What keep me at home for
an entire evening, the radio.
In my quest for a rest of
my longing soul there is no
better remedy as the radio
The fascinating music, and
other features.
I heard just new, Rubensteins
Romance which was wonderful
—–
Henriette will undoubtedly
answer my letter, I am
anxious to see what she will
write.
It’s her kind that appeals
to me, but has a poor dog [like me]
a chance? Is a girl even of
her type ripe enough to see
my qualities, and truly love
me despite my poor standing?
Heard Sleeping Beauty Tchaikovsky
Waltz
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Matt’s Notes
Papa’s fascination with the radio may seem quaint, but it fairly represents the excitement most radio listeners felt in 1924. Up until then, wireless broadcasting had been a tool for a military and a toy for amateur enthusiasts who were willing to build their own transceivers and spend their days and nights sending, receiving and praying for a signal. If Papa came to America in 1913, it would be eight more years before he’d see an all-in-one radio set in a shop window, and still another year before the radio business really took off.1
So, when he wrote this entry Papa was still discovering, along with broadcasters, advertisers and artists, what the medium could do. That’s not to say it wasn’t widespread — I just mean it had exploded before Papa’s eyes as a commercial and social force in the same way the Internet exploded before our eyes in the mid 1990’s. In describing how the radio distracts him, however incompletely, from his woes, Papa may have shown us an early prototype of the lonely guy who sits and home, channel- or Web-surfing while everyone else is out having fun.
Speaking of which, the song this “poor dog” listened to, “Rubenstein’s Romance,” was a classical piece by Anton Rubinstein properly called “Romance in B-flat, Op. 44, No.1.” A popular adaptation known as “If You Are But a Dream” became a Frank Sinatra hit, and though this didn’t happen until the 1940’s I think the lyrics sum up Papa’s feelings about Henreitte:
If you are but a dream, I hope I never waken,
It’s more than I could bear to find that I’m forsaken.If you’re a fantasy, then I’m content to be
In love with lovely you,
And pray my dream comes true.I long to kiss you but I would not dare,
I’m so afraid that you may vanish in the air,
So darling, if our romance should break up,
I hope I never wake up, if you are but a dream.I long to kiss you but I would not dare,
I’m so afraid that you may vanish in the air,
So darling, if our romance should break up,
I hope I never wake up, if you are but a dream.
——————–
Additional Notes and References:
1 – This is very roughly condensed from information presented in Erik Barnouw’s A Tower in Babel: A History of Broadcasting in the United States to 1933.
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Music: