Dakota Beacon

In 1965, comedian Stan Freberg created a series of routines trumpeting the value of communication via radio.  By 1965 the Golden Age of Radio was past. Some sorely missed it. For many it was a nostalgic reminder of a quieter time when the family would gather around the console radio in the living room after dinner and were drawn into the thrall of the comedy of greats like Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, or superheroes like The Shadow, The Green Hornet or noir detectives like Jack Webb in Dragnet, or Boston Blacky, Casey, Crime Photographer, Nero Wolfe and so many others.  Then there were dramas like Suspense and soap operas like The Guiding Light. Kids listened, spellbound, to The Adventures of Little Orphan Annie and other tales of beloved heroes.  

Radio was to the 30s and most of the 40s what television became in the later decades.  Americans escaped the drudgery of Depression-era frugality and “make-do” existence to hang on the edges of their chairs at commercial breaks, waiting to find out the exciting conclusion to the week’s episode, or laughing along with a studio audience to the wisecracking Benny or the goofy banter of Gracie Allen and George Burns in their comic sketches.  

We could ride across the plains with the Lone Ranger and solve an underworld crime with Pete Kelly or hold our breath as we listened in rapt attention to the apocalyptic War of the Worlds.  This was so convincing that people actually believed it and jumped off of buildings in fear. I think we are a little more hardened to sensational fiction now, but it proves the power of the human imagination that someone telling us a story over the radio could have such a profound impact on us.  

In many ways, as Stan Freberg observed in his promotional sketches for radio, this medium enabled us to be entertained at virtually no cost, as long as we had electricity, in the lamplight and relative comfort and safety of our homes, with our families, listening to variety shows, the nightly news and the "Fireside Chats" of Franklin Roosevelt.  It was a powerful and uniting element among the people of a nation struggling with a massive economic disaster and personal disappointment and fear. It took us out of ourselves and our problems for a few golden hours every night. We were there in the swank hotel on New Year’s Eve with Guy Lombardo, we were hurtling through space with Buck Rogers, we were having a good laugh with Bob Hope or Fanny Brice, we were in Yankee Stadium for the crack of the bat of Babe Ruth’s home run.   Our living rooms were the stadium and concert hall. It was, indeed, the best of the worst of times. Let’s travel back in time, imagine a circle of lamplight, an old sofa and one of those impressive old "cathedral" radios! Go brew up a cup of cocoa, toss in a marshmallow or two, wrap yourself in an afghan and turn on your imagination!

Here are a few golden moments:

George Burns and Gracie Allen:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlpM8cGVa_c

Alice Faye and Phil Harris:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc3yKZYRpjc

Casey, Crime Photographer:  https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Casey_Crime_Photographer_Singles/Casey46-08-29148TheRedRaincoat.mp3

The Shadow:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDTquiIB3vU

CBS Mystery Theater:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE0yToURu8I

Tales of the Texas Rangers:  https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub3Ryd2VzdGVybnMuY29tL2ZlZWQv&episode=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub3Ryd2VzdGVybnMuY29tLz9wPTgyNzg&hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwjz5e6-5c_oAhXLLc0KHYWXCSEQieUEegQIARAI&ep=6

Suspense:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJeVfuJKcdY

Jack Benny:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rp4djfUVZI

Fibber McGee and Molly:  http://www.fibbermcgeeandmolly.com/listennow.php

The Adventures of Little Orphan Annie:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl4sw33Do5Q

The Mercury Theater - Orson Welles’ The War of the Worlds:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs0K4ApWl4g

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