Radio was the first broadcast medium, and during this period people regularly tuned in to their favorite radio programs, and families gathered to listen to the home radio in the evening. According to a 1947 C. E. Hooper survey, 82 out of 100 Americans were found to be radio listeners. A variety of new entertainment formats and genres were created for the new medium, many of which later migrated to television: radio plays, mystery serials, soap operas, quiz shows, talent shows, daytime and evening variety hours, situation comedies, play-by-play sports, children’s shows, cooking shows, and more. In the 1950s, television surpassed radio as the most popular broadcast medium, and commercial radio programming shifted to narrower formats of news, talk, sports and music. Religious broadcasters, listener-supported public radio and college stations provide their own distinctive formats. Here below is a set of vintage photos that shows people with radios from between the 1920s and 1950s.

A charming lady next to an antique radio from the 1950s

The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early 1920s and lasted through the 1950s, when television gradually superseded radio as the medium of choice for scripted programming, variety and dramatic shows.

A lady poses next to the radio

A mother and daughter share a moment by the radio in the cozy living room

The radio is indispensable in a picnic

A little girl is tuning in to the radio with great concentration.

She was looking behind the radio in the living room.

You can easily carry the compact radio with you

A fashionalble blonde lady sitting in an armchair in a typical 1950s living room at night. She is proudly posing with two middle-class status symbols of time – an illuminated record player and a tube radio set

A blonde lady and two fellows in suits posing in a middle-class home. A large radio cabinet can be seen in the corner of the room

A typical interior of a 1950s German middle-class home, dominated by a large tube radio. Through the opened door, a cheerful lady can be seen sitting at a table on the balcony

A couple dances next to the radio

A woman is slumbering beside the radio.

A man is reading a newspaper alongside the radio.

A short-haired lady tuning a tabletop tube radio in a typical 1950s living room