When Radio Meant Something To Listeners

By Frank Absher

It took a trip to central Kansas for me to realize just how important radio was during a crucial part of our nation’s history.

A panel discussion at the Great Plains Radio History Symposium provided first-hand accounts of radio’s necessity in this part of the country over the years. Three women talked about their work as radio personalities who hosted housewife programs in the nation’s midsection.

Back in the days of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, farm families were extremely isolated from the rest of the populace, and the elements of nature often conspired to produce blinding blizzards that shut down roads for days at a time. This often meant the only contact these farmers had with the outside world was the battery-powered radio.

Our three panelists at the symposium shared their stories, but the one that really brought all this home told of a note from a rancher’s wife that thanked the radio hostess for provided much-needed companionship during those lonely days out in the middle of nowhere. “There were times,” the letter said, “that I might have committed suicide without you and your program.”

It is almost impossible for us to imagine that sort of loneliness today. The media are so pervasive that we can always get the information we’re seeking. But the value of companionship that the homemakers’ programs provided cannot be understated.

Often the programs were nothing more than a woman sitting in the studio talking one-to-one with her audience, but that was enough to generate thousands of mailed in requests for recipes, even though the stations ran at relatively low power and covered small areas.

Some of the families were so poor that they couldn’t afford to buy a radio, but they were innovative. They’d get on the telephone party line (often up to 12 families on the same line) and one person with the radio would set things up so everyone could hear it.

This is just one example of how important radio was to these folks. It’s hard for us to fathom today because we simply can’t imagine a life that is so isolated. Radio listeners looked forward to listening every day and they listened actively, responding in many ways whenever they could, usually offering their input via the U.S. mail.

They bared their souls in these letters to their “friends” on the air, and when they came to town, they shopped at the stores that were advertised.

In many ways this was radio’s greatest contribution to society. By being a companion to its listeners, the radio stations were demonstrating how attuned they were to the responsibility that came with having a license to broadcast over the public airwaves.

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