Radio is the artifact for today. Not sure what a stand-alone, real radio looks like? I'm sure you're not alone if you're under the age of 20. We now have podcasts to subscribe to, online radio such as Pandora or iRadio, Satellite radio -Sirius XM, and our car radios. Having grown up in the 60's, primarily overseas, the radio was our television and our storyteller on Sunday nights.
We certainly had black and white television while living in Japan but the only shows that were in English were The Johnny Carson show and Saturday morning with "Hey, Hey, We're the Monkeys." (Actually, the Japanese dubbed over their songs in Japanese but not their funny skits, thank goodness)
Sunday nights were sacred for my sister and I. We were in our P.J.'s in our trundle beds first listening to Sgt. Friday and his partner on Dragnet at 8:00p.m., then Scary Tales at 9:00p.m., and finally, music from Waikiki Beach @ 9:30p.m. As a side note, I was totally disappointed when I watched the show Dragnet on TV for the first time when we moved to Hawaii in 1969 - Jack Webb was not the Sgt. Friday I imagined. Ah well.
Our imaginations worked overtime when it came to those scary tales. Carol and I would take turns kicking our feet on our mattresses, under the covers, making enough noise to block out any horrifying scenes in our heads after the radio was turned off. Those mattresses took a mighty beating for three years. Our imaginations grew immensely - those stories were as vivid as the stories told by my favorite storytellers today:)
Truth is, it's easier for me to learn stories by listening to them told than by reading them (but since I'm a newly retired librarian, we better keep this news a secret.) I do know several kids who are auditory listeners and would appreciate the stories on CD, DVD, or some other form of digital ears rather than reading them from books or scripts.
Sunday nights were sacred for my sister and I. We were in our P.J.'s in our trundle beds first listening to Sgt. Friday and his partner on Dragnet at 8:00p.m., then Scary Tales at 9:00p.m., and finally, music from Waikiki Beach @ 9:30p.m. As a side note, I was totally disappointed when I watched the show Dragnet on TV for the first time when we moved to Hawaii in 1969 - Jack Webb was not the Sgt. Friday I imagined. Ah well.
Our imaginations worked overtime when it came to those scary tales. Carol and I would take turns kicking our feet on our mattresses, under the covers, making enough noise to block out any horrifying scenes in our heads after the radio was turned off. Those mattresses took a mighty beating for three years. Our imaginations grew immensely - those stories were as vivid as the stories told by my favorite storytellers today:)
Truth is, it's easier for me to learn stories by listening to them told than by reading them (but since I'm a newly retired librarian, we better keep this news a secret.) I do know several kids who are auditory listeners and would appreciate the stories on CD, DVD, or some other form of digital ears rather than reading them from books or scripts.
Storytellers of yesterday and today are our radios! Listen and you too will see more clearly than you ever have before. The only device needed is your imagination!
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