Golden Age of Radio

The Milwaukee journal – Jan 25, 1945 Swell Sound Effect Anent the celebration today of The Milwaukee Journal’s first 20 years in radio (a story about the growth of broadcasting is on the Editorial Page), Gordon Thomas the “Top o’ the Morning” emcee ran into a funny one Thursday. Thomas was relating that about 20 years ago battery radio sets were just beginning to be superseded by the kind that plug-in types were sometimes infested with gremlins, Thomas recalled, to such a degree that the plugging in was likely to be followed by a more or less violent explosion and sometimes a fire, Facetiously Thomas said: “The explosion sounded like this,” and then, had Jimmy Robertson, his operator, play parts of a routine sound effect record, full of whams, bangs and fiery cracklings, that can serve in all cases where “explosion” is called for the script. A few minutes later came a phone call from a woman listener, who told Thomas quite seriously: “That was a wonderful drama...

Herald-Journal – Feb 14, 1949 Ecuador Mob Kills 6 After Radio Fright QUITO, Ecuador, (AP),—An enraged mob that hurl gasoline and flaming balls of paper took bloody vengeance for a panic caused by an Orson Welles -type radio dramatization of an “Invasion FromMars.” The mob attacked and burned the building of the newspaper El Comercio, which housed the radio station, and killed at least 6 persons and injured 15 others. Army troops were called out. They used tanks and tear gas to restore order. THE MOB wrecked the newspaper building, its equipment and the radio station. Damage was estimated at more than $350,000. Indictments were drawn against Leonardo Paez, director of art at the station, known as Radio Quito, and Eduardo Alcaras, a Chilean who is the station’s dramatic director. Heads of the station said the 2 men prepared and directed the dramatication without their knowledge. Police detained 10 suspects and arrests of several more were ordered. The po...