MY EARLY LOVES

While reading Killing Reagan, I learned he had a 30-minute acting role on radio for several years and I thought, “Only 30 minutes?” I was accustomed to the two-hour thriller in my day. Then I remembered a radio show that pre-dated Reagan’s 30 minutes. Here it is:

Back in the days of radio, our family was the first on our street to purchase one of the magic boxes. It was a floor model with a brand name of Majestic. It seems strange to me now to realize people actually sat there, watching the . . . sound? Not our family, but the neighbors, who volunteered to drop in on Saturday night to hear The Grand Ole Opry. My father played the host and sat with them, not that much talking transpired; while mother went about her duties for the Sabbath.

Where we children were is anyone’s guess, perhaps trying to dodge a Saturday night bath, testing the fancy dessert mother had prepared for tomorrow, or just trying to avoid the noise from the living room. I was one of the latter.

I never cared for opry music and grew to prefer real opera in time. But at this special period in my life, radio gave me a great half hour of entertainment once a week. It was called “The First Nighter,” a three-act comedy- romance play in thirty minutes with breaks, I suppose short commercials. I learned what the Great White Way was, and the real Broadway, Though I was quite young for such, this was my introduction to the world of romance. No other family member ever paid any attention to what I was enjoying.

On the same weekend, every weekend, in  the mornings, I think it was, I also listened to the Metropolitan Opera with the same fervor as that for the dramas. These were two elements that helped to shape my character. I am thankful.♥♥♥