Marconi a Phoney? Change and Expansion in New Zealand Telecommunications in the Interwar Years

Abstract

The question in this paper's title was inspired by a George and Ira Gershwin song called 'They All Laughed'. This was among several well-known Gershwin melodies written for the 1937 film Shall We Dance? At one point this song, a tart satire on all who would de-bunk people of vision says 'they told Marconi wireless was a phoney'. The song concludes by making the point that he, Edison, the Wright Brothers and all the rest had the last laugh.

Clearly, Marconi was no phoney in New Zealand or else-where in the interwar years. The achievements of this solemn, industrious Italian-Irish genius. in short-wave radio, more than anything else, brought voices and news half a world away instantly into our home. By early 1930 wireless technology allowed New Zealanders to telephone London, hear the King address them in their homes (from Christmas, 1932 on) and, later, to tune into the rantings from Berlin of another leader. It was entirely appropriate that, upon Marconi's death in July 1937, two minutes silence was observed by wireless telegraph stations in New Zealand and throughout much of the world.