Don’t people talk anymore? When I go for a walk and try to exchange pleasantries like “cold day” or “nice dog” with another walker, they often point to earbuds, look annoyed, and say “What?”
I recently was at the airport waiting for my plane to arrive, and almost everyone was wearing earbuds or earphones (and often staring at their phone); each in their own little world. I have vague memories of chatting with folks at the gate years ago about the weather, or fussy children, or whatever, but that now seems so quaint.
I tend to think this is a new problem, but then I came across a cartoon in a hundred-year-old issue of Farm Journal about a hired hand who never hears people talking to him because he’s wearing radio earphones — except when there is a call for dinner. Dang, that new technology!
Both in 1926 and in 2026, earphones can interfere with communication. Thank goodness food can bring us together a hundred years ago, as well as now.
I didn’t know there were earphones that far back. I remember hearing aids that were attached to a small box by a wire and transistor radios in the ’60s.
Amplifiers (amps) weren’t so strong back then, so radio sets came with earphones. https://www.fasttrackteaching.com/ffap/Unit_8_Early_1900s/U8_Radio_Pics.html
I hadn’t thought of that. It makes sense that the the amplifiers weren’t very strong, so people needed headphones. Thanks for the link. I especially enjoyed the picture of the farmer milking his cow while wearing headphones to listen to his radio. I grew up on a dairy farm, and we always had the radio blaring in the barn. It’s fun to see how they listened to the radio is an earlier era.
I also was surprised that earphones could be used to listen to some radios a hundred years ago. I remember occasionally listening to a transistor radio with earphones when I was a child, but had no clue that they were used well before the 1960’s and 70’s.
Wow! What a great reminder to listen…and maybe even look up from our phone while taking a walk!
It’s so easy to get focused on music, podcasts, etc. when walking. 🙂
I know what you mean. Last week, I was waiting at the dentist’s and there were about five others in the room. Every one of them were sitting there engaged in their little phones. I was thinking about very pleasant conversations I’ve had in the past just chatting in waiting rooms, and I was determined not to take out my phone. Did you see the northern lights last night, I asked. two people looked up, said no and went right back to their hand-held devices.
This cartoon was a surprise. I also didn’t know there were earphones that far back except in radio control rooms, and those were big!
Social media sure seems to be successfully keeping people engaged in interacting with the content on their phones. That said, I was traveling yesterday and had a nice conversation (though short – I’m not big on long conversations on planes because it can annoy others) with the woman sitting next to me on a plane. She had recently retired as a special education teacher and now was a bartender. She seemed to be having a lot of fun.
What fun! Special education teacher to bartender. Actually, not a big stretch!!!
One of my daughters and I were just talking about this a few days ago. In spite of some radio ear phones 100 years ago, I’m sure it wasn’t wide spread like it is now.
Agree – it would have been much less common back then.
I was curious as to why the hand was pouring water from a kettle into the contraption. I speculated it was an outdoor hand operated water pump, but it does not look like the ones I was familiar with. Looking it up, sure enough, the purpose was to thaw the pump after a freeze by circulating hot water, and in winter, it was considered a daily task. Radio earbuds were invented in 1926! What an interesting cartoon!
When I saw this picture, I thought that the drawing was strange, and that if I had been the cartoonist that I could have come up with a better illustration. Thanks for researching this and figuring out why he was pouring water from the kettle into the hand-operated water pump.
It’s also fascinating that radio earbuds were invented in the same year that this cartoon was published. It sure didn’t take long for people to start worrying that their use might create communication challenges.
I’m guessing farmers in 1926 knew exactly what it was, though! After I looked at it again, once I decided it was a water pump, then I saw the faucet with the ice dripping off, and the handle for pumping on the lower right, with icicle on it, too. None of the ones in Texas looked like that, but were more like the kerosene pumps at the service stations. Still, it is so much fun to see these things you post from a hundred years ago.
Similarly to you, the water pump in the drawing looks different from ones that I’m familiar with. But, as you noted, the pump style probably was very familiar to farmers a hundred years ago.
Chatting to strangers is becoming a lost art.
I still do it; just had a lovely conversation with the checker in the grocery store, and a customer who couldn’t find what she was looking for.
Unfortunately, I think that you are right, though I find that I make more of an effort than I once did to talk with people. My sense is that many people feel isolated and I sometimes am pleasantly surprised when I try to talk with someone.
I still chat with people. Some respond; some don’t.
I use earbuds only when I am walking – the music is what keeps me going! But my earbuds do not cancel the noise around me, so I can hear people and talk to them too!
Music can make the time (and miles . . . or maybe yards) go faster. Good to hear that you can hear people and talk with them when listening to music.
Radio ear-phones – didn’t know they existed back then!
I also was surprised how long they have been around.
Love that cartoon! Some people do still talk to strangers. I was sitting in a tiny waiting area yesterday with a few other folks waiting for either Cateract surgery consultations or to have a quick procedure to have their previous cateract surgeries “cleared” Four of the Five of us had a lovely chat. Of course that pretty much tells you the age group of the folks sitting there. 🤣
🙂 How true – the age of a group of people (as well as the setting) definitely affects how they interact with each other.
that’s hilarious about the ear phones. Most people nod or wave or say hi as i do my afternoon walk – but not all, and not as many as in previous times. oh well …
sherry
Times change. Your comment also makes me think about how we used to have a dog. Whenever we went for a walk and passed someone else walking a dog, our dog wanted to say “hi” to their dog. This led to conversations with the owners. I used to know everyone in the neighborhood with a dog, and many fewer of the people who didn’t have one.
yes, we used to have a lot of interactions when we had dogs!
When my man and I are out at a café, for instance, the majority of the patrons are sitting either looking at their phones or texting, etc. I’m so pleased that we, K and I, still engage in ‘actual’ conversation. Occasionally, yes, we are both guilty of picking up our phones, but, not for long. Gees… they also look so bored…
Funny ’bout the ‘radio earphones’. Some things never change – just the technology!
Agree- some things never change – just the technology.
Sheryl, we had that problem at work – so the rule was made. You can listen to your music but you can only wear ONE ear bud. The other ear needs to listen for a page or emergency instructions! New technology but still the old problems!!
I like how your work colleagues solved the problem. Just wearing one ear bud is a good solution.
It was a necessity!
I hear you. 🙂 🎧
I wouldn’t have thought about the earbuds and earphones from 100 years ago, but it is ever so true.
Great find in that cartoon. It’s true, announcements of food being ready, is one sound that’ll break through the earphones/buds noise. 🎧 🥗🍰
When I first saw this cartoon, I was surprised that earphones existed a hundred years ago.
Your words ring true! I do enjoy a nice casual conversation with strangers! Fascinating that you found a 100 year old cartoon!
Since I wrote this post, I’ve discovered that the first commercially licensed radio station (KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA) was established in 1920. Other radio stations quickly followed. It’s amazing that the popularity of radios increased so quickly that a cartoon about radio earphones resonated with readers of a farm magazine by 1926.