If the roots of American popular music were well-established by the end of the 1920s, they flourished in the '30s in spite of--and in a certain sense because of--the Great Depression, sustained and propelled by the continued technical and commercial development and maturity of radio and film, underpinned by the beleaguered but surviving stage, recording and sheet music industries. The Hard Times were the Golden Age of Radio, the Swing Era, and the years when Hollywood came into its own. And in so many ways the outpouring of music and entertainment made possible by these currents sustained and brought folks together in a way never possible before.