Collectors like to turn back the clock. Today we're doubly turning back the clock, looking at some fun old things in vintage video, and some new video of another classic Westinghouse transistor radio.
Along the way, the collector comes across some pretty strange and interesting things. This Westinghouse radio from 1958 is big for a transistor radio, but if that's a drawback, it more than makes up for it with wonderful styling. It's a terrific, bombastic design.
But what's this next to it, a smaller version? Well, kind of. It's a Japanese tin toy that says on it "Sunbeam transistor radio--but it's not a radio, just made to look like one. And it has a surprise for you inside. What's the surprise? In a minute. Let's look over this great Westinghouse first. This painted metal panel on the front wraps around to the bottom. It features classic '50s styling with a chevron and a waffle grille. There's a wire stand that will let it lay back at an angle or you can pull it all the way up to carry the radio along and have music on the go.
Let's look at the vintage video I promised, and see what's the deal with the smaller, toy version:
..."And now here's this wonderful toy. This made in Japan.. it's a metal box.. it is a trick radio... this is a so-called strap..this little piece of plastic...and this is... I've seen these with other names on them, one of them called--I can never get this one out of my mind--Jump Out Rat. It's called Jump Out Rat. Now I don't know if this one had that on the package but it does have the jump out rat. You turn it on, you hand it to your friend to innocently turn it on and out pops up oh boy that really came out okay here's here's this a little creature that comes flying out of here on a spring and sometimes it will get stuck in there and then it then you can actually see it, otherwise it flies in your face I'm reloading is what I'm doing here see how do I do that okay here we go. Jump Out Rat take two. Here we'll try this yeah see you know it opens and then he's stuck sometimes he stuck and sometimes he's in your face well what a great toy anyway the cool thing is that it looks just like this Westinghouse which is one of the best most interesting transistor radios from the Golden Age of the transistor radio."
Just so you know I am not making this name up, here is that Trick Radio "Jump Out Rat" I mentioned in the vintage video. It's got the same marvelously cheesy plastic "strap" wrapped around it, and the little fake radio is branded "Sany." Well, now as long as you're faking it, you might as well make it an AM/FM and give it an IC and an FET.
Now let's look at another example of this great Westinghouse radio, a yellow one. Oh, I like this. It's a 7-transistor with a 3-1/2" speaker and it's powered by four penlite batteries delivering 6 volts. We'll look inside of it in a minute. The color is kind of reversed here, where the color on the red one is on the grille, the color on the yellow one is in the body and the grille is white.
"In your hand or on its stand..." This 1958 ad says "New Westinghouse Transistor Radio makes for easy listening!" It goes on to describe the available colors as "oxford white and charcoal" or... "oxford white and flame." Neither of these is the yellow we're looking at so this ad is for a different model. In tiny type it says it is for the 656P5 model and that's the model number of the red one shown earlier. Excuse me, the flame one. Oxford white and flame. Of course... The yellow one's model number, H-698P7 is sequentially later so it's assumed to be an update. And we see some minor differences like the badge in the upper left of the front and the color of the metal in the tuning knob and the bottom wrap-around plate. Where the red one's knob is silver and lower plate painted red, both of these things are gold on the later, yellow radio. There were undoubtedly updates to the circuit in this later model too. Available colors were in stated in regular English, gray & white, yellow & white, green & white, so I'm guessing they fired that new guy who came up with "Oxford white and flame."
"It's the perfect gift for Father's Day--or for a June graduate. See your Westinghouse dealer today! Yeah, ... do that. You can be sure if it's Westinghouse.
Негізгі бет 1958 Transistor radio and toy copy - trick radio practical joke
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