# 'War of the Worlds' Radio Broadcast Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2018, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716 "2018-10-30T13:28:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/21 "2018-10-30T21:57:39Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > I read somewhere that the majority of people who “believed” it was real weren’t actually listening to the broadcast - they were hearing about it in passing from people who were listening in their cars or mentioned what they’d just heard in a bar or diner or whatever. That makes it slightly more believable that some people were convinced it could be real, I guess. Did the people of 1938 listen to the radio in cars? It seems to me that car radios require solid-state electronics to handle the vibrations. Were tube radios really installed in cars? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/22 "2018-10-30T22:27:35Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > Did the people of 1938 listen to the radio in cars? It seems to me that car radios require solid-state electronics to handle the vibrations. Were tube radios really installed in cars? Yes. There were car radios with tubes, well before solid state electronics, vibrations or no. > [@](#): > > Monophonic AM radio was the norm for a long time, beginning with the first in-car audio system more than 80 years ago. In 1930, Paul and Joseph Galvin, along with William Lear, developed the first automobile dashboard radio and named it the “Motorola,” or motorized Victrola—and demonstrated the 5T71 prototype (pictured, below right) in a Studebaker. Motorola went on to sell millions of car radios, and later, two-way radios for police and fire departments, home stereo systems, and televisions before moving into transistors, solid-state electronics, and semiconductors. > **[The History of the Car Stereo](https://www.pcmag.com/archive/the-history-of-the-car-stereo-293807)** > > We've been listening to music in the car for almost eight decades. From simple AM radio to high-end digital audio setups, we take a look back. > [@](#): > > In 1904, well before commercially viable technology for mobile radio was in place, American inventor and self-described “Father of Radio” Lee de Forest did some demonstration around a car radio at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis.[3] > > Around 1920, vacuum tube technology had matured to the point where the availability of radio receivers made radio broadcasting viable.[4] A technical challenge was that the vacuum tubes in the radio receivers required 50 to 250 volt direct current but car batteries ran at 6V. Voltage was stepped up with a vibrator that provided a pulsating DC which could be converted to a higher voltage with a transformer, rectified, and filtered to create higher-voltage DC. > > In 1924, Kelly’s Motors in NSW, Australia, installed its first car radio.[5][6][7] > > In 1930, the American Galvin Manufacturing Corporation marketed a Motorola branded radio receiver for $130.[8] It was expensive: the contemporary Ford Model A cost $540. A Plymouth sedan, “wired for Philco Transistone radio without extra cost,” is advertised in Ladies’ Home Journal in 1931. In 1932 in Germany the Blaupunkt AS 5 medium wave and longwave radio was marketed for 465 Reichsmark, about one third of the price of a small car. Because it took nearly 10 litres of space, it could not be located near the driver, and was operated via a steering wheel remote control.[9] In 1933 Crossley Motors offer a factory fitted car radio.[10] By the late 1930s, push button AM radios were considered a standard feature. In 1946 there were an estimated 9 million AM car radios in use.[11] > **[Vehicle audio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_audio)** > > Vehicle audio is equipment installed in a car or other vehicle to provide in-car entertainment and information for the occupants. Until the 1950s, it consisted of a simple AM radio. Additions since then have included FM radio (1952), 8-track tape players, cassette players, record players, CD players, DVD players, Blu-ray players, navigation systems, Bluetooth telephone integration, and smartphone controllers like CarPlay and Android Auto. Once controlled from the dashboard with a few buttons, the... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/23 "2018-10-30T22:30:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Yes, the event made headlines…because newspapers were in direct competition with radio and making it look as if radio broadcasts presented a danger to the community could only help the advertising budget and newspaper sales. Really? You seriously think that newspapers only carried the story because radio was their competition? The problem is that radio doesn’t “fossilize” well – recording is less likely than with newspapers. Of course, the story was recorded in magazines as well, but I suppose you’d say they were in competition with radio, as well. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/24 "2018-10-30T22:31:40Z")
Great post, **Cal** ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/25 "2018-10-30T22:58:22Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > [Did the 1938 Radio Broadcast of 'War of the Worlds' Cause a Nationwide Panic? | Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/war-of-the-worlds/) > > It’s unlikely there was much panic at all. People were pretty used to radio drama, and it was a regularly scheduled program. Most of the panic was just hype to sell papers and bad reporting. A local radio station broadcasts the original recording every year at this time, and I’ve heard it. There’s no way all the events in the broadcast could have happened in real time. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/26 "2018-10-30T23:33:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > No – there was a break partway through the broadcast; I’ve got one of the recordings. Where’s the break (commercial or otherwise)? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/27 "2018-10-30T23:40:17Z")
> [@bonzer](#): > > Where’s the break (commercial or otherwise)? Right after the Martian invasion of New York city. It’s about 3/4 of the way down this webpage (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > COMMANDER: Army bombing plane, V-8-43, off Bayonne, New Jersey, Lieutenant Voght, commanding eight bombers. Reporting to Commander Fairfax, Langham Field . . . This is Voght, reporting to Commander Fairfax, Langham Field . . . Enemy tripod machines now in sight. Reinforced by three machines from the Morristown cylinder . . . Six altogether. One machine already crippled. Believed hit by shell from army gun in Watchung Mountains. Guns now appear silent. A heavy black fog hanging close to the earth . . . of extreme density, nature unknown. No sign of heat ray. Enemy now turns east, crossing Passaic River into the Jersey marshes. Another straddles the Pulaski Skyway. Evident objective is New York City. They’re pushing down a high tension power station. The machines are close together now, and we’re ready to attack. Planes circling, ready to strike. A thousand yards and we’ll be over the first – eight hundred yards . . . six hundred . . . four hundred . . . two hundred . . . There they go! The giant arm raised . . . (SOUND OF HEAT RAY) Green flash! They’re spraying us with flame! Two thousand feet. Engines are giving out. No chance to release bombs. Only one thing left . . . drop on them, plane and all. We’re diving on the first one. Now the engine’s gone! Eight . . . (PLANE GOES DOWN) > > OPERATOR ONE: This is Bayonne, New Jersey, calling Langham Field . . . This is Bayonne, New Jersey, calling Langham Field . . . Come in, please . . . > > OPERATOR TWO: This is Langham Field . . . Go ahead . . . > > OPERATOR ONE: Eight army bombers in engagement with enemy tripod machines over Jersey flats. Engines incapacitated by heat ray. All crashed. One enemy machine destroyed. Enemy now discharging heavy black smoke in direction of – > > OPERATOR THREE: This is Newark, New Jersey . . . This is Newark, New Jersey . . . Warning! Poisonous black smoke pouring in from Jersey marshes. Reaches South street. Gas masks useless. Urge population to move into open spaces . . .automobiles use Routes 7, 23, 24 . . . Avoid congested areas. Smoke now spreading over Raymond Boulevard . . . > > OPERATOR FOUR: 2X2L . . . calling CQ . . . 2X2L . . . calling CQ . . . 2X2L . . . calling 8X3R . . . Come in, please . . . > > OPERATOR FIVE: This is 8X3R . . . coming back at 2X2L. > > OPERATOR FOUR: How’s reception? How’s reception? K, please (PAUSE) Where are you, 8X3R? What’s the matter? Where are you? > > (BELLS RINGING OVER CITY GRADUALLY DIMINISHING) > > ANNOUNCER: I’m speaking from the roof of the Broadcasting Building, New York City. The bells you hear are ringing to warn the people to evacuate the city as the Martians approach. Estimated in last two hours three million people have moved out along the roads to the north, Hutchison River Parkway still kept open for motor traffic. Avoid bridges to Long Island . . . hopelessly jammed. All communication with Jersey shore closed ten minutes ago. No more defenses. Our army wiped out . . . artillery, air force, everything wiped out. This may be the last broadcast. We’ll stay here to the end . . . People are holding service below us . . . in the cathedral. > > (VOICES SINGING HYMN) > Now I look down the harbor. All manner of boats, overloaded with fleeing population, pulling out from docks. > > (SOUND OF BOAT WHISTLES) > Streets are all jammed. Noise in crowds like New Year’s Eve in city. Wait a minute . . . Enemy now in sight above the Palisades. Five – five great machines. First one is crossing river. I can see it from here, wading the Hudson like a man wading through a brook . . . A bulletin’s handed me . . . Martian cylinders are falling all over the country. One outside Buffalo, one in Chicago, St. Louis . . . seem to be timed and spaced . . . Now the first machine reaches the shore. He stands watching, looking over the city. His steel, cowlish head is even with the skyscrapers. He waits for the others. They rise like a line of new towers on the city’s west side . . . Now they’re lifting their metal hands. This is the end now. Smoke comes out . . . black smoke, drifting over the city. People in the streets see it now. They’re running towards the East River . . . thousands of them, dropping in like rats. Now the smoke’s spreading faster. It’s reached Times Square. People trying to run away from it, but it’s no use. They’re falling like flies. Now the smoke’s crossing Sixth Avenue . . . Fifth Avenue . . . one hundred yards away . . . it’s fifty feet . . . > > (BODY FALLS) > > OPERATOR FOUR: 2X2L calling CQ . . . 2X2L calling CQ . . . 2X2L calling CQ . . . New York. Isn’t there anyone on the air? Isn’t there anyone on the air? Isn’t there anyone . . . 2X2L – > > \*\*ANNOUNCER: You are listening to a CBS presentation of Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air in an original dramatization of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. The performance will continue after a brief intermission. This is the Columbia . . . Broadcasting System. \*\* > > MUSIC > > PIERSON: As I set down these notes on paper, I’m obsessed by the thought that I may be the last living man on earth. I have been hiding in this empty house near Grovers Mill – a small island of daylight cut off by the black smoke from the rest of the world. All that happened before the arrival of these monstrous creatures in the world now seems part of another life. . . a life that has no continuity with the present, furtive existence of the lonely derelict who pencils these words on the back of some astronomical notes bearing the signature of Richard Pierson. I look down at my blackened hands, my torn shoes, my tattered clothes, and I try to connect them with a professor who lives at Princeton, and who on the night of October 30, glimpsed through his telescope an orange splash of light on a distant planet. My wife, my colleagues, my students, my books, my observatory, my. . . my world. . . where are they? Did they ever exist? Am I Richard Pierson? What day is it? Do days exist without calendars? Does time pass when there are no human hands left to wind the clocks? . . .In writing down my daily life I tell myself shall preserve human history between the dark covers of this little book that was meant to record the movements of the stars. . . But to write I must live, and to live, I must eat . . . I find moldy bread in the kitchen, and an orange not too spoiled to swallow. I keep watch at the window. From time to time I catch sight of a Martian above the black smoke. The smoke still holds the house in its black coil. . . but at length there is a hissing sound and suddenly I see a Martian mounted on his machine, spraying the air with a jet of steam, as if to dissipate the smoke. I watch in a corner as his huge metal legs nearly brush against the house. Exhausted by terror, I fall asleep. . .it’s morning. . . > (QUIETLY) Morning! Sun streams in the window. The black cloud of gas has lifted, and the scorched meadows to the north look as though a black snowstorm has passed over them. I venture from the house. I make my way to a road. No traffic. Here and there a wrecked car, baggage overturned, a blackened skeleton. I push on north. For some reason I feel safer trailing these monsters than running away from them. And I keep a careful watch. I have seen the Martians. . . feed. Should one of their machines appear over the top of trees, I am ready to fling myself flat on the earth. I come to a chestnut tree. October chestnuts are ripe. I fill my pockets. I must keep alive. Two days I wander in a vague northerly direction through a desolate world. Finally I notice a living creature. . . a small red squirrel in a beech tree. I stare at him, and wonder. He stares back at me. I believe at that moment the animal and I shared the same emotion. . .the joy of finding another living being. I push on north. I find dead cows in a brackish field. Beyond, the charred ruins of a dairy. The silo remains standing guard over the waste land like a lighthouse deserted by the sea. Astride the silo perches a weathercock. The arrow points north. > Next day I came to a city vaguely familiar in its contours, yet its buildings strangely dwarfed and leveled off, as if a giant hand sliced off its highest towers with a capricious sweep of his hand. I reached the outskirts. I found Newark, undemolished, but humbled by some whim of the advancing Martians. Presently, with an odd feeling of being watched, I caught sight of something crouching in a doorway. I made a step towards it, and it rose up and became a man! – a man, armed with a large knife. [https://www.sacred-texts.com/ufo/mars/wow.htm](https://www.sacred-texts.com/ufo/mars/wow.htm) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/28 "2018-10-31T00:03:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Yes. There were car radios with tubes, well before solid state electronics, vibrations or no. There’s an episode of _ **The Untouchables** _ (1959) where they’re on a boring stakeout and Eliot Ness (Robert Stack) says “Just wait: Someday they’re going to put radios in cars…” Don’t remember what year that episode was set, but a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps was killed by the FBI during the botched raid to capture John Dillinger in Little Bohemia, WI, in April 1934. He and two colleagues didn’t hear the Feds’ order to halt because the radio in their car was too loud. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/29 "2018-10-31T00:18:38Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > A local radio station broadcasts the original recording every year at this time, and I’ve heard it. There’s no way all the events in the broadcast could have happened in real time. I heard it broadcast on Halloween when I was living in Milwaukee in 1988, the fiftieth anniversary of the “panic.” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/30 "2018-10-31T03:38:27Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > c.) In 1983 a television broadcast resembling news reports about terrorists with anatomic bomb in Charleston, South Carolina entitled _Special Bulletin_ had frequent announcements that this was only a drama, yet still managed to spook a lot of viewers into believing it was for real. No wide-scale panic, though. > > [Special Bulletin - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Bulletin) I finally saw that in the past couple of years; it’s on You Tube. It’s not in real time either, and used a fictional TV network with no-name actors and “reporters.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/31 "2018-10-31T04:12:27Z")
A new version of the show was broadcast in [Buffalo in 1968](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio_1968)). > [@](#): > > Despite an exhaustive advertising campaign by WKBW for this show, several people were still convinced upon listening to it that the events unfolding in the show were genuine. Among those fooled included a local newspaper, several small-town police officers, and even the Canadian military, which dispatched troops to the Peace Bridge.[citation needed] Although the public concern over the legitimacy of the broadcast was not as great as in 1938, creator Kaye and director Dan Kriegler feared that they were going to lose their jobs as a result of the broadcast; Kaye claimed that he actually submitted his resignation, certain that he was going to be fired the next day. However, no one involved in the broadcast was fired and the resignation was not accepted.[2] I’ve read dozens of contemporary stories dealing with the show and its aftermath. Many of them are vague about sourcing and contain sweeping generalizations. Some have greater detail. I haven’t read the recent debunking book so I don’t know how convincing it is. The main reason I find it hard to believe no panic existed at all is that there are equally credible reports after many of the reairings. The radio station in Quito had its building burned down by people angry about being hoaxed. Real emotions are in play and far too many people don’t parse or evaluate the information they are given. If they don’t expect a hoax it’s trivially easy to fool them. Look at the zillions of people who freak out over satirical or fake online stories. Even the ludicrous ones get taken for real. A deadpan intention to slide the reality button will get believers. I don’t know how many believed Welles. I’m positive the number is not zero or minuscule. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/32 "2018-10-31T04:46:58Z")
I was really enjoying the music of Ramón Raquello, playing in the Meridian Room of the Park Plaza Hotel, before the stupid invasion began. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/33 "2018-10-31T04:56:47Z")
[Here’s a general discussion of West Coast repeats in the golden age of radio.](https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?497740-West-Coast-Repeats-is-it-true) Until the late 40s, all networks did live rebroadcasts about two hours later for the West Coast audience. That was mainly because transcription discs (the pre-tape way of recording) were noisy and fragile. Sometimes West Coast affiliates aired just the late broadcast, but on weekends a lot of them aired both the early and late broadcast. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/34 "2018-10-31T05:01:55Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Really? You seriously think that newspapers only carried the story because radio was their competition? > > The problem is that radio doesn’t “fossilize” well – recording is less likely than with newspapers. Of course, the story was recorded in magazines as well, but I suppose you’d say they were in competition with radio, as well. [Interesting NPR article about the supposed panic](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/10/30/241797346/75-years-ago-war-of-the-worlds-started-a-panic-or-did-it), and the reasons why it wasn’t as big as some think. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/35 "2018-10-31T05:12:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Interesting NPR article about the supposed panic](https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/10/30/241797346/75-years-ago-war-of-the-worlds-started-a-panic-or-did-it), and the reasons why it wasn’t as big as some think. Too late to edit: [And here is a Slate article](http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/history/2013/10/orson_welles_war_of_the_worlds_panic_myth_the_infamous_radio_broadcast_did.html) about the actual “panic” and the roll newspapers played. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716/36 "2018-11-02T01:38:07Z")
Actually the answer is “there probably was no rebroadcast planned”. I looked up on [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com) for the Portland, OR and San Francisco radio listings for Oct. 30 1938, and the only listing for Mercury Theater was at 5pm local time–live from the east coast. Why didn’t they bother redoing it? Just a guess, but the program was so low rated it didn’t have a sponsor. With no advertiser to pay for it, CBS may just have thought it wasn’t worth the effort. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-of-the-worlds-radio-broadcast-question/823716.md?page=1)