required items from a hardware store and putting them together until a
distinguishable and clear voice was heard from the improvised speakers.
(Green 188)
Seeing the success of the radio, many radio stations started to pop up
everywhere. Shows became much like we know them today with commercials and
variety shows and the such. In the 1930s, there were more than 600 hundred
radio stations around the nation. (Green 189) The two major networks, NBC
and CBS, were in a severe competition trying to get big bands with big
names to sign with them so that they could be represented on air on the
specific broadcast network. This was similar to the sixties when networks
fought for rights to large sporting events (Simon, 59). As time went on,
this business of sponsorship became "ugly." Song pluggers, people who
would try to make bandleaders sing their songs, would try deception and
fake friendships with bandleaders to further their purpose. They song
pluggers got exposure from this and might have helped them with their
careers. however, song pluggers were not always the ones to blame for the
problem - the bandleaders were equally responsible. They were interested
in getting across to as many as they could but they would work around it
by putting on airs and acting as if they could be less concerned about
whatever radio show that tried to book them. This led them to make higher
and higher demands of the networks in order for them to appear on the
show. This was only one side though (Simon, 61).
The quality of the programs was, however, not affected by small things
like this and the public thoroughly enjoyed what new songs the bands had
to play for them. Much of the quality of music depended on where the music
or show was being broadcast from - the acoustics of the room greatly
enhanced or diminished the 'value' of the music (Smith, 59). This interest
in radio music shows generated a lot of income and jobs for many people -
there were the company executives, technicians, the publicity staff,
engineers and a host of other people required to put on a good show.
Please refer to Radio in the 1930s and 1940s for a complete treatment of this subject.
