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Sorry, Wrong Number. Radio Drama Background Notes. The Start of Radio. Until the twentieth century, all plays ever written had one thing in common: the actors performed before live audiences. The Start of Radio.
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Sorry, Wrong Number Radio Drama Background Notes
The Start of Radio • Until the twentieth century, all plays ever written had one thing in common: the actors performed before live audiences.
The Start of Radio • Technological advances in the late 1800s and the early 1900s led to new ways of transmitting sound and of recording pictures. • Radio could transmit sounds across thousands of miles to listeners at home.
Radio as Entertainment • Every night, families would gather around the radio and listen to plays, comedy programs and music. • Radio offered free entertainment to everyone. • A radio play is unlike any other kind of drama. Every element of the play is communicated through sound.
The Golden Age of Radio • The years from about 1925-1950 have been called the Golden Age of Radio. • During the Golden Age of Radio, people talked about radio in the same way that people now talk about television.
The Golden Age of Radio • Radio also had its critics, who claimed that it kept young people from reading. Those critics warned that radio would create a generation of illiterates.
Sorry, Wrong Number • The radio play Sorry, Wrong Number was written in 1948 by Lucille Fletcher at the height of radio’s popularity (during the Golden Age of Radio).
Sorry, Wrong Number • Sorry, Wrong Number is considered to be one of the best radio plays ever written. • Since radio relies on sound, Fletcher used special techniques to stimulate her listeners’ imaginations so they could visualize the actions taking place in the play.
Telephone Numbers • Even after the assignment of numbers, operators still connected most calls into the early 20th century. • Hello. Operator, get me Underwood 342.
Telephone Numbers • Connecting through operators or “Central” was usual until mechanical dialing of numbers became more common.
Telephone Numbers • Phone numbers were not strictly numeric until the 1950s. From the 1920s-50s, most areas had exchanges of letters or names followed by numbers. • Murray Hill 4-0098