War of the Worlds (Oct 30, 1938 broadcast) - 70th Anniversary, Tonight!

[RetroToday]

Tonight is the 70th anniversary of Orson Welles & the Mercury Theatre's radio broadcast of H.G. Wells novel War of the Worlds that shocked much of the North American population on October 30, 1938.

Anybody here going to have a listen to the original broadcast tonight... possibly over a vintage tube radio... possibly on a radio of the 1930s era?

I'm going to listen to it on one of my 1930s radios and invite some friends and family to share in the experience...
...most of them will probably think I'm nuts. lol They're probably right!

Any other thoughts on this radio broadcast milestone?

A 1970s LP of the original Welles broadcast.

The 1935 Philco which I'm going to play War of the Worlds on tonight

 

[anon`]

I don't think anyone is doing that here in Portland. I'd love to be shown wrong about that, though...

 

[flat-top]

At 8 and 11 Eastern time on Sirius Radio Classics tonight.

 

[kpreed]

Thank You.

I think this kind of stuff is great. I have that show on my computer hard-drive and play it all around Halloween, tonight it will play over one of my old radios for sure. Thank You!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Please note that Lounge policy does not allow links to downloads of copyrighted material -- the Mercury Theatre "War Of The Worlds" is fully copyrighted by the estate of Howard Koch. Please read the Copyright Issues sticky for a fuller explanation of Lounge policy on this issue.

Thanks!

 

[vitanola]

At 9:00 we shall be tuning in on an Zenith 6V-27:

which is now ensconced in our library.

 

[RetroToday]

Another beautiful one you have there Vitanola! :eusa_clap

Will make a fine object to look at as you listen in horror when the aliens attack!

 

[drafttek]

Please note that Lounge policy does not allow links to downloads of copyrighted material -- the Mercury Theatre "War Of The Worlds" is fully copyrighted by the estate of Howard Koch. Please read the Copyright Issues sticky for a fuller explanation of Lounge policy on this issue.

Thanks!

Sorry about that Lizzie. I figured it was not a problem since I found the link on this forum and it was also linked from the article in National Geographic in with you were a source.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sometimes things slip thru unnoticed, but we try to keep a consistent policy across the Lounge on the matter of downloads of copyrighted material. The cooperation of Lounge members is appreciated!

 

[59Lark]

war of the worlds radio broadcast live

I am listening as we speak, am 740 toronto canada has live feed, and they are broadcast it now as we speak. The show is about 30 minutes or so in, we are listening and enjoying no old radio here but feed on computer. The show is great and I can see how people seventy years ago where put into a panic, you must remember people were much different than today. I feel people were much more innocent and less exposed to violence . Return with us to the simpler days. thank you ORSON. 59Lark

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Wow - It was on one of the public domain download sites several months ago. I downloaded a new copy from there since the old copy had gotten lost along the way in moving from computer to computer and one hard drive to new hard drive over the years. Thanks for the update, Lizzie - I honestly thought it was public domain.

 

[RetroToday]

I am listening as we speak, am 740 toronto canada has live feed, and they are broadcast it now as we speak. The show is about 30 minutes or so in, we are listening and enjoying no old radio here but feed on computer. The show is great and I can see how people seventy years ago where put into a panic, you must remember people were much different than today. I feel people were much more innocent and less exposed to violence . Return with us to the simpler days. thank you ORSON. 59Lark

Hi 59Lark.
I was fairly sure that CHWO AM740 Toronto would replay it, but they didn't really advertise the show very much beforehand.
It came through loud and clear by air to my old Philco. We had a great time listening.

I agree with all you've said about the broadcast. Even though I've probably been desensitized by much of the real terrors of the modern day, this 70 year old dramatization is powerful. Probably because it lets your mind do the work, your own imagination can be much more powerful than a prepared vision somebody else gives you.

Funny, I forgot that Toronto is mentioned in the War of the Worlds broadcast and was reminded again tonight, it brought a little smile to a few faces here.

"Here is the latest bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News:

Toronto, Canada:
Professor Morse of MacMillan University reports observing a total of three explosions on the planet Mars between the hours of 7:45pm and 9:20pm, Eastern Standard Time.
This confirms earlier reports received from American observatories."

Here in Toronto in 1938, CFRB (Then owned by Rogers) was the primary station that broadcast War of the Worlds.
When the dust settled, they received quite a bit of flack from panicked residents.

Newspaper cover from the day after the broadcast