THE WEEKEND COLLECTOR: Transistor Radio Design

Since joining Collector's Weekly website, I've discovered a whole world of collectors I never knew existed, and categories I never paid any attention to. This week's website is called Transistor Radio Design, and belongs to collector James J. Butters. I was fascinated going through his pages, seeing the cool space-age designs of the fabulous transistor radios of the 50s and 60s. It brought back such a flood of memories, remembering how I, and all of my friends,  carried transistor radios around with us wherever we went as pre-teens and teens.  Listening to Dodger games, teen idols Frankie Avalon and Fabian, then later, the Beatles and the Monkees, my ear was often glued to my radio.     

As expected, the Japanese were the kings of the transistor radio, and often had some of the most stylish and technologically advanced radios. I love James' emphasis on design on his website, because today, these radios are often silent- it's their design that captures the eye, and makes a statement. I hope you enjoy looking through his site, and checking out some of the coolest mid-century product design around!  One of the cool things about James' site, is the photos of the radios. He often takes multiple shots of each radio, and does a wonderful job of presenting them in an attractive and modern way. I think a good collector's website or blog is really only as good as the images. His are terrific!