Big Apple History . Arts and Entertainment . Advertisers on the Air


	"Michelin Men" during "The Michelin Hour," a radio show

Around 1920, companies that produced radios during the First World War wanted to sell leftover equipment. They came up with a plan to promote simple broadcasts, such as a live orchestra concert from a Manhattan hotel, in hopes of increasing public interest in radio.

Then in 1922, the first licensed radio station in New York City, WEAF, offered a "phone booth of the air." For a fee, companies could promote their products. The first radio advertisement was 10 minutes about new apartments in Queens. For the $50 that the advertisers paid for the time, they sold about $150,000 worth of apartments. Mass media advertising was born. Soon, national radio networks, such as NBC, would reach tens of millions of listeners across the country. All the headquarters for the major radio stations were located in New York.

Broadcasters realized that to attract an audience, they had to create compelling broadcasts -- the "must-hear radio" of its time. A variety of sports, entertainment, and news programs captured huge audiences. By 1930, about 40 percent of American families had radios. Eight years later, radios had reached over 80 percent of homes. Listeners in the '30s enjoyed radio programs such as "Ma Perkins," "John's Other Wife," and "The Betty Crocker Hour." The bigger the audiences, the more advertisers were willing to pay. In 1914, advertising revenues were about $682. By 1929, these yearly revenues jumped to almost $3 billion.

People were naive about the new medium and tended to believe everything they heard. On Halloween of 1938, much of the nation listened to Orson Wells' radio dramatization of the science-fiction novel "War of the Worlds." During this program, many Americans -- who missed the introduction -- panicked because they believed that Martians were really attacking Earth.

Illustration: Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.