It wasn't until he moved to New York sometime in 1954 or 1955 that he settled down to a long career on WOR. In 1951 he moved to Philadelphia and was heard on KYW until 1953 when he returned briefly to Cincinnati's WLW. If you watch the Mets, you heard him doing the Rheingold Beer commercials in the 70's and if you have been to Disney World, it is his voice that takes you on the journey through the "Carousel of Progress".īorn July 26, 1921, Jean Shepherd began his radio career 1948 in Cincinnati working for WCKY, WKRC, and WSAI where he was hired as a DJ, but preferred to spin tales rather than records which often got him in trouble. You may have read one of his books, or one of his short stories in magazines such as Playboy, the Village Voice or Car and Driver to name a few. Others who grew up in the New York Metropolitan area during the 50's, 60's and 70's may recall the nightly radio show he did on WOR 710AM five nights a week for forty-five minutes and the two-hour Saturday night "Live at the Limelight" shows. But it all started with the transistor radio way back in 1954.Those who have seen the 1983 movie "A Christmas Story" know Jean Shepherd as the voice of Ralph Parker as an adult. While radio may be less significant these days, the concept of a small handheld device that provides access to music and ideas is more popular than ever in the form of today’s smartphone. The Boombox, the Discman, and the iPod arrived over the following decades, replacing the transistor radio and, further, eroding broadcast radio’s status as the most important way to reach the masses with music and ideas. The transistor radio began to decline in popularity in the late 1970s as the cassette and the Walkman took over. In providing this avenue for artistic expression and the dissemination of new ideas, the transistor radio played a significant role in many of the musical and cultural movements of the 1950s and 1960s. For the first time, young people had the freedom to listen to music and world news amongst themselves without the threat of parental disapproval. The transistor radio wasn’t just a revolutionary piece of technology – it also revolutionized music and youth culture. Many models even had a single plug-in earphone for private listening, not unlike the headphones used with later devices such as the Walkman and the iPod. In addition to lower prices, the first half of the decade also saw the addition of FM capabilities to the previously AM-only transistor radio. These Japanese models brought prices down significantly, and by the 1960s, transistor radios cost around $15 (about $117 today), making them affordable birthday and Christmas presents during the prosperous 1960s. Sony’s TR-55 and TR-63 were particularly notable, but Sharp and Toshiba also sold transistor radios. Shortly after the TR-1 went out of production, Japanese manufacturers began selling cheaper and smaller transistor radios to the American public. Image source: Stocksy United New Models & Further Improvements Instead of a family affair, teenagers began listening to the radio alone or with groups of friends. It was also highly portable and changed the way that Americans enjoyed radio. In contrast to these older models, the TR-1 was small and much less easy to break. In most cases, families would huddle around a single large wooden radio in their home and listen to programs together. Because these radios used breakable vacuum tubes, they were also very delicate. Previous models were large and mostly stationary. Signaling a Changeĭespite its short life, the TR-1 changed the face of consumer radio forever. Around 150,000 units were sold, but the TR-1 wasn’t produced for very long. However, it was quite expensive – the TR-1 retailed for around $50, which translates to nearly $400 today. It was able to receive AM radio stations and had an impressive 20-hour lifespan due to its 22.5v battery. It was easily portable, measuring just five inches high, and used four transistors. It featured a gold dial and was available in a variety of colors. On October 18, 1954, they released the Regency TR-1 just in time for the Christmas shopping season. Texas Instruments built the transistors and the Regency division of I.D.E.A. (Industrial Development Engineering Associates) and Texas Instruments. The first transistor radio was created as a joint project between I.D.E.A. ![]() Image credit: Julia Bujalski The Regency TR-1
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