From mass hysteria to humorous hoax

Welles’ Martians in ‘The War of the Worlds’ not so scary 75 years later

By Minerva Hernandez-Garcia

News coverage of Orson Welles’ live radio drama, “The War of the Worlds,” based on the H.G. Wells 1898 novel by the same name, was immediate and spanned the U.S., coast to coast. Accounts of the event appeared on the front pages of newspapers from Los Angeles to New York, with headlines emphasizing the ensuing panic following the fictitious news-style broadcast. Another common thread covered by the media was the Federal Communications Commission’s involvement after the panic subsided and radio listeners demanded the FCC adopt proper guidelines to avoid another bout of mass hysteria.

The Oct. 31, 1938 front page of The New York Times. 

The article details the panic that ensued the 

broadcast of Orson Welles’ dramatization of H.G. 

Wells’ “The War of the Worlds.” (Copyright New York 

Times Company Oct 31, 1938)

In the Oct. 31, 1928, issue of The New York Times, the headline was “Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as Fact,” followed by the subhead, “Many Flee Homes to Escape 'Gas Raid From Mars'--Phone Calls Swamp Police at Broadcast of Wells Fantasy.” The article is a perfect example of the immediate coverage seen after the broadcast. It details the actual drama in the lead: “A wave of mass hysteria seized thousands of radio listeners throughout the nation between 8:15 and 9:30 o’clock last night when a broadcast of a dramatization of H.G. Wells’ fantasy, “The War of the Worlds,” led thousands to believe that an interplanetary conflict had started with invading Martians spreading wide death and destruction in New Jersey and New York”; how it affected the public: “The broadcast, which disrupted households, interrupted religious services, created traffic jams and clogged communications systems…”; and how people responded: “In Newark, in a single block at Heddon Terrace and Hawthorne Avenue, more than twenty families rushed out of their houses with wet handkerchiefs and towels over their faces to flee from what they believed was to be a gas raid. Some began moving household furniture. Throughout New York families left their homes, some to flee to near-by parks. Thousands of persons called the police, newspapers…”

2013 marked the 75^th anniversary of the Oct. 30, 1938, broadcast. Today’s coverage of the event definitely takes a much lighter look as compared to the immediate coverage in 1938. The historic details are much the same: the program began at about 8 p.m., there were only a couple of announcements detailing the broadcast’s fictitious nature, mass hysteria ensued, etc., but the tone of the stories detailing the drama today, compared to news coverage in 1938, has shifted dramatically. The Los Angeles Times referred to the incident as “Welles' night of mischief” in its coverage of the 75th anniversary. It is also worth mentioning that the topic has been demoted from a front-page article to one found under entertainment.

On the other coast, The New York Daily News featured a slideshow commemorating the anniversary of the transmission. The slideshow goes through the phases of the broadcast, from Welles directing, producing and narrating “The War of the Worlds,” to the news coverage it received, to the people of New Jersey taking action against the supposed invading aliens.

Orson Welles narrating a broadcast dramatization of H.G. Wells’ "The War 

of the Worlds" in New York on Oct. 30, 1938. The news-style broadcast 

caused thousands of listeners from coast to coast to panic. (AP Photo)

A lead showing today’s audience what radio listeners heard on the night of Oct. 30, 1938, would work to set the mood as it did over 75 years ago. The Los Angeles Times does this in its coverage of the 75^th anniversary of the broadcast:

“Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt our program of dance music to bring you a special bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News. At twenty minutes before eight, central time, Professor Farrell of the Mount Jennings Observatory, Chicago, Ill., reports observing several explosions of incandescent gas, occurring at regular interviews on the planet Mars.” — Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds.”

Commemorative coverage should also, in my opinion, include a detailed account of the immediate reporting of the drama Welles’ drama created. It could include front-page coverage featured in the New York Times and other newspapers in 1938. An infographic detailing how many newspapers included the broadcast in their issues would be data that would work to give people an idea of what an impact the show made. This could then lead in to the less reported side of the story: the public’s push to have the FCC take action. It would be very informative to show the readers of today the backlash the event caused and how it affected not only the radio-listening public but Welles, the FCC and the radio industry. 

The New York Times/ Oct. 31, 1938/ 1, 4

The New York Times/ Nov. 1, 1938/ 1, 26

The Washington Post/ Oct. 31, 1938/ 1,12

The Washington Post/ Nov. 1, 1938/ 1,4

Los Angeles Times/ Oct. 31, 1938/ 1,2

Los Angeles Times/ Nov. 1, 1938/ 1, 2

Minerva Hernandez-Garcia is a senior majoring in mass communication at Texas State University. You can reach her at mah7@txstate.edu or @MinervaAHG