Radio Days celebrates radio’s golden age. Created by James Widner, this Web site is a blend of radio history and sound bites. It is filled with many entertaining and educational topics for fans of nostalgic, old time radio shows. “Old time radio” is a term loosely applied to radio programs broadcast from the dawn of broadcasting to the very early 1960s. An alternate term is “golden age radio.” Usually this applies to radio drama, mystery stories, comedy, and adventures.
Radio Days offers many short audio excerpts from a variety of radio shows. All sound files are in Real Audio format. The site also houses the archives of the “Captain Midnight” adventure series and the science fiction classic “The Strange Dr Weird.” The archives for “Captain Midnight” are accompanied by a brief history of the radio program, cast information, and an episode guide.
The TimeLines section is a monthly offering of significant broadcasts in the history of radio. For instance, in August, users may listen to President Truman announcing the dropping of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima or the premier episodes of “Amos ‘n’ Andy” and “Father Knows Best.” A brief history of the particular broadcast is provided, along with a downloadable sound file. Some files are even complete episodes. Users will see the monthly selection for the month in which they access the site.
The Radio News section provides brief biographies and famous broadcasts of prominent broadcast news pioneers such as Edward R. Murrow, Eric Sevareid, and Elmer Davis. Also available are selected key historical news broadcasts such as the report on the Munich crisis, the Hindenberg disaster, and George Hick’s live report on D‐Day.
Other sections look at radio shows according to their genre: science fiction, mystery, comedy, and private eyes. Pictures, sound files, and concise information for the most famous radio programs are provided for each category. The science fiction section offers “Buck Rogers in the Twenty‐fifth Century,” “Flash Gordon,” and Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre production of “War of the Worlds.” The private eyes section offers the old favorites “The Shadow,” “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” and “Dragnet.” The mystery section includes horror, thriller, and suspense programs. Offered are sound bites from “True Detective Mysteries,” “The Witch’s Tale,” “Lights Out,” “Inner Sanctum Mysteries,” and “Phantom Spoilers.” Programs such as “Jack Benny,” “Burns and Allen,” and “Fibber McGee and Molly” are featured in the comedy category.
The feedback section offers users the ability to send questions to the site’s Webmaster. Users are urged to check other sources such as Lou Genco’s Old Time Radio Web site (http://www.old‐time.com) which provides general information on the radio programs, as well as a bibliographic guide on the subject. Thus, little duplication exists between these two sites.
Useful for researchers and fans are the links to two major sources for online old time radio logs. The files at these sites provide episode titles, dates of broadcasts, and other useful information. Extremely valuable are the approximately 500 links to other radio‐related Web sites provided on the Radio Days Web site. These can be viewed in alphabetical order, or the database can be searched by category, site name, or URL.
The site is easy to navigate and is searchable by keyword. The few pictures included add to the textual material and the many sound bites. Considered to be one of the best sites on the Web for old time radio nostalgia, this site is an excellent starting point for researchers and collectors of old time radio programs.
