Whether you owned an electric set or a battery-operated set, the radio was a constant and boon companion to the 1940s housewife. I used to think of the housewife as quite a lonely creature. From the time she saw her husband and children off to work and school until they began straggling home mid-afternoon, the work at home must have seemed a bit isolating at times. Especially for women whose children were all in school. But I'm not inclined to think that way any longer. Between marketing, callers, the round of chores they shared in common with neighbors, and - most importantly - the radio, I'd guess that most women didn't feel isolated or lonely at all. The outside world was regularly dropping by, so to speak.
There's an extraordinary recording which survives from Thursday, September 21, 1939 (70 years ago next week) when WJSV, a CBS affiliate in Washington, DC, recorded its entire broadcast day for the National Archives. The reason they picked that particular day is that President Roosevelt was expected to address the House and Senate in joint session regarding the war in Europe, but what's most fascinating to me is all the other stuff. All the mundane, ordinary programs that could be heard by anybody who tuned in a radio between 6:30 in the morning until 1:00 that night. This recording gives you such an amazing window into the kinds of things a typical housewife might hear piping out from the radio as she went about her daily work. It's probably as close as we'll ever get to a time machine... Check out how The Manual's skeleton housekeeping schedule for a Thursday compares to the radio programs as heard on this Thursday in September 1939:
Early Morning: Preparing and serving breakfast
6:30 - 8:30 am: Sundial (a morning radio program/part music-part DJ banter-part local ads)
8:30 - 8:45 am: Certified Magic Carpet (quiz show)
Forenoon: General pickup. Light cleaning of all rooms
8:45 - 10:00 am: Soap operas, in 15-minute episodes (Bachelor's Children, Pretty Kitty Kelly, The Story of Myrt and Marge, Hilltop House, Stepmother)
Thorough cleaning of bedrooms
10:00 - 10:15 am: Mary Lee Taylor (cooking program)
10:15 - 11:00 am: More soap operas (Brenda Curtis, Big Sister, Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories)
11:00 - 11:15 am: Jean Abbey (local department store infomercial disguised as news)
Noon: Preparing foods for lunch and dinner. Lunch, dishes, cleaning up kitchen.
11:15 am - 1:00 pm: More soap operas (When a Girl Marries, The Romance of Helen Trent, Our Gal Sunday, The Goldbergs, Life Can be Beautiful, Road of Life, This Day is Ours)
Early Afternoon: Thorough cleaning of bathroom
1:00 - 1:15 pm: News
1:15 - 1:45 pm: Still more soap operas (The Life and Love of Dr. Susan, Your Family and Mine)
1:45 - 3:15 pm: President Roosevelt's Address, along with pre- and post-address commentary
Late Afternoon: Rest, relaxation, correspondence, reading, personal care, etc.
3:15 - 3:30 pm: Another soap opera (The Career of Alice Blair)
3:30 - 3:45 pm: News
3:45 - 4:00 pm: Scattergood Baines (a Western)
Final dinner preparation
4:00 - 5:15 pm: Cleveland Indians vs. Washington Senators (baseball game)
5:15 - 5:30 pm: The World Dances (music)
5:30 - 6:00 pm: News
6:00 - 7:00 pm: Comedy programs (Amos and Andy, The Parker Family, Joe E. Brown)
Early Evening: Washing dishes
7:00 - 7:30 pm: Ask-it Basket (quiz show)
7:30 - 8:00 pm: Strange as it Seems (true stories/tabloid-type program)
8:00 - 9:00 pm: Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour (variety/reality)
9:00 - 9:30 pm: The Columbia Workshop (drama)
9:30 - 10:00 pm: Americans at Work (true stories/documentary-type program)
10:00 - 10:15 pm: News
10:15 - 10:30 pm: Music
10:30 - 11:30 pm: News
11:30 pm - 1:00 am: Live big band music from city ballrooms and hotels (Teddy Powell Band, Louis Prima Orchestra, Bob Chester Orchestra)
Even today, in 2009, when I could just as easily have something playing on the television or the computer while I do my housework, it's always the radio I reach for. Sometimes it's vintage radio programs like The Great Gildersleeve or Suspense - which is great for cleaning the bathroom! There's nothing like a suspenseful drama to get you through the grimiest chores. I read one reminiscence from a Michigan housewife who remembered that she loved listening to Dragnet while she cleaned house in the late '40s. I can totally identify.
Sometimes it's modern radio, like a local country station. A great beat or a melody you love singing along to (especially when there's nobody around to hear) can make all the difference when you're doing something repetitive - like ironing or sweeping. In fact, if you could peek into my kitchen on Tuesday nights, you'd probably find me dancing at the ironing board! And I bet there was many a housewife in the 1940s who jitterbugged her way through her chores and sang along with Bing Crosby as she sectioned the family's grapefruit for breakfast.
Incidentally, what I think I love about radio most is just its randomness. I can choose the genre, but I don't have complete control over what music I'm going to hear. Modern entertainment has become so controlled. Between our TIVOs and iPods, we can easily choose precisely which programs and songs we want to see and hear every day of the week. We don't even have to listen to commercials. But isn't there something kind of exciting watching TV or listening to radio in real time and discovering new programs or songs you might never have planned on catching? These days, it feels a bit like I'm walking on the edge.
9 comments:
Thank you so much for this post. I am going to check out that broadcast! One year I got a boxed set of cassette tapes with vintage recordings of Suspense! for Christmas. I used to listen to them in my car and I would find myself gripping the steering wheel with sweaty palms. Much easier to listen from the comfort and safetey of home whilst cleaning the house!
How fun! When I was growing up, the radio was always on.
Grandma told me that when her younger sister lived with her, the radio about drove her nuts. So much of the news was about the war.
Now, I like listening to Pandora. I can control it to a point, but never quite know what will pop up next.
I've listened to that broadcast almost in its entirety. It made a few days at work go by much faster and inspired me to check out other offerings the Internet Archive had - which led me to find "Ma Bloom's Brood," a radio show I just love. :)
Thank you so much for the post - that is so cool! I adore Old Time Radio, and put in on all the time when I'm cleaning or working at home. I can't make it through the day without it now. Current fav - Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. Glad to find a kindred spirit.
For about the past ten years I have listened to Yesterday USA on the internet. I love to do house work with it on ...Fibber and Molly , My favorite husband (Lucy Ball)etc. even if they play an old news program I find it interesting. (history lesson 101)Sometimes they take out the commercials but some times they leave them in.
Now with satellite radio in my car, I listen to "radio classics". Makes the trip go much faster. need to get satellite to listen to in my house!
As a child, I remember helping my mother clean the house-- she always would turn on the radio. There was either music or some sort of talk show, but mostly I remember the commercials for Carling Black Label and Schaefer beers with their catchy jingles.
Tessa, I know exactly what you mean! The imagination can sometimes conjure up things scarier than even the worst horror flick.
Packrat, I can overload on news sometimes, too. And several years' worth of war news had to have been the grimmest. This may be a stupid question, but what's Pandora?
Kristen, that's awesome! I'll have to check out Ma Bloom's Brood sometime. Thanks for the recommendation. :)
Amanda, those hard-boiled detectives are the best. So smooth...
Mrs Tailleur, as soon as I finish with Gildy, I'm going to go back and listen to Fibber McGee and Molly all over again. Sometimes the commercials haven't survived, sadly - though I think modern programmers sometimes take them out if they're for cigarettes.
Carol, those jingles are so catchy even today! I've been listening to this postwar jingle for Parkay every night with an episode of The Great Gildersleeve and can sing right along - every word.
Jitterbug - Pandora is internet radio. (Only use it if you have unlimited internet access.) It is great because you can pick a station (genre) or create your own mix. Pandora.com
Packrat, thanks for the info! A tech-savvy friend of mine showed me how Pandora works. Neat stuff!!!
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