Old Time Radio Nostalgia

Old Time Radio SetEnjoy Old Time Radio Nostalgia
Source: ©olivier-le-queinec/123RF Stock Photo

Do you enjoy old time radio nostalgia and listening to OTR broadcasts? One of my fondest childhood memories is sitting in font of our old console radio with my Grannie Bell and listening to the hilarious antics of "Amos 'n Andy."

We'd laugh together till we almost cried. Radio entertained us in ways that television cannot. Our imaginations created the depth of experience.

Recall the Golden Age of Radio

Old Time Radio broadcasts were often the talk of the neighborhood in the 1950s. They were part of the culture of their day. Radio brought the world to your kitchen.

An elderly farmer who lived in our farm neighborhood loved to take out his pocket knife and whittle at a stick during his idle moments.

I recall Dad asking him one day, "Percy, what are you whittling?" Without batting an eye, old Mr. Price replied, offhandedly, "Spare parts for Charlie McCarthy," and we all laughed.

Other favorite Old Time Radio comedy programs were...

  • "Our Miss Brooks" starring Eve Arden

  • "The Great Gildersleeve" starring Harold Peary (one of my favorites!)

  • "People Are Funny" starring Art Linkletter

  • "The Goon Show" starring Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, and others

And, of course, the renowned "Fibber McGee and Molly Show" starring the husband and wife team of Jim and Marian Jordan.

Who could ever forget the sound of Fibber McGee's hall closet?

Don't open that closet, McGee!


This short YouTube video offers just a mere taste of the comedy and although the show made the transition to television, its popularity soon waned. Fibber McGee's closet gag was never as funny on TV as it was on the vintage radio program.

That's because your imagination worked overtime with radio! I often feel that today's more visual style of entertainment leaves too little to the imagination.

The dialogue, music, and sound effects heard in the Old Time Radio programs relied solely on our imaginations to create a scene that was always more colorful and detailed than a televised image could hope to be. Difficult for today's generation to understand, but it's true.

Welcome to Old Time Radio Nostalgia

Crystal Radio Set

Do you remember the Crystal Radio Set? I built one as a boy in the mid 1950s, and it was great fun to move the springy cat's whisker over an iron pyrite crystal to tune in distant radio broadcasts.

The beauty of it was it needed neither batteries nor power source, and I had an old war-surplus headset, plus a length of wire for a simple antenna. It was so much fun to lie in bed at nights and listen to radio shows and music. Remember, this was before the days of the modern transistor radio!

Click Here for several articles that show how to build a basic crystal radio using common household objects.

Are you a fan of the golden age of Old Time Radio, or "OTR" as it's commonly called? You'll find LOTS of fun reading material here. Relive those glorious days and join in by sharing your comments

OTR Memories

Click on the links below to read articles about Old Time Radio, and the comments received from visitors to this site.

Happy Gang Blue Plate Special, circa 1945

The Happy Gang 
Are any of you 50-plusers old enough to remember the old "Happy Gang" radio program that once ran on the CBC? I recently came across a little commemorative …

The Lone Ranger and Silver

1950s Radio Westerns 
There were a number of popular Western series during the Golden Days of Radio, but as a youngster growing up in the 1950s when radio was facing the onslaught …

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