TRANSISTOR RADIOS' photostream  

Inflicted with the collecting disease. I have over 1100 radios ranging from the world's first transistor radio - the Regency TR-1, The extremely rare Sony TR-5 (a re-design of Sony's very first radio ever) plus many classic "Made in the U.S.A." sets and the best of "Made in Japan".
By day I am a recording engineer and music producer.
You can check out that other part of my life here......
www.myspace.com/michaeljackproductions

www.artistdirect.com/artist/credits/michael-jack/1038932

Here's a live (in the studio) video of Nelly Furtado which I was the recording engineer on. It was recorded at Phase One Studios in Toronto July of 2006.

video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-1407930254008511356&...

I recently wrote an article about transistor radio collecting here:
www.collectorsweekly.com/blogs/dave/guest-column-collecti...

I also made the pages of Retro Thing 'magazine'.
www.retrothing.com/2008/05/flickr-hundreds.html

On Jan 5, 2009 my collection graced the Atomic Radar blog.
www.atomicradar.com/2009/01/vintage-transistor-radios/#co...

A few of my Canadian made radios have made the pages of....
www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/

Here's an interview about my collection -
ephemera.typepad.com/ephemera/2008/10/transistor-radi.html

AND, got a mention here:
gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/05/28/flickr-gallery-of-re.html



Another way to view my photostream......
flickriver.com/photos/transistor_radios/sets/

A few of my pics have made it to the "Cult Of Mac" blog and have received some interesting feedback.
www.cultofmac.com/ipods-and-vintage-transistor-radios-sep...

ALL RADIOS HERE ARE FROM MY PERSONAL COLLECTION
Two thirds of the pics here were taken by me and the rest were done by a professional photographer.
Please DO NOT use any of these pics without my permission.

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Andy Warhol said...
"What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it"
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: (From A to B and Back Again)...

I guess the same could be said of transistor radios. They were as ubiquitous as soft drinks, items of pop culture. I guess the President could have had a Sony, Toshiba or Hitachi pocket radio, so could Liz Taylor and even YOU.....perhaps the bum on the street had one in his coat pocket as well. Practically everyone could afford a Japanese shirtpocket radio. It was available for sale at the counter of your local drug store or "five and dime".

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I mainly focus on classic 'Made In Japan' radios dating from 1957-63. I also collect 'Made in U.S.A' sets and have some 'Made in Hong Kong' examples from the mid-late 60's. I will to continue building a collection that represents the entire evolution of transistor radios...the rare, the good, the bad and the ugly/uninteresting.

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I've also included a few pics of my favourite tube radios. I actually started collecting tube radios first but soon developed an eye for the SMALLER transistor sets. Tube radios take up much more room than the pocket varieties.... Perhaps one day I will do a seperate collection for all my tube radios.

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I have included brief descriptions/comments for each radio and have given approximate dates. I have been enlightened by many experts on the internet who share their knowledge and incredible collections. (see the links below). Certain radios can be accurately dated by serial numbers. In some cases old magazine ads will help estimate "ballpark" dates. Sam's Photofact technical data sheets also help place general timelines, give or take a year or two. (I have most of the series for transistor radios). The ads and Sam's will not specify a release date but can indicate WHEN the radios were sold. Many radios were retailed for several years. Various other reference books provide approximate dates as well. As I continue to edit and research this collection I will update the information...
Here are some sites run by friends of mine...

tabiwallah.com/radiowallah/

www.jamesbutters.com/

www.fiftiesradio.com/Home.html

www.flickr.com/photos/pvkantiqueradios/

and a great site for collectors of all vintage things.

www.collectorsweekly.com/category/radios/transistor.php

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These devices clearly symbolized/mirrored the optimism of the post World War Two society. The middle class grew, suburbs sprawled, teens stayed in school, the youth "counter culture" arose, Rock 'n Roll commanded the airwaves, and outer space was the next frontier.
Transistor radios also mirrored the fear and paranoia resulting from the Cold War. Every bomb shelter would be equipt with a portable, transistor radio clearly showing the Civil Defence frequencies on the tuning dial.
Technology was going to make life easier and the newly invented transistor was on the leading edge of that brave new world. The sky was the limit....

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If you grew up in the late 50's and/or 60's you may see the radio that you had as a teenager. It may bring you back to the days when rock n roll was new and "dangerous". Perhaps you listened to Alan Freed, Murray the K, Cousin Brucey or Dewey Phillips spinning the Top 40 hits. The emerging youth culture was forging it's own identity under the shadows of the cold war and Rock 'n Roll was it's voice. The transistor radio would be the vehicle to bring the music to the masses.

By 1960 there were about 13 million teens in America, spending over $22 billion a year on consumer items. $100 million per year was spent on music related items alone. To corporations and advertisers this new demographic was viewed as a vast new crop of potential buyers. With a three or four week salary a teenager could buy his/her own Japanese transistor radio. No longer did they have to share a large tube radio with mom and dad. No longer did they have to listen to programs that did not cater to their tastes in music.

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Those of us who grew up in the 70's still had transistor radios as our primary source of music delivery. The walkman didn't come along till 1980. I remember listening to Elton John, David Bowie, America, Paul McCartney and The Jackson Five on Toronto's 680 CFTR and 1050 CHUM...on my red transistor radio.

For those of you who may not know what a 33 rpm record is and only know the world of pop music through an ipod, take a look at the ancestors of the walkman and mp3 player. The transistor radio was the beginning of the personal, portable music revolution.

Enjoy.......