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Radio was in its infancy. It was a time when radio was still widely being called the "wireless telephone." One couldn't go to the store and just purchase a receiving set. Getting a radio was more complex and involved either purchasing the parts to assemble a radio (hardly a project for most folks) or purchasing pre-made "segments" of a radio which one could hook together (as in Kennedy advertisement above) plus headphones and wire for an outdoor aerial (antenna) and ground connection. If one bought a separate amplifier, which would have been somewhat rare in 1922, there could be enough power to use a loudspeaker (actually a horn connected to a headphone) but most people listened on headphones in 1922 -- when KGW, Porrtland, Oregon, signed on in May.
All stations operated on the same frequency (about 833 on the AM radio dial) which they shared by having stations sign on and off at different times of the days and weeks. Programming consisted largely of phonograph records with the sound from a phonograph's horn aimed at a carbon button microphone.
All stations operated on the same frequency (about 833 on the AM radio dial) which they shared by having stations sign on and off at different times of the days and weeks. Programming consisted largely of phonograph records with the sound from a phonograph's horn aimed at a carbon button microphone.