Shrinking the World
A 100 Year Old Accomplishment Resurfaces (Day 100)
Well, today is the 100th day in a row that we managed to offer a little something here at Day By Day, a story, or excerpt, or a bit of history. I hope we’ve been somewhat entertaining!
So today, I wanted to offer something related to 100. We discovered a relatively unreported thing that happened on this day, Feb. 9, 1924 - exactly one hundred years ago - that none-the-less feels important to this community here, and indeed all digital communication around the world.
On this day, a fellow by the name of John J. Carty sat in a banquet hall at the Congress Hotel in Chicago and did something that had never been done before. He leaned into a microphone and spoke to listeners in New York, Jacksonville, Denver, San Francisco and even Havana, Cuba. Carty was the Vice President of Bell Telephone Company and this was the first coast to coast radio broadcast.
Only about 10 percent of American households had a radio when Carty gave his little speech but that would soon drastically change. We think nothing of such a thing these days but remember, that was actual physical cables that were carrying Carty’s voice back then. An April 1924 Science and Invention Magazine article reporting on the accomplishment outlined the herculean logistical planning that had to go into it.
In Nevada, a severe blizzard forced dozens of men to fight the storm to keep the lines in repair so that communication could be carried on without interruption. Near Key West, the submarine cable had been laid a mile below sea level, while near Denver it was a mile above sea level.
Think about how incredible it must have been then to be able to speak clear across the country. Estimates are that Carty reached millions of people that day.
Today, obviously, the words you’re reading here, with a press of a button, can be read by virtually anyone. We speak to our family in Nepal, complete with video, as clear as can be, in a matter of moments.
But back then, it must have felt like the world had suddenly shrunk. Gaps were being bridged. I imagine in the moment, that must have felt grand and life-changing and indeed it was. By 1930, 40 percent of American households had a radio. By 1940, 82 percent had one!
These days sometimes feel like we actively try to move in the other direction - like information overload becomes too much. Maybe every so often we should just go downstairs, turn on the radio, and sit and listen for a spell.
How about you? Do you still listen to the radio? What do you listen to? Do you have any memories of your grandparents radio? We’d love to hear your radio stories! Till then see you tomorrow. This is Buffalo and Little Bean, signing off!
There's a series on the History channel about engineering marvels. Saw one this week about one man's efforts (financially especially) to lay the first communications cable across the Atlantic. He failed once but consequently had a ship built big enough and strong enough to hold the many tons of cable. Truly unbelievable...
I listen to the radio in my car while running errands, etc. That's where I first heard that Elizabeth II had died in September 2022. My grandmother said that her aunt, who was blind, loved to listen to the Red Sox games on the radio (she died in 1998), and my grandfather said his father always wanted to finish the farm chores in time to listen to Amos and Andy on the radio.