1 A Communication Revolution: Radio and Telephony Technologies During the G.I. Generation

1.1 Introduction

The great minds of the early 20th century were responsible for the creation of many technologies that are used globally today. Notable among these inventions are certain foundational communication technologies that have played pivotal roles in the history of the United States: the radio and the telephone. Quickly, users found applications for these creations. Ranging from being an apparatus for wartime communication to becoming a prominent method of widely dispersing information to the public, the dominance of radio had its origins during the time of the Greatest Generation. Similarly, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone had begun to carve out an important place as a staple of intra-continent communication, being used largely for business purposes but also playing a role during the Great War – World War I, a global conflict waged between 1914 and 1918. Additionally, these means of communication became increasingly prominent in the United States throughout the Roaring ‘20s and the Great Depression, then continuing their dominance through World War II and beyond.

1.2 A Brief History

1.2.1 Early Days of Telephony

The name of Alexander Graham Bell has become synonymous with the creation of one of the world’s most widely used pieces of technology. Bell, a Scottish engineer, received the first patent for specific “improvements in telegraphy” in early 1876 (Bell, 1974). His filing was not without question, however. Another notable inventor of the late 19th century named Elisha Gray was supposedly racing Bell to patent the technology that would lay the foundation for the modern telephone. Numerous reports claim that Bell poached specific components of Gray’s version of the telephone and passed them off as his own. In some people’s minds, these accusations taint Bell’s claim to the invention. However, Bell’s patent was scrutinized in court time and time again and his reputation as the ”father of telephony” remains intact to this day. Additionally, the technical specifications in Bell’s landmark patent eventually served to support the further innovations by Bell and his colleagues to improve upon the original invention. One such innovation, the telephone exchange (which would later be known as the switchboard) gave rise to the lucrative telephony industry. It should be noted that around this time, Bell co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. AT&T remains a giant in the industry to this day. In its early days, AT&T faced accusations of monopolistic practices, eventually leading to its splintering into many of the telecommunications corporations that we recognize today.

“Alexander Graham Bell’s Telephone Patent Drawing and Oath” by The U.S. National Archive is in the Public Domain

1.2.2 The Birth of Radio

The invention of radio and subsequent radio based wireless telegraphy methods is a subject that remains hotly debated to this day. Two great scientific minds both laid claim to the creation of the radio: Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi. It should be noted that this first iteration of radio technology utilized electronic signals and morse code, with intelligible voice communication being developed later. While Marconi was the first to report the sending of wireless signals over great distances, including a transatlantic transmission, court arguments were less supportive of Marconi’s claim as the sole creator of radio based wireless telegraphy. Marconi received the general patent for the wireless transmission of signals in 1897, but seemingly always fought an uphill battle to truly establish himself as the father of radio. Marconi would bring suits against many parties, including the United States government, accusing infringement upon his patent (Harkins, 2008). This started the long and arduous court process that would culminate in a 1943 Supreme Court ruling that likened Marconi’s patent and subsequent suits to monopolistic behavior. As a result, Tesla was openly acknowledged as a founding father of wireless radio communications and Marconi’s patent was largely invalidated, albeit retroactively, as he and his Marconi company had already profited greatly from their strong claim as the original creators of radio. Despite Marconi’s apparent desire for the glory of being the sole inventor of radio, it cannot be argued that both he, Tesla, and others contributed greatly to the earliest iterations of radio based technologies. By the end of the time that the G.I. Generation had been improving upon radio, it had evolved into an ubiquitous technological staple with many applications.

“Electrical engineer/inventor Guglielmo Marconi” by LIFE Magazine is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

1.3 Applications During Wartime

1.3.1 Efficient Communication Overseas: Telephone Networks During World War I

For the first few years of the Great War, the United States remained uninvolved while fighting raged across Europe. Once President Woodrow Wilson and Congress did decide to declare war on Germany following the sinking of the Lusitania, the U.S. announced its presence with authority. One fascinating aspect of America’s involvement in the war was the partnership between the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps and the American Telephone & Telegraph Company, AT&T, known then colloquially as the Bell Company – after its founder (John & Laborie, 2019). This joint partnership was tasked with deploying a viable tactical communications network in France so that U.S. and allied troops could suitably communicate during battle. The timing of the U.S. entering the war was serendipitous for the Bell Company, who had recently been planning to pitch a major upgrade of domestic phone systems to the U.S. Congress. These ideas were then utilized to lay the groundwork for a rapid and robust network that would prove invaluable during the rest of the United States’ involvement in World War I. Many kilometers of telephone line were laid throughout France by Bell and the Signal Corps, thus significantly improving the consistency and speed of communication for the United States’ soldiers on the warfront.

Due to the haste with which this network was put together, security of the phone lines was not always paramount. Wires were left in the open and occasionally cut through by enemy soldiers, thus crippling the communication abilities between battlefield and operations centers. When this happened, soldiers had to revert to using telegraphs to share information.  Despite the weaknesses of this primitive network, the collaboration between Bell and the U.S. Army proved to be a great success and helped the U.S. ultimately secure victory during the Great War (John & Laborie, 2019). These networks were left in place after the war ended and bolstered France’s domestic phone networks, while also serving as a blueprint for an enhancement of the phone networks in the U.S..

1.3.2 Clunky and Primitive: Radio Usage During World War I

We often take for granted the accessibility of modern radio technology, particularly as depicted in popular media. Beyond the simple walkie-talkie, we see sleek earpieces and lossless communication, typically working without a hitch. Unfortunately, this could hardly be further from the true scenario endured by the soldiers in World War I. Radio sets employed by troops in the early 1910s were massive, often requiring several men to operate and perhaps even more men to move from place to place. These early radios were also technically complex, meaning that the average soldier might not be able to operate one. This led to certain levels of mistrust between allies, with troops not always believing that their assigned radio operators were truly acting benevolently. Accusations of betrayal may have been often levied at innocent radio operators, who may have turned into scapegoats when something went awry with battlefield communications (Siepmann, 1942). The use of radio as a means of tactical communication was severely limited during the time of the Great War, leading more people to turn to the use of the telephone or the older telegraph to communicate. By the last days of the war, radio technology had improved enough to be somewhat viable. American soldiers saw the greatest benefit from radio technology in the wars that were to come, however. By the time the G.I. Generation had come of age to fight in the Second World War, radio was a critical means of tactical communication. Attacks were coordinated, foot soldiers communicated with airborne fighters, and commanders gave orders over the radio when the technology had become ubiquitous in the 1940s.

“Radio Engineering Principles” by Henri Lauer & Harry Brown is in the Public Domain

1.4 Commercialization and Mass Adoption

1.4.1 Telephony After the War

One major challenge with the telephony industry was the fact that it was largely privately operated. The aforementioned Bell Company owned the machinery as well as the right to research and innovate as they saw fit. Most other countries around the world had telecommunications networks that were owned and operated by the government. The U.S. government became involved with the operation of the domestic network in conjunction with Bell during the war, but ceded possession entirely back to the company once the fighting came to an end. This decision was met with a fair amount of pushback from legislators and citizens alike, who claimed that the government willingly re-enabled Bell’s status as a monopoly in the telecommunications industry (Janson & Yoo, 2013). The U.S. Government was not powerless, of course. The U.S. enacted legislation like the Communications Act of 1934. This act brought about the creation of the Federal Communications Commission to more closely monitor all sorts of communications industries (Hazlett, 2014). It did not, however, do much to appease those complaining about Bell Company’s monopolistic tendencies, since FCC regulations led to stiffer barriers for smaller companies attempting to carve out a local telecommunications presence.

1.4.2 Radio Hits Its Stride

The radio industry exploded in the years immediately following World War I. The Roaring 20s were largely influenced by the wide adoption of radio technology throughout the country. One great change that came with this adoption was the advent of broadcast radio. Radio had been a technology used for business and wartime communication, but in 1920 that all changed radically. The first public radio broadcast was made in 1920, and Americans were enthralled by the fact that voices and music were transmitted over radio waves from a broadcast station straight into their homes. This change in information sharing began a large-scale shift in how Americans expected to receive information relevant to them and their communities. No longer did breaking news travel by word-of-mouth; radio broadcasts kept people updated on a regular basis. All of a sudden, the radio spectrum became extremely congested. Savvy businessmen saw the newfound use of the radio as a goldmine. Radio stations popped up all over the country and radio became a primary medium for the dissemination of information of all sorts (Crawford‐Franklin & Robinson, 2013).

Additionally, the quality of radio broadcasts increased greatly around this time. Researchers for AT&T published works that led to a drastic reduction in static noises for radio broadcasts (Schwartz, 2009). Coinciding with these technical improvements was a great marketing push to get Americans to purchase home radio sets. As a result of this campaign, demand for radios skyrocketed, even as the Great Depression loomed. Americans were so desperate to listen to broadcasts in their homes that 75% of radio purchases were sold on credit as deferred payments (Scott & Walker, 2016).

 “Photograph of Farmer Listening to Radio Discussion, Clarkston, Utah” by The U.S. National Archives is in the Public Domain

You may wonder – why were so many Americans willing to take on a significant amount of debt to simply have a radio in their household? We must understand that these people craved information and entertainment of any fashion. Never before had there been a way to stay “in-the-know” or to observe a gripping drama or comedy show all from the comfort of the living room couch. No longer did people have to step out to grab a newspaper or to catch a show. No longer did someone have to have a gramophone in their house to hear a tune – they could simply tune their radio to the frequency of a station playing all of the latest and greatest hits. Radios became a primary means of information dissemination across the country, which meant that anyone without such a device was simply behind the times.

The appeal of the radio and its broadcasting capabilities were not only enchanting to the average American citizen. Soon, companies far and wide came to love radio broadcasts because they were a perfect medium for advertising and marketing campaigns. In the early 1930s, a radio was present in over 40% of American households, meaning that there was a substantial target audience for advertisers to infiltrate (Smith, 2014). Major broadcasting companies that were incorporated during this era were some of the biggest beneficiaries of having access to this captive audience. NBC, CBS, and ABC were all founded during this “golden age” of radio and were obviously incredibly successful, as they remain staples in American media today (Radio’s Impact on Culture, 2009).

Chapter Summary

The invention of the telephone and the radio brought about significant social changes in the early 20th century, the prime days of the G.I. Generation. Originally starting as niche products, these technologies hit their stride when America entered into World War I and later became part of the regular fabric of American life. We see an interesting dynamic in the privatization of telephony technologies versus the government-sanctioned restriction of radio usage during wartime. These two distinct technologies played an important role in the ultimate victory of the United States during World War I and would only become more prominent in the wars to come, particularly World War II. These technologies eventually became immensely important to the general population. Telephony became widely adopted as a near-instantaneous method of communication and remains prevalent today. Radio became a massive industry for news and entertainment and its evolution changed the way that the American public absorbed information.

References

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