Broadcasting cookery: BBC radio programmes in the 1920s and 1930s

Abstract

The development of British radio broadcasting technology in the 1920s and 1930s and, equally importantly, the progressively widespread purchase and use of radio sets established a new platform from which to engage and influence the population on a number of matters. The British Broadcasting Corporation's public service principles of programmes to inform, educate and entertain gave rise to various content experiments at a time when there were very few precedents. One such innovation was the cookery talk. This was broadcast live, accomplished without the possibility of practical demonstration, and constituted a new, and abstract, form of communication primarily designed for women in their own homes. In this, women were the earliest and most frequent contributors, and their broadcast content differed from that provided by men. By reference to archive material, this article examines the social context and the thinking behind those early years of radio cookery talks and documents the contributors who were to establish this now‐familiar genre of broadcasting.

‘Common Sense Slimming’ - How the contribution of Joan Robins, television’s ‘afternoon cook’, was not the perfect-fit for the culture of the BBC in the 1950s

“…Robins had joined the Ministry of Food in 1940, rising to oversee ‘food advice’ ( Middlesex Independent and West London Star , 1947). Although uncredited in the Radio Times , Robins had herself presented regular talks as part of the Kitchen Front series from 1942 (see Lyons and Ross, 2016), which had helped to build her experience as a broadcaster (ODNB, 2021). Robins left the Ministry of Food in 1947 to accept a promotion at the Gas Light and Coke Company, where she oversaw the Home Service Section (ODNB, 2021) with a focus on ‘instruction in the home’ ( Middlesex Independent and West London Star , 1947).…”

Does public broadcasting increase voter turnout? Evidence from the roll out of BBC radio in the 1920s

“…From the very outset in 1922, a centralised news programme was broadcast from London each evening (Pawley (1972); Pepler (1988); Briggs (1995)). But even beyond news, many of the cultural programmes that the BBC aired were also drawn from London and transmitted to the rest of the country (Hajkowski 2013;Lyon and Ross 2016). Primary evidence of this can be seen on the BBC's online archive BBC Genome, which records the precise radio schedules initially outlined in the Radio Times magazine, from 1923 onwards.…”

Half the battle is fought in the kitchen: convalescence and cookery in 1920s and 1930s Britain

“…Articles about health or cookery were now to be found. This was linked to a more explicit recognition of their women readers and occasioned not only by press rivalry but competition from radio programming (see Lyon and Ross 2016). Anyone seeking guidance on invalid care would probably have read such articles and seen the advertising material for invalid food products.…”

“…When radio programs of the 1920s and 1930s are considered, little can now be known about the detail of content, as recordings do not exist, but it is clear that invalid cookery was recognized as relevant scheduling. As with radio cookery programs more generally, this occurred from the earliest days of broadcasting (Lyon and Ross 2016). The first talk appears to be, "Invalid Cookery" by Annie Grey, on the British Broadcasting Company's Bournemouth transmitter on July 25, 1924 and served as filler content for a piano and dance band program relayed from the Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth.…”

“…Here, we share Williams' interest in the nature of dietary advice but restrict our analysis to a more recent historical context -the 1920s and 1930s -and extend it to other sources for recipes and more general dietary guidance. In this article, therefore, there is an examination of the continued importance of "invalid cookery" in this period of major cultural and structural change 2 that, often painfully, heralded a new framework for so much of British society (see background discussion in Lyon and Ross 2016;Lyon 2018aLyon , 2018b.…”