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The Bowery Boys: New York City History

Rewind: On The Radio: A History of the Airwaves

The Bowery Boys: New York City History

Tom Meyers

Places & Travel, History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.73.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2020

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The discovery of radio changed the world, and New York City was often front and center for its creation and development as America’s prime entertainment source during the 1930s and 40s. In this show, we take you on a 50-year journey, from Marconi’s news making tests aboard a yacht in New York Harbor to remarkable experiments atop the Empire State Building. Two of the medium’s great innovators grew up on the streets of New York, one a fearless inventor born in the neighborhood of Chelsea, the other an immigrant’s son from the Lower East Side who grew up to run America’s first radio broadcasting company (RCA). Another pioneer with a more complicated history made the first broadcasts that featured the human voice, the ‘angelic’ tones of a Swedish soprano heard by a wireless operator at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. What indispensable station got its start as a department-store radio channel? What borough was touted in the very first radio advertisement? What former Ziegfeld Follies star strapped on a bonnet to become Baby Snooks?  Featuring tales of the Titanic, the rogue adventures of amateur operators, and a truly scary invasion from outer space! MINOR CORRECTION: The radio show of yore was obviously called Everready Hour, not Everready House! boweryboyshistory.com   Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Transcript

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0:00.0

This week, we marked the 100th anniversary of commercial radio in the United States,

0:07.0

with the initial broadcast from KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

0:12.8

On November 2, 1920, KDKA began regular broadcasting in a very surprising way, with the announcement

0:22.2

of presidential election results.

0:25.3

A very day just happened to be the presidential election between Republican, War and G-Harding

0:31.1

and the Democrat James M. Cox.

0:34.3

On air announcers, red election results, as they came in, via a ticker tape machine.

0:40.9

War and G-Harding won that election, by the way.

0:44.2

But as you'll hear on today's show, which is a rebroadcast of our 2012 podcast on New

0:49.6

York and the birth of radio, that was not in fact the first results of an election,

0:55.8

read on the airwaves.

0:57.4

So we hope you enjoy this show.

0:58.7

It's one of my personal favorites.

1:00.7

And afterwards, maybe you'll get inspired to tune in as it is to some AM radio.

1:07.9

Hey, it's the Bowry Boys.

1:13.9

Hey.

1:15.2

Hello there.

1:19.2

Welcome to the Bowry Boys.

1:29.2

This is Greg Young.

1:30.2

And this is Tom Myers.

1:31.4

And if we've never had a radio voice on before, we will don them now.

1:37.5

Did you say Greg, if we've never had a radio voice?

...

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