When KDKA transmitted the first commercial radio broadcast (the election results of the Harding-Cox race) on November 2, 1920, that sound could travel magically through the air to a location many miles away must have seemed magical to the people of that era. Unfortunately, few people heard the broadcast because there were not many radio receivers around at the time. Regardless, the novelty of the radio caught the public’s imagination and soon, manufacturers could not keep up with the demand for radio receivers. Between 1923 and 1930, a whopping sixty percent of American families purchased radios and a custom where families gathered around a glowing box for night-time entertainment took root, forever changing American culture.
Category: 1920’s Trends
Although the principle for moving pictures had existed for decades, the popularity of motions pictures (aka movies) did not explode until the 1920’s. At this time, most United States film production occurred in Hollywood with some minor movie productions still being made in New Jersey and Long Island (Paramount). By the mid-1920’s, theaters were operating in full swing with some offering double features and selling seats for as low as a nickel a piece. By the end of the 1920’s, there were more than twenty Hollywood studios and together, in a ten year span, they created the greatest output of motion picture feature films in history.