In the 1930's electricity was still relatively new. After all, the lightbulb was first patented only 50 years before.
We tend to think people of that era were naive in their belief that electrical devices were somewhat akin to magic. They looked for answers there. Sometimes there were actually answers, other times they allowed what they already believed get in the way of discovering what was true. People are not that different today.
People in the '30s were still cranking their phones. Some of them actually held séances gathered around radios! Believing that when tuned into the static between stations they could communicate with the dead! Inventors also were fascinated by this new and wondrous thing. Some of them presented wonders beyond understanding, and were lauded for their achievements. Others were not met with such warm receptions.
Nevertheless the works of many of the scientists and inventors of the time are continuing to benefit our world today. Einstein, Edison, Tesla, Reich and Rife were all part of that world. Obviously, some were viewed as geniuses and others were ridiculed out of business. And, that's what it was about. Henry Ford's assembly line was the corporate ideal of the time, as was crushing all competition.