ABSTRACT
In the very early days of radio, amateur operators just put something on the air-often, on the spur of the moment. Maybe someone would drop by a station to sing or play an instrument or to talk about some issue to whomever was listening. Some years later, radio station licensing required the transmission of scheduled programming. Sports, news, music, dramas, and church services were among the types of programs that listeners crowded around their radios to hear. By today’s standards, the level of static and generally poor audio quality would make radio unlistenable, but to yesterday’s audience, radio was magic.
