While the term \u2018soap opera\u2019 is broadly used today to mean a radio or TV drama series dealing with domestic situations, in the beginning, soap opera was used to refer to \u2018daytime\u2019 serials (and not evening serials).<\/li>\n

The word opera<\/i> meaning \u201cwork\u201d in Italian was first used in the musical\/theatrical sense in 1639 (musical work = opera).<\/li>\n

Opera, since then, has been used to refer to a kind of theatrical performance in which music plays a leading role.<\/li>\n

And some of the most popular operas by great music composers such as Mozart<\/span><\/a> (1756-1791), Verdi<\/span><\/a> (1813-1901), and Puccini<\/span><\/a> (1858-1924) revolved around people and family stories.<\/li>\n

It is from here that the term \u2018opera\u2019 was picked up for radio and TV serials, which depicted the interconnected lives of many characters in a sentimental, melodramatic way.<\/li>\n

Now, in the 1920s and the 1930s, a number of such serials were broadcast on radio during the daytime, targeted mainly to housewives.<\/li>\n

And with housewives as the audience, radio stations began pitching advertising space on the radio to manufacturers of household products.<\/li>\n

Procter & Gamble<\/span><\/a> (P&G) was the first major advertiser to sponsor one of the daytime dramas for its Oxydol soap powder (a laundry detergent).<\/li>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for other soap and household goods manufacturers to start sponsoring\/advertising on daytime shows.<\/li>\n

Since too much \u2018soap\u2019 sponsorship was happening (P&G sponsored around 20 shows over the next few years and also produced a few daytime shows), the name \u2018soap opera\u2019 stuck.<\/li>\n

While the term \u2018soap opera\u2019 to refer to these shows was used for the first time in 1939 in Los Angeles Times, the first program to be considered a soap opera is Pained Dreams<\/span><\/a> (1930).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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