Radio gained popularity and was as successful as it was because it was able to reach the entire country, help the American people to interpret the Great Depression and to be a universal place of communication and entertainment. Although the first radio wave theorem was developed in 1864 by James Clerk Maxwell, it was not until the 1920s and 1930s that the device truly gained popularity in the United States. During the Great Depression, families, advertisers, and even politicians used radio for a variety of purposes. such as entertainment, information, and a forum for the American people.1 Radio was the first device to institute mass communication and when it was first introduced to the American people, that is exactly what 'she did. Since 1920, when KDKA, the first officially government-sanctioned radio station, came into existence2, Americans began using radio to help them interpret the economic troubles around them, confusing political issues and, in 'together, a new American culture.3 Radio gave American people control over their own lives on a more familiar and personal level, while allowing them to feel connected to others across the country. Radio stood for mass communication, mass audiences, and a new and better kind of understanding of the otherwise confusing American culture of the time.4 The American people responded well to the device for these reasons alone and by 1930, radio sales increased significantly. to 13.5 million compared to 75,000 in 1921.5 Radio was able to provide the American people with a sense of unity in an otherwise alienated and distant time. It wasn't until the time of the Great Depression that radio really became popular.6 The Great Depression The Depression was a time when culture and all its incarnations (i.e. radio) were middle of paper ... on the radio. »3. “The History of Communication Technology: Radio,” accessed February 3, 2014, http://www.personal.psu.edu/jtk187/art2/radio.htm.4. “Radio's America: The Great Depression and the Rise of Modern Mass Culture,” accessed February 3, 2014, http://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/471921.html.5. “The Great Depression Helps Radio,” accessed February 3, 2014. http://library.thinkquest.org/27629/themes/media/md30s.html.6. “Radio America: The Great Depression and the Rise of Modern Mass Culture.” »7. “The Great Depression helps radio.”8. “The invention of radio.”9. “Radio America: The Great Depression and the Rise of Modern Mass Culture.” »10. “Radio America: The Great Depression and the Rise of Modern Mass Culture.” »11. “Radio America: The Great Depression and the Rise of Modern Mass Culture.” »12. “The Great Depression helps radio.”