History

Radio began to become a popular technology. Early radio had been able to broadcast little beside pulses, which meant that radio communication could occur only through the Morse Code. But with the discovery of the theory of modulation, pioneered by the Canadian scientist Reginal Fessenden, it became possible to transmit speech and music. Many people built their own radio sets at home for very little money, benefiting from the discovery that inexpensive crystals could receive signals over long distances, but not very well over short ones. These "short wave- radios, which allowed individual owners to establish contact with each other, marked the beginning of what later became known as "ham radio."" Once commercial broadcasting began, families flocked to buy more conventional radio sets, which could receive high-quality signals over short and medium distances. They were powered by vacuum tubes that were much more reliable than earlier models. By 1925, there were two million sets in American homes, and by the end of the 1920's almost every family had one.
             Despite the remarkable economic growth, more that two-thirds of the American people in 1929 lived at no better than what one major study described as the "minimum comfort level."" Half of those were at or below the level of "subsistence and poverty."" American labor experienced both the successes and the failures of the 1920's as much as any other group. On the one hand, most workers saw their standard of living rise during the decade. Some employers adopted paternalistic techniques that came to be known as "welfare capitalism."" Henry Ford, for example, shortened the workweek, raised wages, and instituted paid vacations. By 1926, nearly 3million industrial workers were eligible for at least modest pensions on retirement. When labor grievances surfaced despite these efforts, workers could voice them through the so-called company unions that were emerging in many industries "workers councils and shop committees, organized by the corporations themselves.