When you look at a number of 1930 census you find that many people in cities
had radios but people in rural areas did not. It depended on where you lived.
A friend wrote to me that her family had one of the first radios in Harrison
Co. Ind. The time was about 1924. They lived on a farm and their aerial was
a wire between 2 poles, one east and one west, 100 feet apart. There were not
many stations and they had many visitors to their house to listen. They used
headphones. And some people were afraid of the radios.
I'm sure that radio reception was much better in the cities.
Another interesting question on the 1930 census was whether the person had
work the day before census was taken. In many neighborhoods the answer was
"yes" but I have seen several census where nearly everyone on the page had to
answer "no". The depression had put many people out of work.
I think the 1930 census is the most interesting one of all of them because of
the many questions that were asked. But then this census contains
information on many people I have actually known.
Kathy
Recall, please, that electricity was much slower to come to rural areas
until the REA (Rural Electrification Agency) programs of the late thirties
and early forties.
I know that my grandmother and Grandfather had an early radio on the farm
but it was battery operated and charged from a windmill.