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34 The Aldrich Family, a weekly comedy
show, centered on the adolescent mishaps of
Henry Aldrich and appealed especially to
teenagers. Henry was sixteen when the

program began in 1939. He was still sixteen
when it ended in 1953.
35 Radio shows had one big difference from
television: Listeners had to use their
imaginations in order to “see” the

characters, the settings, and the action.
“Mother would come to the door and holler,
‘It’s time for Jack Armstrong,’” one listener

recalled. “And we would come in the living
room. It was radio, so Jack Armstrong
looked like whatever you wanted him to.
You could imagine everything.”

36 Imaginations were aided by the
ingenious men and women who created
radio sound effects. A wooden match
snapped near the microphone sounded like

a bat hitting a baseball. Horses galloping
could be imitated by beating coconut shells
on an old board. Twisting cellophane
sounded like a crackling fire. Squeezing a
box of cornstarch suggested footsteps in the
“With radio, snow. Sounds made manually on the spot

were supplemented by recorded sounds—a
you could speeding train, a barking dog, a roaring

lion, a cheering crowd.
Most children growing up in the
imagine 37 Great Depression didn’t have a lot of

everything.” money to spend on toys and games. Radio
shows offered them a chance to obtain

popular toys cheaply. Many of the shows
were sponsored by cereal companies.

350