L'Italo-Americano

T he radio has a special place in the memories of m a n y I t a l i a n s , r e g a r d l e s s o f their age: just like anywhere else in the world, the radio was and still is for many a companion during long trips t o a n d f r o m w o r k , o r t h e first voice filling the kitchen in the morning, along with the smell of coffee and toast. The radio is also a cradle to f o n d t e e n a g e m e m o r i e s , especially, perhaps, for the older among us, those who didn't grow up with Spotify a n d Y o u T u b e : d o y o u remember the adrenaline r u s h w h e n y o u r f a v o r i t e song came on, and the sense of accomplishment after you m a n a g e d t o r e c o r d i t o n tape, its last notes always covered by the DJ's voice? Ah, memories… In Italy, the history of the radio goes hand in hand with that of the country, and not only because it debuted during the very first years of Fascism, but also because it became, during the war, a unifier for the community, with neighbors gathering around it to listen to war bulletins or to enjoy opera and forget, for a couple of h o u r s , a b o u t t h e h e l l unleashing outside the door. It was also an instrument for propaganda, of course, in Italy as in other countries, but also one for hope and liberation, because Radio Londra - the BBC Radio service in Italian, part of the vast Radio London network, which aired from London to the people of Nazi-occupied areas on the continent - was for many an important out- let and a source of objective information about the con- flict. And then, after the end of the war, it was the radio and not television, to create the first VIPs, to bring music, voices, joy, and glamor into Italian homes. It also built a sense of unity among Ital- ians of all regions, who for the first time would listen to the same programs, idolize the same divas and the same s p e a k e r s . I f i t w a s T V t o finally transform Italy into " t h e l a n d o f I t a l i a n s , " b y teaching the language and creating a common popular culture from North to South, the roots and seeds of it all came from the radio. Officially, the history of Italian radio began on the 2 7 t h o f A u g u s t 1 9 2 4 , n o t even two years into the fas- cist Ventennio. We are in elegant Turin, the capital of the North-western region of P i e d m o n t , a n d t h e f i r s t home of URI, the Unione Radiofonica Italiana (the Italian Radio Union). URI had brought together several radio operators, that were already active on the territo- ry. In later years, it would change its name to EIAR, then, in 1944, in RAI , or Radio Audizioni Italia, later Radiotelevisione Italiana. On the 8th of February 1 9 2 3 , r o y a l d e c r e e 1 0 6 7 d e c l a r e d r a d i o w a v e s belonged to the State, which could concede their use to s e l e c t e d p a r t n e r s . M a n y companies joined the race to become the first national radio company. The first of them was SIRAC, the Soci- età Italiana Radio Audizioni Circolari, which depended f r o m t h e A m e r i c a n R C A ; t h e n , t h e r e w a s S A R , t h e S o c i e t à A n o n i m a R a d i o - fono, founded by Gugliel- mo Marconi in 1923; the third was a society called Araldo Telefonico, which had been already broadcast- i n g u s i n g a p r o v i s i o n a l license, under the name of Radio Araldo. Radio Araldo was known for connecting m u s i c h a l l s a n d t h e a t r e s around Rome to a system t h a t a l l o w e d t o t r a n s m i t music through the telephone to its subscribers, among whom, it is said, there was also the Queen of Italy. As it had accrued some years of experience already, Araldo Telefonico was con- sidered a sure winner, but it was difficult not to consider SAR, a society supported by the creator of radio himself, Guglielmo Marconi. Indeed, when Costanzo Ciano - father of Galeazzo, future minister of foreign affairs under Mussolini, and known e s t i m a t o r o f M a r c o n i ' s - became minister of commu- nications, everyone thought SAR was going to make it. But Ciano must have had some serious rivals because, in the end, it was decided to pick the winner with a prac- tical task: transmitting Mus- solini's live speech from the Costanzi Theatre, in Rome (today's Teatro dell'Opera). Radio Araldo, accustomed t o l i v e t o b r o a d c a s t , a l t h o u g h u s i n g d i f f e r e n t means, won. Still not satis- fied, Ciano asked the three c o m p a n i e s ( S I R A C , S A R , and Radio Araldo) to find an agreement, which was reached. However, before signing the contract, Radio Araldo admitted to not hav- ing enough capital to invest in the venture and pulled out. SIRAC and SAR, then, joined forces, merging into URI and broadcasting for the first time on the 6th of October 1924. The first voice of our national radio was M a r i a L u i s a B o n c o m - p a g n i , w h o c a m e f r o m Radio Araldo and was to remain a popular figure in the radio panorama even in RAI: it shouldn't surprise she was lovingly known as zia radio, or "auntie radio." W i t h l i v e b r o a d c a s t s available, Italians now want- ed their own radio in the liv- ing room. The first, 100% Made in Italy radio set was Radio Balilla, the brain- child of "Italic ingenuity," w h i c h c o u l d b e y o u r s f o r 430 lire. We said at the beginning how the radio became, dur- ing the war years, a locus for people to be together, to cre- ate a sense of community in a moment when many fami- lies feared for fathers, chil- dren, and brothers who were a t t h e f r o n t . G a t h e r i n g around the radio was more than listening to the news or trying to relax with some music, it was a way to share a n x i e t i e s a n d m a k e t h e m m o r e b e a r a b l e , a w a y t o s e e k a n d f i n d s u p p o r t , e m p a t h y , a n d h u m a n warmth in the solitude and fear that wars always carry along. After the end of the con- flict, Italy was ready to start over, to build upon the rub- ble of 5 years of fighting and 20 of dictatorship. Those w e r e b l e a k t i m e s , w h e r e food was scarce and people had to live with the trauma and scars of the violence and pain they had witnessed. It would take decades to fully understand the devastating effect the war had on the men and women who fought i t , o n t h e i r c h i l d r e n a n d their spouses. Yet, there was a n e a g e r n e s s t o b l o o m , a true, real, powerful lust for life only that generation, the one who lived the war, could describe in detail and with accuracy. Anyone who had grandparents belonging to that generation can testify: they had a love for life and a joy in the eyes you can hard- ly find in people today. In their hands, the radio became a daily melody, a way to learn about the new h a b i t s a n d t r e n d s o f t h e country. In the 1950s, the Festival di Sanremo started, a n d i t w a s t h e r a d i o t o broadcast it: just like today we meet at sports bars to watch the game with friends, I t a l i a n s b a c k t h e n w o u l d visit cafés or their neigh- bors' to listen to Mike Bon- g i o r n o i n t r o d u c i n g N i l l a P i z z i , a n d t h e n t o N i l l a enchanting the world with h e r v o i c e . E v e r y t h i n g seemed possible, when Nilla sang, from North to South. Italy was starting to dream big, and the radio provided the soundtrack to the first steps of the nation into the post-war era. Italy and the radio, (almost) 100 years of love LUCA SIGNORINI An old fashioned radio, from the fascist "ventennio."Photo courtesy Alessia Mazzarella LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano

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