| The Regency TR-1 was the world?s first commercial transistor radio making its debut in 1954. The Regency TR-1 came about through a collaboration between Texas Instruments who made a prototype and a small Indianapolis company, Industrial Development Engineering Associates (I.D.E.A) who developed and marketed it. Fate brought these two companies together and what resulted was a revolution in portable audio! |
RAYTHEON 8TP2 'RAYTHEON'S FIRST' ZENITH ROYAL 50 RED & BLACK + AD GENERAL ELECTRIC 678 'GE'S FIRST' ARVIN 61R16 'CHECKMARK' (BOXED) SILVERTONE 4203 'ARVIN' (BOXED) PENNEY'S 6TP-243 'A PAIR OF GEISHAS' (BOXED) EMERSON 888 SATELLITE 'WHITE LEATHER' HOFFMAN BP-708 'SHARP' (BOXED) OLYMPIC 779 (BOXED) |
The Regency TR-1 opened the door and Raytheon was the first to follow releasing the 8TP1 in early 1955. With the invention of the transistor, portable radios enjoyed a sales surge and in 1955 almost 2.5 million sets made their way into the hands of American consumers. Initially most companies preferred to manufacture solid lunchbox style radios with large speakers that compared favorably with the tube portables that still dominated the market. Early manufacturers believed that American consumers would not accept the impoverished sound of small shift pocket sets. In 1957 transistor portables outsold tube portables for the first time and this was also the year that Sony launched the shirt pocket size TR-63 onto the American market. To quote Michael Brian Schiffer, author of 'The Portable Radio in American Life' "Sony was not first (with reference to the Regency TR-1) but its transistor radio was most successful. The TR-63 of 1957 cracked open the US market and launched the new industry of micorelectronics". By the late 1950's shirt pocket Japanese sets dominated the American market. They were interesting, colourful, well designed and economical. American companies simply could not compete with the cheap parts and labor that went into Japanese sets. In 1959 a number of American companies including Motorola, Bulova, Olympic and Magnavox began contracting Japanese companies to manufacture radios for them. By the end of 1963 there were no American shirt pocket sets being made with all-American parts. This section features iconic American brands such as Raytheon, Zenith, Emerson, General Electric, Sylvania, Bulova, Arvin, Westinghouse, Silvertone & others. |
