Neato Coolville

Friday, October 30, 2026

Halloween Movie Theater Ads Part 6: 1966

War of the Worlds Newspaper Clippings

This 1970 ad from Springfield, Missouri sets up today's blog post! Neat that KGBX rebroadcasted the infamous War of the Worlds on Halloween. It probably brought back some frightful memories for original listeners. So now let's gather around this Zenith radio ad and travel back to 1938 to look at some newspaper clippings about the infamous radio show that shocked America.

I suppose people didn't look that close in their local newspaper but the show was previewed as these clippings prove.

Even with newspaper previews and the intro from the original broadcast—which made it clear that it was a dramatization—people were still alarmed and frightened. Now, 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 a 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 worrying 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.