The Development of Rural Wired Radio Systems in Upstate South Carolina |
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| Abstract: | In the 1930s, the residents of upstate South Carolina constructed a homemade media system—wired radio—which lasted in some areas for almost 10 years. Wires were strung across miles of countryside to connect thousands of nonelectrified rural houses to a central receiver located at the end of the power line so that residents could partake in the radio revolution being experienced in other parts of the nation. This essay describes the development and construction of these wired radio systems and looks at local programming and resident reactions to the medium. Information for this essay comes from interviews with and the writings of system operators and subscribers. Initial research indicates that such homemade media system; were unique to that area of the country and that they served different purposes and needs than the wired radio systems that developed in the large cities during the 1930s. Also, previous scholarly work on this topic has maintained that such systems in the United States died out after experimentation in the 1920s, contrary to the findings covered in this paper. |
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