Radio Active: Advertising and Consumer Activism, 1935-1947

253 Pages·2004·1.22 MB·English

by  Kathleen M. Newman

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Radio Active
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Lester Beall, Radio.1937. Used by permission of the Archives
and Special Collections, Wallace Library, Rochester Institute
of Technology.
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Radio Active
Advertising and Consumer Activism,
1935–1947
Kathy M. Newman
UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIAPRESS
Berkeley / Los Angeles / London
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University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2004 by the Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Newman, Kathy M. 1966–
Radio active : advertising and consumer activism, 1935–1947 / Kathy M.
Newman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0–520–22372–1 (cloth : alk. paper)—isbn0–520–23590–8 (pbk:
alk. paper)
1. Radio advertising—United States—History. 2. Consumer
behavior—United States—History. 3. Boycotts—United States—
History. 4. Consumer protection—United States—History. I. Title.
hf6146.r3 n48 2004
659.14'2'097309043—dc21 2003014270
Manufactured in the United States of America
13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper). 8
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Contents
List of Tables vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction. The Dialectic between Advertising
and Activism 1
part i. cultural critics in the age of radio
1. The Psychology of Radio Advertising: Audience
Intellectuals and the Resentment of Radio Commercials 17
2. “Poisons, Potions, and ProWts”: Radio Activists
and the Origins of the Consumer Movement 52
part ii. consumers on the march: cio boycotts,
active listeners, and ‘consumer time’
3. The Consumer Revolt of “Mr. Average Man”: Boake Carter
and the CIO Boycott of Philco Radio 81
4. Washboard Weepers: Women Writers, Women Listeners,
and the Debate over Soap Operas 109
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5. “I Won’t Buy You Anything But Love, Baby”: NBC,
Donald Montgomery, and the Postwar Consumer Revolt 139
Conclusion. High-Class Hucksters: The Rise and Fall
of a Radio Republic 166
Notes 193
Bibliography 213
Index 229
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Tables
1. Results of Lux Study, 1934 18
2. Responses of 1,100 St. Louis Residents to DiVerent Forms
of Advertising, 1950 41
3. Audience Recognition of Products by the Programs That
They Sponsored, 1950 44
4. Economic StratiWcation of the Radio Audience, 1940 47
5. Composition of Total Program Audiences by Income Group,
1940 48
6. Audience Tastes in Programming and Advertising
by Education Level, 1946 49
7. Survey Respondents’Answers to Questions about Whether
They Would be Willing to Pay Directly for Radio to Avoid
Advertisements, 1935 50
8. Radio Advertising as a Percentage of All Advertising,
1934–1955 183
vii
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Dedicated to my grandmother—
Louise Renshaw Smith