Transistor Radios: 1954-1968

by Norman R. Smith

Kick off your shoes, put on your sunglasses, and get ready for a nostalgic trip back to the heyday of portable music. Transistor radios, those quintessential '50s and '60s accompaniments for the beach, backyard, and shirt pocket, have become one of the most popular and colorful collectors' items of recent years. Packed with over 460 full color photographs, this book provides an overview of the endless variety of transistor radio types, sizes, and styles produced during the prolific early years of their development. Over 1,000 radios are featured here, from American manufacturers such as Admiral, Bulova, Emerson, Philco, Regency, and Zenith and from Japanese manufacturers such as Hitachi, Koyo, NEC, Realtone, Sony, and Toshiba. Each radio is identified by manufacturer, model number, number of transistors, special features, country of origin, and date. Wherever possible, the sets are grouped to show radios which share common features, such as manufacturer, marketing organization, type of radio, or style. Shown as well are the color variations and cabinet variations which exist for many of the most popular radios. You'll learn which of the manufacturers marketed their sets under different names or to different organizations and which sets, although bearing different names, are virtually identical. A complete value guide is included to help collectors determine the value of various models with similar styling and features.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998