1930s Radio Shows

Did you know most families didn’t own a television until the late 1940’s or early 1950’s? Without a television (or computer or cell phone), what did our parents, grandparents or great-grandparents do for home entertainment in the 1930’s?

While television wasn’t an option, radio was – and almost every household had one. The 1930’s was the time of the Great Depression. Families often spent evenings huddled around the radio listening to a favorite show. And everyone had a favorite show!

Below are just some of the more popular 1930s radio shows from the ‘Golden Age of Radio’.

1930s Radio Shows

• Abbott & Costello
• The Adventures of Ellery Queen
• The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
• The Adventures of Sam Spade
• Amos ‘n’ Andy
• Battle of the Sexes
• The Bell Telephone Hour
• Burns and Allen
• Charlie Chan
• Crime Does Not Pay
• Danger, Dr. Danfield
• The Danny Kaye Show
• Dick Tracy
• Doc Savage
• Dr. IQ
• Dracula
• Dragnet
• Eddie Cantor
• Famous Jury Trials
• Father Knows Best
• Fibber McGee and Molly
• Fireside Chats
• The Ford Sunday Evening Hour
• The Fred Allen Show
• Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch
• The General Electric Concert
• The Green Hornet
• Guiding Light
• Hallmark Playhouse
• Hollywood Playhouse
• Hopalong Cassidy
• I Love a Mystery
• The Jack Benny Program
• Kraft Music Hall
• Ladies Be Seated
• The Life of Riley
• Little Orphan Annie
• Lone Ranger
• Lux Radio Theatre
• Ma Perkins
• Magic Island
• Major League Baseball on Mutual
• Maxwell House Showboat
• The Mercury Theater on the Air
• Mr. District Attorney
• National Barn Dance
• The National Farm and Home Hour
• The Orson Welles Show
• Our Gal Sunday
• Palmolive Beauty Box Theater
• The Pepsodent Show
• Perry Mason
• Philip Morris Playhouse
• Professor Quizz
• Queen for the Day
• Red Skelton
• Ripley’s Believe it or Not
• The Roy Rogers Show
• Speed Gibson of the International Secret Police
• Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One
• Tarzan
• The Dinah Shore Show
• The Ed Sullivan Show
• This is Your Life
• Truth or Consequences
• Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra
• What’s My Name?
• When a Girl Marries
• The War of the Worlds

Did your parents or grandparents grow up in the 1930’s or 1940’s? What radio shows did they listen to?

For questions to ask your parent or grandparent to learn more about their life story, visit my post: ’25 Legacy Questions’.

For tips on interviewing a parent or grandparent, visit my post: ‘Interviewing a Grandparent’.

Or let us do the work for you! (See below…)

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Here at Family Tree Video we produce Legacy Videos, modern-day memoirs that weave a filmed interview with a parent or grandparent together with family photos, documents, maps and other memorabilia. The result is a beautiful “moving portrait” capturing your loved one sharing their life story, family history and memories – a gift your family will treasure for generations to come.

To learn more about giving the gift of a Legacy Video, visit us at FamilyTreeVideo.com.

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1930s Radio