Growing up during the Depression, Ray Bintliff still remembers listening to the adventures of The Shadow and Little Orphan Annie on his parents’ Philco console radio. The 83-year-old Acton resident comes from a generation of Americans who heard history coming into their living rooms. On radios made by Zenith, RCA and Sparton, they heard Orson Welles announce a Martian invasion and FDR pronounce a "Day of Infamy." They heard about the D-Day invasion at Normandy and the antics of Fibber McGee and Molly. Many, like Thomas Romano of Grafton and John V. Terrey of Carlisle, followed a boyhood passion for...