Radios
 

My mother was Irene Bolton, daughter of Florence (Knight) Bolton who died when my mother was five years old (circa 1926); she was raised by her grandmother, Eliza Adelaide Knight who ran the tripe shop in Clayton from 1900 - 1949. This has been discussed elsewhere in here a few years ago.

My mother worked on munitions during the war while my father was away fighting the Nazis at Dunkirk and in North Africa.

She died this past October at age 94 in Allentown, PA, and I have been fantasizing about the great music she must have heard on the BBC while she was growing up. Ivor Novello, Cole Porter, Gershwin, Kern et al. She had a marvelous soprano's voice, and I remember-well her sing Gershwin's "The Man I Love".

I am curious about the birth of radio and broadcasting. Judging from present trends, we crave new technology, and I am wondering if it was the same for radio. Were the first sets expensive? How long did it take before most households had one? I was born in 1947, and we didn't have a television set until I was eight years old in 1955. I do recall sitting around the radio with a fire in the fireplace listening to the BBC.

The BBC started broadcasting in 1920 , and my understanding is that it caught the public's attention at that point, and radio grew rapidly in the 1920s.

Did the BBC broadcast music most of the time? Was it a twenty-four hour service?

Cheers, Season's Greetings: Merry Christmas to all!

Re: Radios
 

I don't think the service was 24 hours.......and if I remember rightly(if not I am sure that I will be corrected)there were different sections to listen to.
The Light program was music, dramas general entertainment.
The programs that I rememeber listening to were Dick Barton, The Goons, Round the Horn, Women's Hour was at 2pm each weekday...there was Workers Playtime too. This was broadcast from the canteens of large factories. There was a childrens music program on each Saturday Morning...was it Uncle Sandy.

I remember my Grandad listening to more serious programs.....the News, sporting events....you dare not speak during the commentary for the cricket.

Like you I was born in 1947 and Radio was a large part of our evening entertainment.
I remember sitting round the fire listening to the wireless.
Ours was A Relayvison radio, with four stations......3 and 4 were the heavy stuff...classical music etc. (We got a small 9 inch Bush TV to watch the Coronation on.)
My Grandma had a radio that you tuned in to different stations......it fascinated me.
Where was Hilversum? I used to see it on the dial and wonder where it was.

I am not sure my post will help you much, but it surely loosened some brainstones for me

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Dont think it was 24 Hrs, we also had a relayvision wireless, but must confess i only used to listen to Radio Luxembourg for the top 20 on a Sundays.

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You couldn't get that on the relay set Cashy.....you must have had a transistor radio.
When I was a teenager i listenened to Luxembourg and of course Radio Caroline.....but this would be in the early sixties.

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I can remember "Listen with Mother" if I remember rightly it was on just before Women's hour.

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Would that be Bob Wilkinsons where you took the battery to be charged.
I used to go there for lamp oil and coal bricks.....oh yes and donkey stones if the rag man hadn't got any.

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Yes Mitzy....I remember Listen with Mother.....and also Tales from Toytown(I think that is what it was called)......it had Larry the Lamb in it.

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Are you sitting comfortably, then I'll begin.

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The Billy Cotton Band Show.....beyond our Ken, Meet the Huggetts(was that the one with Ron and Eth....June Whitfield played Eth'ooh Ron' to which he would reply 'ooh Eth')
The Clitheroe Kid. Franklin Engelman and 'Down Your Way'.
It is all coming back to me....through the mists of time(oh yes, Ma helped a bit too)
She remembered Mrs Dale's Diary....and the Archers.

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Can't forget workers playtime. It always seemed to be playing when I was sat in the Barber's chair at the bottom of Pendle Street

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here you go Margaret

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilversum

As a result, many old AM radio sets in Europe had a Hilversum dial position marked on their tuning scales (along with Athlone, Kalundborg and others).

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When did owning a radio cease to be a luxury? Or was it ever a luxury? When did practically all households in England have a radio? May be tough to answer. After a while, I imagine a radio was a "necessity".

I suppose we need comments from those who were around in the 1920s and onward.

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I can't really answer your question other than to say that when I was growing up i didn't know anyone.....friend, family or neighbours who did not have a wireless.
Many people had a Relay set. These were one and threepence a week (although I remember it going up to one and sixpence) and had four stations on them.....light program, home service and third program(which was highbrow stuff) and I think the last program was the world service.

I remember going to the Relay shop on a Saturday morning with the money and the payment card.....I also used to take Mrs Calverts money too(I got threepence for doing this errand for her).
This thread has taken me back to a gentler time.....thank you for that.

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Well this thread has certainly brought back a lot of memories for me, and for everyone else by the sound of it. Me, too, Cashie, re the Top 20 on Radio Luxembourg Sunday night.

There were some brilliant plays on the radio, especially on Saturday nights. My dad always used to come home from the local just before the end of the play and we'd have to try to keep him quiet until it finished as he liked to sing when he'd had a couple of beers. He always brought two bottles of OBJ for my mum and fish and chips for us.

A talent show called (I think) 'Stairway to the Stars'. Tommy Handley's ITMA. The girl who said 'she's my best friend and I hate her' and 'I'll scream and scream 'til I'm sick' - was she on ITMA as well. Her name was Violet or something like that.