Those Thrilling Days of Yesterday
Long, long ago, in a time so far, far away. Shortly before the middle of the last century... radio was the communication to reach the masses. News and entertainment via the radio was a new media that was cutting into the influence of newspapers.
Instantaneous communication of the news was far superior to the printed word. Families gathered around the family radio after dinner to hear the news, and enjoy the ever growing aray of entertainment shows.
Some played music from popular places know for popular music and dancing of the time... live, from the ballroom. Radio shows for mystery and suspense became popular and brought theater right into your living room. Variety shows and story telling.
The CBS Mercury Theater on the Air was once such popular radio show. And one particular show, on one particular night... October 30th, 1938... the still young media of radio broadcast of Orson Welles War of the Worlds sent listeners to a state of disbelief. It was Halloween Eve... and Mr Wells was simply perpetuating a Halloween scare, akin to just saying boo to America. And a scare it was. The actors and sound effects technicians portrayed a "news broadcast" admits the nightly entertainment from a popular club of music and dance. Interrupting the so call music show for news updates... updates about our world being invaded by martians bring death and destruction in their wake... heading from the farm lands towards the cities all over the country. Millions believed the realistic broadcast as being real and paniced at the thought of a Martian invasion. Panic.
Radio had the power to influence the imagination, creating horrors more vivid than reality itself. Even more vivid horror than those used by television in the early days... which could not match the power of radio to suggest horror in the darkest Realms of the imagination.
Such was the power of the radio. Step aside newspapers... radio was the new influence... to shape America. The power of the spoken word via thecradio to influence people. Note: effectively used by Hitler to influence a nation with aspirations of world dominance. Powerful!
Radio later to give ground to television, which the New York times said would never catch on.
Early television horrors simply not as dark and scary
as the imagination opened by the power of the spoken word and sound effects of the radio.
