Okla-homey
10/30/2009, 06:16 AM
Oct. 30, 1938: "War of the Worlds" panics millions
Seventy-one years ago, on this night in 1938, the radio program "Mercury Theater on the Air" presents Orson Welles' production of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, a fictional drama about a Martian invasion in Grovers Mill, New Jersey.
The program, sparked a panic among listeners who believed the play was an actual news broadcast. Of the six million listeners who heard the show, more than 1.7 million reportedly believed the story was true.
See, Welles set it up as an actual news account by beginning the broadcast with a typical theatrical program, to which his listeners were accustomed. Then, after a few minutes, Welles "realistically" interrupted that show with reports of the horrifying Martian invasion. America swallowed it "hook, line and sinker!"
Numerous accounts from around the country highlighted the fact and reactions ranged from folks "headin' to the hills," to wearing out the cops with thousands of phone calls, to shootings of innocents who had been mistaken for invading Martians.:eek:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6060/wotwyn5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The broadcast, which disrupted households, interrupted religious services, created traffic jams and clogged communications systems. Hundreds of people were taken to hospitals and required medical treatment for shock and hysteria.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/9849/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwdanieyf3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
What follows is a sampling of reactions from around the U.S to the nationally broadcast radio program:
In Newark, in a single block at Heddon Terrace and Hawthorne Avenue, more than twenty families rushed out of their houses with wet handkerchiefs and towels over their faces to flee from what they believed was to be a gas raid. Some began moving household furniture.
Throughout New York state, families left their homes, some to flee to near-by parks. Thousands of persons called the police, newspapers and radio stations here and in other cities of the United States and Canada seeking advice on protective measures against the raids.
In San Francisco the general impression of listeners seemed to be that an overwhelming force had invaded the United States from the air, was in the process of destroying New York and threatening to move westward. "My God," roared one inquirer into a telephone, "where can I volunteer my services? We've got to stop this awful thing."
Newspaper offices and radio stations in Chicago were swamped with telephone calls about the "meteor" that had fallen in New Jersey. Some said they had relatives in the "stricken area" and asked if the casualty list was available.
In parts of St. Louis men and women clustered in the streets in residential areas to discuss what they should do in the face of the sudden war. One suburban resident drove fifteen miles to a newspaper office to verify the radio "report."
In New Orleans a general impression prevailed that New Jersey had been devastated by the "invaders," but fewer inquiries were received than in other cities.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5871/wwwwwwwwwwwwwaroftheworoo0.gif (http://imageshack.us)
In Baltimore a woman engaged passage on an airliner for New York, where her daughter was is in school.
The Associated Press gathered the following reports of reaction to the broadcast:
At Fayetteville, N. C., people with relatives in the section of New Jersey where the mythical visitation had its locale went to a newspaper office in tears, seeking information.
A message from Providence, R. I., said: "Weeping and hysterical women swamped the switchboard of The Providence Journal for details of the massacre and destruction at New York, and officials of the electric company received scores of calls urging them to turn off all lights so that the city would be safe from the enemy."
Mass hysteria mounted so high in some cases that people told the police and newspapers they "saw" the invasion.
The Boston Globe told of one woman who claimed she could "see the fire," and said she and many others in her neighborhood were "getting out of here."
Minneapolis and St. Paul police switchboards were deluged with calls from frightened people.
The Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Va., reported some of their telephone calls from people who said they were "praying."
The Kansas City bureau of The Associated Press received inquiries on the "meteors" from Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Beaumont, Texas, and St. Joseph, Mo., in addition to having its local switchboards flooded with calls. One telephone informant said he had loaded all his children into his car, had filled it with gasoline, and was going somewhere. "Where is it safe?" he wanted to know.
Atlanta reported that listeners throughout the Southeast "had it that a planet struck in New Jersey, with monsters and almost everything and anywhere from 40 to 7,000 people reported killed." Editors said responsible persons, known to them, were among the anxious information seekers.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/7458/waroftheworldstripodak8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In Birmingham, Ala., people gathered in groups and prayed, and Memphis had its full quota of weeping women calling in to learn the facts.
In Indianapolis a woman ran into a church screaming: "New York destroyed; it's the end of the world. You might as well go home to die. I just heard it on the radio." Services were dismissed immediately.
Five students at Brevard College, N. C., fainted and panic gripped the campus for a half hour with many students fighting for telephones to ask their parents to come and get them.
A man in Pittsburgh said he returned home in the midst of the broadcast and found his wife in the bathroom, a bottle of poison in her hand, and screaming: "I'd rather die this way than like that." He calmed her, listened to the broadcast and then rushed to a telephone to get an explanation.
Officials of station CFRB, Toronto, said they never had had so many inquiries regarding a single broadcast, the Canadian Press reported.
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/903/insane7zosw1.jpg
Seventy-one years ago, on this night in 1938, the radio program "Mercury Theater on the Air" presents Orson Welles' production of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, a fictional drama about a Martian invasion in Grovers Mill, New Jersey.
The program, sparked a panic among listeners who believed the play was an actual news broadcast. Of the six million listeners who heard the show, more than 1.7 million reportedly believed the story was true.
See, Welles set it up as an actual news account by beginning the broadcast with a typical theatrical program, to which his listeners were accustomed. Then, after a few minutes, Welles "realistically" interrupted that show with reports of the horrifying Martian invasion. America swallowed it "hook, line and sinker!"
Numerous accounts from around the country highlighted the fact and reactions ranged from folks "headin' to the hills," to wearing out the cops with thousands of phone calls, to shootings of innocents who had been mistaken for invading Martians.:eek:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6060/wotwyn5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The broadcast, which disrupted households, interrupted religious services, created traffic jams and clogged communications systems. Hundreds of people were taken to hospitals and required medical treatment for shock and hysteria.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/9849/wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwdanieyf3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
What follows is a sampling of reactions from around the U.S to the nationally broadcast radio program:
In Newark, in a single block at Heddon Terrace and Hawthorne Avenue, more than twenty families rushed out of their houses with wet handkerchiefs and towels over their faces to flee from what they believed was to be a gas raid. Some began moving household furniture.
Throughout New York state, families left their homes, some to flee to near-by parks. Thousands of persons called the police, newspapers and radio stations here and in other cities of the United States and Canada seeking advice on protective measures against the raids.
In San Francisco the general impression of listeners seemed to be that an overwhelming force had invaded the United States from the air, was in the process of destroying New York and threatening to move westward. "My God," roared one inquirer into a telephone, "where can I volunteer my services? We've got to stop this awful thing."
Newspaper offices and radio stations in Chicago were swamped with telephone calls about the "meteor" that had fallen in New Jersey. Some said they had relatives in the "stricken area" and asked if the casualty list was available.
In parts of St. Louis men and women clustered in the streets in residential areas to discuss what they should do in the face of the sudden war. One suburban resident drove fifteen miles to a newspaper office to verify the radio "report."
In New Orleans a general impression prevailed that New Jersey had been devastated by the "invaders," but fewer inquiries were received than in other cities.
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/5871/wwwwwwwwwwwwwaroftheworoo0.gif (http://imageshack.us)
In Baltimore a woman engaged passage on an airliner for New York, where her daughter was is in school.
The Associated Press gathered the following reports of reaction to the broadcast:
At Fayetteville, N. C., people with relatives in the section of New Jersey where the mythical visitation had its locale went to a newspaper office in tears, seeking information.
A message from Providence, R. I., said: "Weeping and hysterical women swamped the switchboard of The Providence Journal for details of the massacre and destruction at New York, and officials of the electric company received scores of calls urging them to turn off all lights so that the city would be safe from the enemy."
Mass hysteria mounted so high in some cases that people told the police and newspapers they "saw" the invasion.
The Boston Globe told of one woman who claimed she could "see the fire," and said she and many others in her neighborhood were "getting out of here."
Minneapolis and St. Paul police switchboards were deluged with calls from frightened people.
The Times-Dispatch in Richmond, Va., reported some of their telephone calls from people who said they were "praying."
The Kansas City bureau of The Associated Press received inquiries on the "meteors" from Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Beaumont, Texas, and St. Joseph, Mo., in addition to having its local switchboards flooded with calls. One telephone informant said he had loaded all his children into his car, had filled it with gasoline, and was going somewhere. "Where is it safe?" he wanted to know.
Atlanta reported that listeners throughout the Southeast "had it that a planet struck in New Jersey, with monsters and almost everything and anywhere from 40 to 7,000 people reported killed." Editors said responsible persons, known to them, were among the anxious information seekers.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/7458/waroftheworldstripodak8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
In Birmingham, Ala., people gathered in groups and prayed, and Memphis had its full quota of weeping women calling in to learn the facts.
In Indianapolis a woman ran into a church screaming: "New York destroyed; it's the end of the world. You might as well go home to die. I just heard it on the radio." Services were dismissed immediately.
Five students at Brevard College, N. C., fainted and panic gripped the campus for a half hour with many students fighting for telephones to ask their parents to come and get them.
A man in Pittsburgh said he returned home in the midst of the broadcast and found his wife in the bathroom, a bottle of poison in her hand, and screaming: "I'd rather die this way than like that." He calmed her, listened to the broadcast and then rushed to a telephone to get an explanation.
Officials of station CFRB, Toronto, said they never had had so many inquiries regarding a single broadcast, the Canadian Press reported.
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/903/insane7zosw1.jpg