My memory of radio programs begins in the late 1930s, before our household even had a radio. My father had one at his place of business, and he brought the set home with him most evenings. It was a Philco in a wooden cathedral case, and Its dial was marked in meters instead of kilocycles (very confusing when the industry started expressing dial position in kilocycles). In about 1940, he became tired of lugging this instrument back and forth and bought a Fada receiver for the house. Many brands of receivers were available at that time, but the name of that set sticks in my mind for some reason. It was much smaller than the Philco and had a Bakelite case. Even after the Bakelite disintegrated from being knocked around, the receiver survived in a homemade wooden case into the 1970s.
The evening broadcasts we heard were local news, plus network pundits such as H.V. Kaltenborn and Fulton Lewis, Jr. Comedy and variety shows included Bob Hope, Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Archie's Tavern, Eddie Cantor, Red Skelton, Fibber McGee and its spinoff The Great Gildersleeve, The Life of Riley.
A difference between today and the pre-TV era is that before TV, networks produced daytime shows other than soaps. They featured live people reading from scripts or playing music, plus announcers who read commercials. The shows went out live and usually had studio audiences. Some shows were only 15 minutes long. Arthur Godfrey, however, was on at least 90 minutes every weekday morning, and the various CBS affiliates carried as much of it as they wished. Godfrey is credited with keeping CBS afloat by drawing many ad dollars for this daytime show and his Monday-evening Talent Scouts show. I believe there also was a weekend Godfrey "digest" comprising segments from the weekday shows.
The evening broadcasts we heard were local news, plus network pundits such as H.V. Kaltenborn and Fulton Lewis, Jr. Comedy and variety shows included Bob Hope, Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Archie's Tavern, Eddie Cantor, Red Skelton, Fibber McGee and its spinoff The Great Gildersleeve, The Life of Riley.
A difference between today and the pre-TV era is that before TV, networks produced daytime shows other than soaps. They featured live people reading from scripts or playing music, plus announcers who read commercials. The shows went out live and usually had studio audiences. Some shows were only 15 minutes long. Arthur Godfrey, however, was on at least 90 minutes every weekday morning, and the various CBS affiliates carried as much of it as they wished. Godfrey is credited with keeping CBS afloat by drawing many ad dollars for this daytime show and his Monday-evening Talent Scouts show. I believe there also was a weekend Godfrey "digest" comprising segments from the weekday shows.
