Girlhoods in the Golden Age of U.S. Radio: Music, Shared Popular Culture, and Memory

Sharon R. Mazzarella, Rebecca C. Hains, Shayla Thiel-Stern

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Memory and storytelling can provide valuable tools for media scholars aiming to better understand popular media audiences from a historical perspective. Girls' stories are particularly important because they have been absent from most official recorded history and archived documents. In this study, we interview 30 U.S. women born 1918-1948 in order to uncover their girlhood experiences with mid-20th Century media. Their narratives reveal 1) a shared experience of radio listening; 2) an emphasis on the "experience" of using media artifacts rather than on the content; and 3) the appeal of music and dance as a girlhood pastimes.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)117-133
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Radio and Audio Media
Volume20
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2013

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