#ThrowbackThursday “The first transistor radio hit the consumer market on October 18, 1954. The Regency TR-1 featured four germanium transistors operating on a 22.5-volt battery that provided over twenty hours of life.
"The unit weighed eleven ounces and cost $49.95.
"Two companies — Texas Instruments of Dallas, Texas, and Industrial Development Engineering Associates (I.D.E.A.) of Indianapolis, Indiana — worked together to produce the Regency TR-1.
"TR-1 COLORS: Four colors were initially offered in the 3” x 5" x 1 ¼" plastic case — Black, Ivory, Mandarin Red and Cloud Gray; and were soon followed by Mahogany and Forest Green. The color selection continued to grow as the TR-1 was marketed as a stylish accessory.“ — Bruce Eaton, Old Time Radio Lovers on Facebook.
What is believed to be the largest and most powerful radio receiving set ever assembled is the latest achievement of a well-known Chicago radio engineer. Designed for world-wide reception on all wave lengths, the mammoth receiver has a complicated circuit which employs forty tubes. Five separate loudspeakers, operating simultaneously, cover a wide sound-frequency range, and give exceptional tonal quality. The total weight of the receiver, shown, is 620 pounds.
#PBSwednesday American Playhouse was an anthology series on PBS, offering works by distinguished American writers. Michael Learned (left), Aidan Quinn, and James Whitmore starred in the 1987 presentation of Arthur Miller’s classic All My Sons. The American Playhouse series ended in 1996 after 13 seasons.
Veteran radio broadcaster David Gleason built a nine-million-page archive to set the record straight on what he sees as the medium’s oft-distorted history. The Library of American Broadcasters Foundation is honoring him for the effort. [More]
“America’s Fighting Cowboy”, Red Ryder, was created in 1938 by a cowboy artist, Fred Harman. The Red Ryder comic strip appeared in newspapers, bothin daily and Sunday editions.
The strip spawned Big Little Books, several movies, a brief television series, and over a hundred comic books, beginning in 1940. The Red Ryder radio series came to the airwaves about 1941 as a 30 minute show, and aired either two or three times a week, depending on the year. It continued on for nearly ten years, folding about 1950. Surviving shows are on transcription discs originally syndicated by the New York-based Harry S. Goodman Radio Productions.
Red Ryder also sold more B-B guns than anyone in U.S. history. The Daisy Manufacturing Company, in business since the 1880s, never had a more successful salesman than Red Ryder: prominent in full page ads extolling the merits of Daisy B-B guns on the back covers of juvenile magazines and comic books. The best-selling model quickly became the “Red Ryder Saddle Carbine” with leather saddle thong; it sold for only $2.95 in 1941.
Adapted from the Old Time Radio Club newsletter, The Illustrated Press, June 2007. Illustration (from 1949) via wordfromoursponsor.
The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation will honor another class of outstanding broadcasting and cable executives and journalists as Giants of Broadcasting and Electronic Arts at its annual luncheon in New York City on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. Bill Whitaker of CBS’ “Sixty Minutes” will emcee.
“This event celebrates the ‘best of the very best’,” said LABF Co-Chairs Heidi Raphael and Jack Goodman. “We are absolutely thrilled to pay tribute to and recognize these outstanding individuals for their many trailblazing contributions on behalf of the media industry and American culture.” https://www.tvradiolibrary.org
“A MUSICAL MILKMAN… This music certainly does go round and around, for this Kentish milkman apparently has an ear for music and carries a portable gramophone on his milk wagon to brighten up his daily work.” Source: unknown.
#DJMonday Bob Krahling began his radio career at WFAH-FM in Alliance, Ohio, while still a student at Mount Union Collage. After moving to WHBC in Canton in 1950, he became best known for his morning show and by his nickname, “Special K.” He also handled sports broadcast color descriptions for many years. – The Akron Beacon Journal, Dec 20, 1991.
WFAH (now WDJQ) in Alliance, Ohio, signed on in 1947. It is one of the oldest established FM stations in the entire region. The owners in 1953 added an AM station, 1310 WFAH (now WDPN). The FM station’s call sign was modified to WFAH-FM with the launch of the AM station. Both stations were founded by Arthur Hoiles, with the call letters as a tribute to his father, Frank Austin Hoiles (Wikipedia).
“Dinah Shore, suspended by a few balloons, floats singing over Manhattan in an NBC Chroma-Key effect… designed for color television.” – from The Television Program: Its Direction and Production by Edward Stasheff and Rudy Bretz (Hill and Wang, 1962).
#FlashbackFriday “The name ”Chroma-Key“ was RCA’s trade name for the process, as used on its NBC television broadcasts, incorporating patents granted to RCA’s Albert N. Goldsmith. A very early broadcast use was NBC’s "George Gobel Show” in fall 1957. (Wikipedia)
