Hi Maisie You can download sample census forms from various places, including Ancestry http://www.ancestry.co.uk/download/forms Which makes the column headers much easier to read Its hard to fathom out the reasons that some questions were included but in the case of the radio question, I would suggest it was to gauge affluence in the main Radios although a luxury were becoming more and more common in most homes by 1930, the powers that be would want to know just how affluent a house or neighbourhood was at points in time They might also want to know how widespread the ownership of radios were for getting public announcements out to the population Media has changed over time from a posted notice nailed to the tree on the village green, newspapers, radio, cinema, TV then the internet and people in power have always wanted to know how people would get their news and information And you are right there is a lot more to learn from the census that just bare names, occupations and birth places Most years varied slightly from the previous ones, some also varied slightly England/Wales to Scotland for example the question asked on some of the census in Scotland regarding how many rooms with one or more windows, or how many children of a certain age were attending school or being educated at home Language, literacy and religion are also questions that crop up in some Scots and Irish census, all can help to paint a picture of the family at that time Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) On 13/10/2013 04:06, Maisie Egger wrote: > The print is very small on the Williston Park Village, Nassau County, > N.Y. 1930 census. It seems as if the heading is Radio Set, and a > capital R indicated for those homeowners who had a radio set. I > wonder what the significance was for this category in 1930 . > > Only two neighbours out of 14 houses indicated that they did not have > a radio set. They appear to be American-born, so presumably there > would be no problem with the English language. Three residents, also > with a radio set, were born in Scotland, one in Germany and one in > Austria (my husband’s father; though he indicated he was born in > Illinois, was actually born in Austria, so you can’t believe what you > read on a census!). > > I just thought this was the oddest thing that owning a radio set > would be important enough to be a heading on a census. Was there a > reason, such as in Britain where one pays a t.v. tax? Were radios > taxed then? My husband said that many radios were built into > substantial looking pieces of furniture “back then”.

Thanks, Nivard, The sample censuses did not match the ones I have for 1930 and 1940, but with much squinting and with the help of a magnifying glass I managed to make out most of the headings. Being a Nosey Parker I was interested in the column headed Ages of First Marriage, but there was not a column to indicate subsequent marriages! One column I could not quite understand in the 1940 census was "Attended school or college and time since March 1937 (Yes or No)". Alongside my husband's family, it looks like No and 4.4 for the oldest son. He was born in 1912 and graduated from a private Catholic School. His sister, born 1915, also has No against her name and completed 4.8 years. One brother is serving in the army and is not included in the 1940 census; however, Joe's next in age brother, at age 16, is shown as Yes with 4.3 years (?), then Joe at 11 Yes with 5 years. Joe'ss entry is the only one that makes sense, sort of, as he would have been enrolled in public school from the age of five onward and so it should have been 6 (years) after his name if one were to count his education completed in years in 1940. Thick as a plank Maisie ---------------------------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: Nivard Ovington Sent: Sunday, October 13, 2013 2:15 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Lanark] Radio Set: 1930 Census heading Hi Maisie You can download sample census forms from various places, including Ancestry http://www.ancestry.co.uk/download/forms Which makes the column headers much easier to read ---------------------------------------------------------