Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Which is the original and which is the copy?
Yes, these radios look too much alike for it to be a coincidence. So which came first? Well, one is from a little-known maker of antenna boosters for TVs and not much else, Regency. They were founded in 1946. The other radio is from the giant General Electric Company, makers of all kinds of things and in business since 1889.
So, which was first? Well, who's always first?--the big fat rich corporation?-- or the hungry little guy trying to make a name for himself?
Yes, giant General Electric was the borrower, to put it kindly, not the innovator. And in my experience and my opinion, for as long as I have personally observed General Electric, since the 1950s, that has most always been the impression I've had of GE. In any kind of purchase I planned to make where a General Electric product was a contender, I found the GE product was never the latest tech, never the style leader. I can't speak to their quality because I never had much experience with it. And that's because, for the reasons stated, a GE product never made it to the top of my shopping list. Now, I do have 98 General Electric radios--but those I bought not as a consumer seeking utility, style, and value, but as a collector. Well, now I did buy GE light bulbs in my time, as a consumer. I had to. For a long time they had a virtual monopoly on those where I lived. But I can't say I ever found those light bulbs satisfactory either--they always seemed to burn out too soon.
What we're looking at today is General Electric's very first transistor radio--not a shirt pocket radio, but pretty close. This radio debuted in the latter half of 1955, about a year after the Regency TR-1. It's a five transistor and was issued at first in your choice of two colors, or perhaps I should say "non-colors" since they were black and white. In 1956, GE added red and turquoise models to the line-up. Where the first transistor radios from other big radio makers Magnavox and Raytheon and Zenith used metal chassis and what's called "point-to-point" wiring, the GE, like the Regency, used the latest thing in manufacturing efficiency, the printed circuit. You can see how new this was-- in Radio Shack's 1955 catalog they offered kits and supplies for those interested in experimenting.. in this, quote, "fascinating new field" of printed circuits.
The radio used an oddball 13-1/2 volt battery that you literally plugged in with a plug. This battery had what's called "voltage taps" at 4-1/2 and at 9 volts. This kind of setup let the radio pull different voltages out of the battery for different parts of the circuit. It was an expensive battery, but then radio buyers were used to pricey batteries. At least this radio just used one. The pre-transistor tube portables that radio owners were used to.. all required two different batteries to operate.
And here's the box the radio came in. "GE all transistor portable radio.. for year 'round enjoyment." It's a pretty big box considering it seems to hold only the radio. There's no place for the case, or earphone, or battery. Here is that case. It comes with a strap and says "Top Grain Genuine Cowhide, made in U.S.A." With no room in the box, I have to assume this case was sold separately. I'm not sure about the earphone, whether it was included in the box or was also sold separately. It has its own little plastic box--"For your PRIVATE LISTENING with General Electric all-transistor portable radio." The instructions--or owner's manual--is a very nice piece of graphic art. It covers operation, earphone use, battery replacement, and the warranty. We'll have a closer look at all this later, but on the subject of warranty, here's the warranty registration card.
In another video about GE's first SHIRT-pocket radio, I noted that management at GE seemed to value art and design only occasionally. Oh, they valued design enough to "borrow" it, sure, but to innovate it, well, not so much. They even seemed to go the other way sometimes and produce products that I refer to--when I'm feeing charitable-- as "style free." That's how I came to nominate one of their radios as "The Ugliest Radio of All Time," which is the.. perhaps not so charitable title of still another video on this channel.
As I say these things I must note that some of my viewers here don't seem to like my corporate criticisms. It surprises me that some feel compelled to defend these people, these companies who have, after all, cheated us as consumers, underpaid us as workers, and who don't care what we think one damned bit. Try expressing a problem to them, for example, or an insight, or even a helpful suggestion to any one of them. They should be overjoyed that you took the time to give them free information from their most valuable partner--you, their customer. Are they overjoyed? No. If corporations respond at all they act like they are doing YOU a favor by directing you to a questionnaire for you to fill out for them. . .
Which is the original and which is the copy?
Yes, these radios look too much alike for it to be a coincidence. So which came first? Well, one is from a little-known maker of antenna boosters for TVs and not much else, Regency. They were founded in 1946. The other radio is from the giant General Electric Company, makers of all kinds of things and in business since 1889.
So, which was first? Well, who's always first?--the big fat rich corporation?-- or the hungry little guy trying to make a name for himself?
Yes, giant General Electric was the borrower, to put it kindly, not the innovator. And in my experience and my opinion, for as long as I have personally observed General Electric, since the 1950s, that has most always been the impression I've had of GE. In any kind of purchase I planned to make where a General Electric product was a contender, I found the GE product was never the latest tech, never the style leader. I can't speak to their quality because I never had much experience with it. And that's because, for the reasons stated, a GE product never made it to the top of my shopping list. Now, I do have 98 General Electric radios--but those I bought not as a consumer seeking utility, style, and value, but as a collector. Well, now I did buy GE light bulbs in my time, as a consumer. I had to. For a long time they had a virtual monopoly on those where I lived. But I can't say I ever found those light bulbs satisfactory either--they always seemed to burn out too soon.
What we're looking at today is General Electric's very first transistor radio--not a shirt pocket radio, but pretty close. This radio debuted in the latter half of 1955, about a year after the Regency TR-1. It's a five transistor and was issued at first in your choice of two colors, or perhaps I should say "non-colors" since they were black and white. In 1956, GE added red and turquoise models to the line-up. Where the first transistor radios from other big radio makers Magnavox and Raytheon and Zenith used metal chassis and what's called "point-to-point" wiring, the GE, like the Regency, used the latest thing in manufacturing efficiency, the printed circuit. You can see how new this was-- in Radio Shack's 1955 catalog they offered kits and supplies for those interested in experimenting.. in this, quote, "fascinating new field" of printed circuits.
The radio used an oddball 13-1/2 volt battery that you literally plugged in with a plug. This battery had what's called "voltage taps" at 4-1/2 and at 9 volts. This kind of setup let the radio pull different voltages out of the battery for different parts of the circuit. It was an expensive battery, but then radio buyers were used to pricey batteries. At least this radio just used one. The pre-transistor tube portables that radio owners were used to.. all required two different batteries to operate.
And here's the box the radio came in. "GE all transistor portable radio.. for year 'round enjoyment." It's a pretty big box considering it seems to hold only the radio. There's no place for the case, or earphone, or battery. Here is that case. It comes with a strap and says "Top Grain Genuine Cowhide, made in U.S.A." With no room in the box, I have to assume this case was sold separately. I'm not sure about the earphone, whether it was included in the box or was also sold separately. It has its own little plastic box--"For your PRIVATE LISTENING with General Electric all-transistor portable radio." The instructions--or owner's manual--is a very nice piece of graphic art. It covers operation, earphone use, battery replacement, and the warranty. We'll have a closer look at all this later, but on the subject of warranty, here's the warranty registration card.
In another video about GE's first SHIRT-pocket radio, I noted that management at GE seemed to value art and design only occasionally. Oh, they valued design enough to "borrow" it, sure, but to innovate it, well, not so much. They even seemed to go the other way sometimes and produce products that I refer to--when I'm feeing charitable-- as "style free." That's how I came to nominate one of their radios as "The Ugliest Radio of All Time," which is the.. perhaps not so charitable title of still another video on this channel.
As I say these things I must note that some of my viewers here don't seem to like my corporate criticisms. It surprises me that some feel compelled to defend these people, these companies who have, after all, cheated us as consumers, underpaid us as workers, and who don't care what we think one damned bit. Try expressing a problem to them, for example, or an insight, or even a helpful suggestion to any one of them. They should be overjoyed that you took the time to give them free information from their most valuable partner--you, their customer. Are they overjoyed? No. If corporations respond at all they act like they are doing YOU a favor by directing you to a questionnaire for you to fill out for them. . .
