TRANSISTOR RADIO DESIGN

The transistor radio was the vehicle of social change for a generation of teenagers during the 1950’s bringing portable music to the masses for the first time!

My collection features Transistor Radios manufactured between 1954 and 1965; the ‘Golden Age’ of Transistor Radio design!

I am captivated by the aesthetics, design flow, history and build of the early transistor radios! I've focused on their design and tried to capture their form showing them in a way that highlights them as 'objects de art'

These icons of yesteryear feature stunning atomic age design influenced by the space race, fifties automobiles, architecture and popular music! Most of these radios still look modern and sharp even today; fifty years after they were created! Good design really is timeless!

For me the Transistor Radio represents youth, freedom, innocence, rebellion and independence! They evoke images of James Dean, fast cars, cigarettes, Elvis Presley and gyrating hips!

These are the iPods of the 1950’s and 1960’s!

03/07/2008

Well I finally wore out my old Canon Ixus 3.1 meg digital camera. Killed it actually, stone dead! It gave me an excuse to buy a new 7 meg Canon Power Shot A550 and I'm impressed with its 'low cost' quality! In the past I have rushed some listings onto my site without being entirely happy with them. Subsequently I've re shot a few of my earlier efforts with more refining planned for the future. Some improved listings include the following:

Mandarin Red Regency TR-1
Orion OTR-6A
Toshiba 8TTP90
International AK-610
Mitchell 1103

I have about 100 radios still to list.

30/05/2008

I now have over 100 radios listed on my site! To celebrate this momentous occasion I had a wee splif of bourbon whilst photographing my Sony TRW-621! Check out the first photo of that particular listing, the bourbon made a great prop and it went down well afterwards!

28/05/2008 

I have updated the 'About Me' section, reading it back it seems kind of crazy in places but its all true I can assure you! 

24/05/2008

18/05/2008 

I have acquired and listed one of my favorite European radios, the Transetta 2! It came to me all the way from Austria, where it was originally manufactured. It has a large, bold chevron framing the tuning dial, and bears some resemblance to the Sony TR-67 in Alan Kastner's collection. 

14/05/2008 

I have added a Raytheon 8TP2 to my collection. This radio was of course the worlds second transistor radio released not long after the Regency TR-1. Special thanks to Bob McGarrah for allowing me to reference his comprehensive research article on the 8TP series. I had fun photographing this radio and risked life and limb taking some cool photos in the 100k zone! 

10/04/2008 

I have added a New Zealand section to my site. Seems appropriate really, considering I'm a Kiwi! I have a couple of very rare NZ assembled radios listed in this section for fans of Toshiba and Sony!

01/02/2008 

Thanks to Alan Kastner for helping me out with decoding the serial number of my Sylvania 4P14 although we never really did get to the bottom of it, and unless either of us comes across a shipping container full of 4P14's then we probably never will...

11/01/2008 

Today is the day that I got serious about displaying my collection online and started my own website. Previously I had been a member of the collectors site Squirl along with fellow transistor radio groupie Michael Jack. Unfortunately Squirl is notoriously unreliable and I simply had enough of not being able to log in, sometimes for weeks on end! I can now direct my creative energy into displaying my radios the way that I have wanted to since I purchased my first Regency TR-1 on Christmas day of 2006!