1938 War of the Worlds Newspaper Clippings

This ad is from 1970 and how neat that KGBX in Springfield, Missouri rebroadcasted the infamous War of the World on Halloween.  Let's gather around this Zenith radio ad and travel back to 1938 to look at some of the newspaper clippings from the radio show that shocked America. 

I guess people didn't look all that closely in their newspaper because I found clippings that advertised the upcoming broadcast of Mercury Theater's War of the Worlds. 

Even with the newspaper previews and the intro from the original broadcast, letting it be know it was a drama, people were alarmed and frightened.  Let's take a look at some of the fallout with these newspaper articles.  

Amazing that this Pasadena theater played the broadcast. I wonder what kind of images were projected on the screen or if any.  Maybe the audience just sat in the darkened theater and listened.  

Here's an 1978 article that looks back.

If you've never listened to the original broadcast go seek it out on YouTube and give it a listen.  Try to picture yourself as someone living in 1938.  You've been surviving the "great depression" and worried about a possible world war.  Unlike today, your mind isn't filled with fantastic images from social media, movies and television.  Just sit on your sofa, dim the lights and go back in time to 1938 when the War of the Worlds invaded the airwaves. 

On a much smaller scale, history was repeated but this time on Texas televison.  Check out this article from 1982.