ovies were silent during my early childhood. I didn't get to go to many
movies, but did see some early day serials. Serials were usually shown
on Saturday afternoon, one episode each week. The picture flashed on the
screen with the dialogue printed at the bottom of the picture. A pianist
sat at the front of the theater, playing appropriate mood music. Tom Mix
galloped across the screen to a loud, fast, thumping tune. The first
talking picture I ever saw was about 1928. Patsy Best had a party, and
her mother took all the guests to the movie. Such movie parties were
called line parties, I suppose because we sat in a line. That day the
talkie was Trader Horn, a good adventure story set in Africa. I believe the
title role was played by Harry Carey. Everyone loved the revolutionary
new talkies so silent movies just faded away naturally. In time, the
term talkies was dropped, and we went back to calling all films
movies.
bout 1929 we got our first radio. It was an Atwater-Kent, a console on
high legs. After radio, things were never again quite the same. We
gathered around the radio in the evenings listening to Amos and Andy and
other early day programs. Radio brought the wide, wide world into our
living rooms. It was more than entertainment; it was an education. The
music, the perfect diction of the radio announcers, the news, the
comedy, all these things left their mark on us.