Freedom in my Pocket

The transistor radio could have been good for so many things. People have been know to learn a whole other language just by listening. But in 1954 when the transistor radio had its debut there was something slightly less academic waiting for those most poised to be listening. The first of the baby boomers were soon to be entering their teen age years and this would make a difference in how the radio was used to spread what was playing. Rock and Roll had been slowly swimming to the surface of the music scene since Crudup recorded his song, "That's All Right, Mama"in 1947.

 With each new invention, mass media was spreading its chosen message faster. Speed wasn't the only issue to be considered as this genre started to make its leap into the main stream. Marshall McLuhan was credited with saying "the medium is the message" and a extremely clear example of this fact is the discussion of radio and rock and roll. McLuhan was saying the form of a medium embeds itself in any message it would transmit or convey, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived. So this new thing, the transistor radio, gave the feeling of freedom from 'being confined to the family's console radio in the living room" says, Wesley Kinney. If we take that one step further we can safely assume that the freedom wasn't just from the console but included freedom from parents and the house in general.

 The theme songs for this perceived freedom would have been the rock and roll songs of the 50s; all out of the earshot of mom and dad. It is the beginning of the rebellion that comes to be associated with much of the era. The family up to this point had been pretty inseparable. Where rock and roll was not main stream, at first it was spreading rapidly almost secretly. The first radio show known to play rock and roll was fitting that it broadcast late at night. Starting in Cleveland, Ohio in 1951 and first became popular among teens who were already spreading the word. The arrival of the transistor radio would throw fuel on the fire. Teens anticipating listening to the late night music on a device of their own alone or just with other teens but not with mom and dad because you no longer had to or as Robert Palmer from Rolling Stone described it, "For some of us, it began late at night: huddled under bedroom covers with our ears glued to a radio pulling in black voices charged with intense emotion and propelled by a wildly kinetic rhythm through the after-midnight static. Growing up in the white-bread America of the Fifties, we had never heard anything like it, but we reacted, or remember reacting, instantaneously and were converted.We were believers before we knew what it was that had so spectacularly ripped the dull, familiar fabric of our lives."

 "Yeah Daddy, Let's rock and roll"/www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqKRYJS60Rc   was Moondog's handle and now there was a language that was different from their parents. For something to be considered a civilization it must have a language. The transistor radio was teaching these kids how to talk and to live a life unattached to the complexities of the more traditional and conservative music and their world. Rock and roll was described in an article in the New Yorker by Louis Menand as having a "learning curve for performing the stuff is short; the learning curve for appreciating it is non existent". In this way teens were moving away from what they viewed as their parents life via the radio that fit into a pocket. Rock and roll was wild and free and broke the rules with songs like 'Tutti Frutti" and "Wake Up Little Susie". It was open minded about new ideas.

Even the song "Splish, Splash", sent the message about teens just wanting to have a good time not sit at home and be bored on a Saturday night. Inside the transistor radio rock and roll shared the message of all life had to offer in the hopeful decade of the present and what was to come in the future right in the palm of your hand. "Rock and roll was much more than new music for us. It was obsession, and a way of life.", says Robert Palmer. The transistor radio was the messenger of what everyone needed to hear.

You've got Mail

There is an app for that?

 Dr. and Mrs. Meyers probably would not even begin to know what to think of that question or how it related to their dream of creating an educational children's magazine. Magazines had been around in some form since the 1700s and now Highlights was sending out its first publication. It was 1946. It was the Golden Age of..... radio. But with so many types of magazines to chose from and audiences targeted, children's education did not seem to be among the throng. Debatable if the Meyers were ahead or behind the times, their "fun with purpose" motto has continued to attract parents since it's inception.

 It could have been innovative for a kid to receive a magazine in the mail along side mom's Good Housekeeping or Cosmopolitan, at a time in history when children were to be seen not heard. If you didn't have a subscription you could catch Highlights at school or the doctor's office. That colorful cover made its rounds to wherever a kid might be. Fast forward this many years and now there is an app. Highlights has extended its already long life, especially compared to the first American magazine that only lasted 3 months, by plunging into the digital age. Maybe that's what Andrew Bradford and Benjamin Franklin needed to do to keep their magazines thriving. The Meyers have the heirs to their now mini empire to thank for feeling the weight of keeping their vision alive and having the savvy to know when it was time to do something new. Sometimes with technology you have to learn what works and what doesn't. When radio saw television taking off with the same variety shows they made successful just a short time before, radio shifted to focus more on music instead fighting to keep what was no longer working. The result was radio continued to be a mass media contender. Highlights is still in the game though. They have expanded to include different age groups and different book categories. this jump into the digital age is not to save them from drowning but a push to keep them afloat, hopefully, for many more years to come.They are diversifying their portfolio to strengthen their investment. In 2015 Fingerprint, a mobile educational and entertainment platform helped escort this great tradition in children's learning into some new territory. Highlights apps is merging the old with the new.

 Parents, both past and present, are interested in how their children are spending their time; even their spare time. They have also been interested in their children learning. The same yet a little different in that at this point technology is a force to be reckoned with. Where parents could keep some technology at bay if they put up a good fight, fighting technology now is futile. With the invention of Gutenberg's printing press way back in the 1400s, technology has continued to go full speed ahead with only some small breaks in between. It is here, and with that reality, helping children to navigate and dare I say master this ever changing entity to some degree,is what most parents are seeking to do. The tradition of Highlights was to give learning a spoonful of sugar; to engage children with games and fun while teaching them. Having a child to smile while learning. Even the logo on the Highlights Magazine was given a happy face(look at the H). The difference between now and then is children want devices and gadgets but parents still get to play gatekeeper. Knowing that Highlights offers apps that are helping children to learn problem solving skills and logical thinking skills gives parents a sense that time is not being wasted. But Highlights way of entertaining has always been through games and puzzles, and similar tools. All they have been offering for years is really perfect for these devices that have been around for way less time. There was no need to reinvent the wheel. The bonus is a child gets an education on two different levels. The basics of early childhood learning and not learning to work on a device via the app now adds another layer to the experience. Although a child might sit a book down and leave it, electronic devices seem to be a little more treasured because they cost a little bit more than a copy of a Highlights magazine. Parents of today who have grown up with technology everywhere want there children to be savvy. They also want things to be convenient and accessible. The working parent has to have things at their fingertips to simplify their life. By reaching out to the parents who have their whole life on their phone or need entertainment as they do errands so their child is sure to have a device Highlights has the answer.The weekly subscription is not gone. You still have the option of giving your child that special enjoyment of getting their very own piece of mail.

 Some special moments can't be replaced with technology. If you are a more traditional parent who sees the value in a written page you can have a hard copy delivered every week. If you are not interested in the old but you still want to keep your child moving forward with the fast paced digital age,well, there's an app for that! Either way Highlights is there to help you help your child to learn and grow in the 21st century.