It’s likely that the readership of Radio News a hundred years ago was mostly young men who had been bitten by the radio bug.  The April 1921 issue carried this article entreating them to get their friends interested in the hobby. It pointed out that there were “many bright boys and young men who are spending their evenings in idleness or bad company simply because they haven’t found an interesting hobby.” The ideal hobby, of course, was amateur radio, and it was one that would lead to a big future for those who got in on the ground floor with a thorough practical knowledge of radio.

But there was more: “boys, there is an additional reason for getting interested in radio. The ‘reason’ being shown in the accompanying photographs. Some of you fellows may not have known it, but many of the fair sex have gone in for radio and more are taking it up all the time.”

That’s right. Amateur Radio was a veritable chick magnet!  “What could be more interesting than a radiofone conversation during a long, lonesome evening with a sweet-voiced girl on the other end?  Wait until the radiofone becomes more universal and we predict many a romance will be started just this very way.”

The promised photos include, at the lower left, an unidentified girl at her radio set, somewhere in Brooklyn. And at the lower right, a “girl amateur” is receiving some C.W. instruction at the Second District Radio Convention Exhibition.

The picture at the top of the page isn’t, it turns out, just a candid shot of two young women tuning in their crystal set while out for a walk. It’s actually a still from the silent film short feature “Eve’s Wireless“.

The article identifies the actresses as Peggy Brady and Alice Brady of the Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic, a somewhat risque rooftop after-hours presentation after the Ziegfeld Follies let out for the night.

You can view the entire film here: