The Good Old Days Of Radio

David Goldin will present a look-and-listen program on the history of radio on Tuesday, October 10, at 7:30 pm in the meeting room of the C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street in Newtown. The Newtown Historical Society-sponsored program will be held on Tuesday this month only, to honor the observance of Columbus Day on October 9.

There is perhaps no past image of middle America more ingrained in our psyche than the Norman Rockwell-like scene of a family gathered in the living room around the great floor model radio. Following the children’s shows and mysteries of Saturday evening would be the string of Sunday evening comedies for the whole family, with nary a hint of an off-color phrase or thought.

Opening the creaking Inner Sanctum door, Mr Goldin will take his audience on a tour of the history of radio from Marconi’s early experiments and first transmission in 1895 through the use of radio in emergencies such as the Titanic sinking, the first use of electronic media in national politics during the Harding-Cox election of 1920, the development of the network system in the 1930s and 40s, the great comedy and drama shows of the 40s and 50s, into the sophistication of the 50s, and ending with what was widely thought to be the death knell of radio: the development of television.

David Goldin is a longtime resident of Newtown and a collector of radio programs and radios themselves since his college days. He managed to turn his hobby into a full-time business, selling duplicate recordings of the 61,160 old radio programs he eventually acquired.

His Radio Yesteryear company, headquartered in Sandy Hook, grew to have a mailing list of 150,000 enthusiasts before Mr Goldin sold the entire operation to Audio Book Club. Mr Goldin also produced CD recordings of old shows, and won a Grammy Award in 1981 for his efforts. He will be bringing a cathedral radio adapted to play taped excerpts from some of the many programs in his personal collection.

The program is a public service broadcast, free and open to the public. The silver bullet may be lacking, but refreshments will be served at the conclusion of the night’s episode. Call 426-5937 for further information.