To the boys of the 1940s, radio was everything
Recently a friend of my age (Paleolithic) and I were discussing
the proliferation of video games to which many youngsters are
addicted. Simultaneously each asked the other,
”
Remember radio?
”
To the boys of the 1940s, radio was everything
Recently a friend of my age (Paleolithic) and I were discussing the proliferation of video games to which many youngsters are addicted. Simultaneously each asked the other, “Remember radio?”
Radio today focuses mainly on news, music programs and talk shows. We also had those but to boys of the 1940s radio meant much more. It was an after-school respite from classes and offered a vehicle to excite interest in the world around us under the guidance of such sterling mentors as The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet and The Shadow.
So return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when deeds of high courage were common in the fight of goodness versus villainy, and the heroes always won.
The first half of the decade was shaped by World War II. Thus, by merely listening, each of us was helping the war effort while winning glory in our respective minds.
“Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy” and “Terry and the Pirates” were popular because they pitted boys, not much older than us, against Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan in hair-raising adventures. Italy was also a member of the Axis but appeared to be no real threat in the minds of boys, and its only villains on the radio were as comic relief.
“Superman” was pure fantasy, and we knew it, but we still thrilled to his feats of punching holes in German U-boats with his fist and humanely saving the crew, or learning the Japanese plans for a death-ray by penetrating the Japanese High Command’s office with his X-ray vision.
We all echoed The Shadow’s lead-in, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!” followed by a maniacal laugh. The Green Hornet with his faithful companion, Kato, also had his legion of listeners, as did Captain Midnight,
Although the Lone Ranger rode the West of the 1870s, far before our era, many of his adversaries bore German names like Schultz, Mueller and Dunkelmeyer.
Comedians frequently took potshots at the enemy. Bob (Buy a War Bond) Hope, Jack Benny and Fred Allen got off squibs at the Axis powers with regularity. Their programs were among those recorded for broadcasts to our troops in training and overseas.
The real world asserted itself with worry about our relatives in service, rationing, and frequent shortages of material goods, so radio was more than entertainment; it was also an escape.
The advent of television in the late 1940s diminished its influence but those who are old enough to remember it in its glory days still vividly recall the old programs. Radio was far more powerful than any visual entertainment that followed. It allowed us a greater canvas for creativity. No greater brush has ever been wielded than a child’s imagination, and we used ours to delineate the outlines of the plots in greater shades and nuances of reality than Disney himself could have created.
