A 'Swenglish' journey through family photos, notes and postcards
from the early 20th century.
Showing posts with label radio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label radio. Show all posts

2025-05-31

Sepia Saturday 777 - The Radio

 

The prompt for this week's Sepia Saturday immediately reminded me of a photo I recently noticed in one of my grandmother Sally's old "anonymous" photo albums (totally without written notes). Can't say I've ever really noticed it before - but I did now, because after recently having studied various photos in an envelope marked 'Tvärred' (the name of a place), I'm now pretty sure I recognise the two men as my grandmother's friends Evert and Anders - who have also figured in a number of recent Sepia posts on this blog. 

It's obviously the Radio that is in focus in this photo, though; and my guess is therefore that it was taken when this device was still a novelty. Swedish Radio started broadcasting on 1st January, 1925, at 10:55 am. The very first program on the air was a church service live from a church in Stockholm, which could be heard by around 40.000 receivers. In the beginning, on weekdays, they only broadcasted like half an hour at noon + half an hour in the evening. However, in May 1925, a Radio Choir was also established to give radio concerts; and in September a children's program was started that came to last until 1972. (I remember it from my own childhood!) They also got started with broadcasting certain big sports events; and radio theatre (written especially for the radio). 

In 1928, they started broadcasting "school radio" (educational programs); and introducing new music from gramophone records. In 1930, daily short "morning devotions". (Still going on! but I'm never up at 5:45 myself...) In 1932, the first political debate before an election could be heard on the radio. In 1933, they were broadcasting 8 hours per day. In April 1937, the number of radio licenses issued passed 1 million. (The total number of citizens in Sweden back then was around 6.2 million.)

I doubt that my grandparents' friends Evert and Anders were among the 40.000 to listen to the first radio broadcasts ever. But I guess they may have been among the first million to have one. (?) Just based on its very existence, I'd date this photo to the mid 1930s or so - i.e. while a radio was still not something you saw in each and every home. (The photographer is likely to be my grandfather Gustaf; and even if I can't swear to it, I can't recall having seen a radio in any early 1930s photo from my grandparents' own house.)