by Brian Rogers (Author) Before there was television, before there were computers, before there was the Internet with its audio and video streaming, before there were cell phones, iPods, and iPads, there was radio. Beginning in the early 1920s, electrical waves-mysterious to many-could be sent from senders or transmitters into boxes called radios in people's homes. Sometimes the boxes weren't boxes at all. In radio's earliest days, hobbyists built radios (called crystal sets) with wire and empty oatmeal boxes or similar materials. By 1930, radios were becoming massive pieces of wooden furniture proudly residing in living rooms. At first, the waves carried talks and music from transmitters in cities into radios nearby.