Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 7 hours ago
That's not a transistor radio, you scoff. It's huge like a tube radio. Oh yeah? Then why does it say THIS on the front. And wait till you see inside!
The Olympic 447 was made in 1956, by the Olympic Radio & Television folks out in Long Island City, New York. These people made a lot of stuff, including console hi-fi sets, televisions, radios, and even room air conditioners.
By the mid-1950s, transistor radios were all the rage, and without one to offer, Olympic was losing radio sales. In order to speed up their ability to get one to market, they had the bright idea of converting one of their tube radio portables to a transistor radio--just modifying the circuit appropriately and using transistors instead of tubes. So if you're using that tube chassis, where are you going to put the transistors? In the tube sockets! Many of the earliest transistor radios had plug-in transistors, so OK, this is good! Let's look closely in here and find those transistors. There are just four of them.
Why, you might ask, did many of the earliest transistor radios have plug-in transistors? Well, it was thought that the failure rate of the early transistors was sufficiently high that they ought to be easily replaceable and so not soldered into place.
Now here's that brochure again. It's from 1958 or '59, so it's a couple of years later than the 447 model we've been looking at and has in it just one transistor radio--their current model at the time, the Olympic 666. There's something a little "off" about the text in this brochure and I find it mildly amusing. See what you think. "For 22 years Olympic has been a leader in electronics... bringing the finest in pleasure values and dollar values to American homes. We know that you will be proud of your Olympic purchase and that you will be happy to tell your friends about it. Olympic's simplified controls are easy to operate and if you will follow the enclosed instructions you will enjoy top performance at all times." End quote.
The Olympic 447 all-transistor radio.
#olympic #vintage #transistor #antiques #collectibles #transistoradio #collectornet #1950s #1960s
That's not a transistor radio, you scoff. It's huge like a tube radio. Oh yeah? Then why does it say THIS on the front. And wait till you see inside!
The Olympic 447 was made in 1956, by the Olympic Radio & Television folks out in Long Island City, New York. These people made a lot of stuff, including console hi-fi sets, televisions, radios, and even room air conditioners.
By the mid-1950s, transistor radios were all the rage, and without one to offer, Olympic was losing radio sales. In order to speed up their ability to get one to market, they had the bright idea of converting one of their tube radio portables to a transistor radio--just modifying the circuit appropriately and using transistors instead of tubes. So if you're using that tube chassis, where are you going to put the transistors? In the tube sockets! Many of the earliest transistor radios had plug-in transistors, so OK, this is good! Let's look closely in here and find those transistors. There are just four of them.
Why, you might ask, did many of the earliest transistor radios have plug-in transistors? Well, it was thought that the failure rate of the early transistors was sufficiently high that they ought to be easily replaceable and so not soldered into place.
Now here's that brochure again. It's from 1958 or '59, so it's a couple of years later than the 447 model we've been looking at and has in it just one transistor radio--their current model at the time, the Olympic 666. There's something a little "off" about the text in this brochure and I find it mildly amusing. See what you think. "For 22 years Olympic has been a leader in electronics... bringing the finest in pleasure values and dollar values to American homes. We know that you will be proud of your Olympic purchase and that you will be happy to tell your friends about it. Olympic's simplified controls are easy to operate and if you will follow the enclosed instructions you will enjoy top performance at all times." End quote.
The Olympic 447 all-transistor radio.
#olympic #vintage #transistor #antiques #collectibles #transistoradio #collectornet #1950s #1960s
