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The ways A.A's carry the message have changed over the years. The message hasn't changed. 1935: Bill W. & Dr. Bob meet face to face in Akron. 1939: The Big Book is published, carrying the message in print. 1939: First public service message about the Big Book appears in a New York Times ad, "Have You an Alcoholic Problem?" 1941: NBC begins a 13-part syndicated radio program called Is Alcohol a Problem in Your Home? 1941: Saturday Evening Post publishes Jack Alexander's article about AA. 1944: The AA Grapevine begins monthly publication as AA's meeting in print. 1945: Paramount Pictures releases the movie The Lost Weekend, based on the novel by Charles Jackson. 1946: Marty Mann explains alcoholism and AA on the radio show We The People. 1947: First transatlantic telephone call is received by The Alcoholic Foundation from an Army hospital in Germany. 1948: An AA member explains principles of the program on Hi, Jinx, a morning radio show on WNBC. 1949: CBS radio broadcasts a 10 episode drama about an alcoholic who finds AA. GSO is deluged with inquiries. 1953: HAAM, an international fellowship of AA ham radio operators, is established. 1953: Art Linkletter interviews a masked woman member of AA on his TV show. 1954: The Grapevine asks for the signals of amateur radio operators who would like to communicate via the airwaves. 1956: An all-AA TV program, Mr. Hope, an actual closed meeting of masked AA members, debuts in Detroit. AA HQ in Detroit is besieged by telephone calls and letters from people wanting more information. 1956: Bill W. and Eve M. from general service are anonymous guests on the popular radio show Martha Deane on WOR. 1960: Broadcast of a radio show called Alcoholism - The Problem and the Hope, featuring Marty Mann and a GSO staff member. 1962: The Betty Furness radio program features a show on international AA. 1963: The movie Days of Wine and Roses is previewed by GSO staffers before its release. l963: WNBC begins broadcasting an AA radio program called Ask an Alcoholic. 1966: AA creates a 60-second TV spot for distribution by public information committees. 1966: Five groups in two states hold the first telephone conference-call meeting. 1970: KUAT in Tucson, AZ, launches AA-of-the-Air, a radio show for homebound AAs. 1973: David Suskind interviews 5 women AAs on his TV show. 1976: Members of AA, Al-Anon, and Alateen are interviewed on the John Gentry Radio Show on WGCH in Greenwich, CT. 1979: The 29th General Service Conference views and approves Alcoholics Anonymous - An Inside View, a 28-minute color film produced by AA. 1980s: First AA bulletin boards, online meetings, and chat rooms appear. 1986: Q-Link, one of the first online AA groups, begins meeting, growing to 200 members nationwide in two years. 1988: GSO begins compiling a list of online AA groups. 1989: ABC-TV broadcasts My Name is Bill W. 1990s: TDD (text telephone) technology helps hard-of-hearing AAs talk with other AAs. 1990: Kansas Area public information establishes AA Message of the Day, a telephone service featuring daily readings from the "Twelve and Twelve." 1990: Connecticut's public radio show, Open Air New England, puts open AA meetings on the air. 1992: Thirteen 1-hour AA meetings airing 3 times a week are broadcast on cable TV stations in Portland, OR. 1995: Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous (OIAA) is established. 2002: The Queensland Young People in AA Convention is netcast worldwide from Australia. 2002: Online AA reps meet, hoping to establish a service conference for AA in cyberspace. 2003-2004: Today there are literally thousands of Cyberspace Recovery sites and domains, AA chats, bulletin boards and meetings, a number of which are live voice meetings regularly scheduled 24 hours around the clock, and in many languages and countries other than the US. My "HomeGroup on the Web" is Friends In Recovery bulletin board and chat since 1995. Come visit with us!! [Editorial Note: The online recovery group, Friends In Recovery, referenced above no longer exists. The link has been removed.]  Love and Peace, Barefoot Index of AA History Pages on Barefoot's Domain As in so many things, especially with we alcoholics, our History is our Greatest Asset!.. We each arrived at the doors of AA with an intensive and lengthy "History of Things That Do Not Work" .. Today, In AA and In Recovery, Our History has added an intensive and lengthy "History of Things That DO Work!!" and We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it!!
KEEP COMING BACK!
 On the Web Jan 2004 in the Spirit of Cooperation Three mighty important things, Pardn'r, LOVE And PEACE and SOBRIETY  |
