It was in 1922, just months after the launch of 2MT and 2LO,
that the nascent radio industry held its first exhibition at the Horticultural
Hall in Westminster. It offered the opportunity for the public to experience
the new technology and encouraged the sale of wireless sets and all the various
components for building your own receiving equipment. Further demonstrations
were held at the Daily Mail Ideal Home
Exhibition in 1923 the Royal Albert Hall in 1925.
Annual shows were established in 1926 coming from the Empire
Hall in Olympia organised by the Radio Manufacturers Association. When the BBC
came onboard the Radiolympia exhibitions included live broadcasts from the hall
and gave listeners the opportunity to meet the stars and to fill their
autograph books. After the August 1939 Radiolympia there was an interregnum
until 1947.
In the 1950s the exhibition moved to Earls Court and it regularly
generated a special cover on the Radio
Times. From my archive are these editions
from 1955, 1959, 1961 and 1962.
These extracts come from the 1956 Radio Show booklet by which time
it was organised by the Radio Industry Council. Exhibits and demonstrations
weren't confined to radio of course as stands included BBC television and the
newly launched ITV.
The Radio Show was discontinued in 1966 but there was a
one-off revival in 1988. More on that tomorrow.
2 comments:
I used to like seeing the Malcolm Mitchell trio every year....
I liked it when it was on the light programme and someone would request a record to be played and someone at the BBC would run to the library to find it.
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