The most sensational of all broadcast innovations was the introduction of a wildly popular “Amateur Hour” for vocalists. This program offered a remote promise of fame and fortune, but its initial spirit involved a simple, unprecedented, and remarkably good-natured egalitarianism. Before the surrender, it was unthinkable for ordinary people to be heard on the national airwaves. Now, contestants ranging from four-year-olds to the elderly flocked to present themselves to the nation.37
