Don’t Touch That Dial!
In the 1930s rural Texas was becoming alive. Alive being the fact that the Rural Electrification Act was bringing electricity to the tens of thousands of small farmhouses that were sprinkled over the land. This innovation enabled the farmwife to keep her butter and milk in a refrigerator instead of under the house or in the well; and speaking of wells, the families could install pumps to bring the water to the surface instead of by hand or depending upon the windmill. To balance out the labor saving electric devices; a device created basically for entertainment - the radio - became a staple in the isolated farmhouse. Texas Czech polka radio shows, an early example of ethnic programming, enabled many Czechs whose athome primary language was Czech to keep their language alive by hearing it spoke and sang daily over the airwaves. The ordinary format of the usually hour or two show was very simple. In early days, bands came into the studio to perform live; the Czech speaking announcer, would talk with the band, introduce each song, read the commercials, and announce upcoming events of interest to the audience.
