Story from Elsie Burton’s Diary
One day Mrs. Standish called her daughters and me into her room. She was in bed with a headache, she frequently had. She wanted us to hear a radio broadcast of President Hoover’s inaugural address. I knew it was an historical event, and I listened intently. Although I was too young to understand the substance of the speech, I was aware that it was a first, and I should always remember that I had heard it.
It was the first time I had heard a radio with a loud speaker where everyone could hear simultaneously. Our family had what was known as a crystal set. One had to use ear phone, only one at a time could hear.
In time we got an Atwater set. It consisted of a board with tubes setting on top of it. with some sort of loud speaker for the sound. We could all listen to that at the same time.
In the years that followed, we had one of the regular consoles everyone had, However, it was a constant struggle to get us to turn it off so we do our homework. When repairs were needed, the set was just set aside. Quite a period of time went by at our house when there was no Amos and Andy, The Shadow Knows, etc.
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