Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 23 hours ago
We looked at this, the world's first solar radio, in another video on this channel. Had this 1956 radio been the wild success Admiral was hoping for, next up would have been a pocket-size solar model. Admiral already had a model number series for it, the 6S. Admiral had already printed the brochure for it--and we're looking at it. The "6" in the model number would be for the six transistors, in keeping with Admiral's naming convention for their transistor radios.
Now, even though pictures and descriptions were shown in this 1956 dealer literature, there is no evidence that even a single example of this smaller solar radio was ever made or sold. We see that it was slated to come in the same colors as the larger 7L series radios. And, apparently, for the solar power they were to use the same external Sun Power Pak as the larger models. Now, as we learned in that other video, that solar pack was expensive. The larger 7L model had a list price of $60--for just the radio. Adding the Sun Power Pak option to make it solar would set you back an additional $185, more than triple the cost of the radio alone. If the pocket-size 6S radio were to use the same sun pack, well, it would be one expensive little radio.
Today we're taking a look.. at what came out of all that. With an added transistor, totalling seven, but without the solar option, Admiral introduced its 7M series, Admiral's first pocket-size transistor radio and a very attractive choice for the 1950s radio buyer.
Here it is as advertised in Holiday magazine in May. May of what year, they don't say. And I have only the page with the ad, not the rest of the magazine so I can't check. It's 1956 or 1957, probably '57. "20-foot Listening Test proves Admiral outperforms 'em all." "When you shop for a pocket portable, make this simple comparison test. Take an Admiral 7-transistor and any other pocket portable. Step back 20 feet and compare their tone, clarity, volume. What a difference Admiral's extra power makes at this typical listening distance!"... If this ad were to appear today, it would have to have a caution warning: "Do not step back 20 feet near cliffs or in buildings with open windows."
It goes on: "Admiral's 7 transistors replace tubes. Can't wear out, burn out, or break. Distant stations come in clearer, with power to spare for turn-up-the-volume occasions, or at intimate whisper volume. One set of inexpensive batteries gives a year's ordinary use. Wide color choice. Make the Admiral 20-foot test today. Hear the difference!"
I can't swear this case is actually leather, although it gives a pretty good impression of leather.. and it has held up quite well--as leather would--and not like those "composite" cases that are a blend of cardboard and who knows what and are the organic equivalent of pot metal. The name Admiral is gold-foil-stamped on the flap. The radio's grille is painted black, the dial is underpainted to prevent wearing off the numbers, and the company's name appears raised in the gold aluminum trim panel on the front. In a deluxe touch, the Admiral name is then painted white. We see a quality construction inside and a chassis with seven black RCA transistors.
The handle folds down under the radio for stowing it in your pocket; it folds back a bit for using it as a stand; and it folds up for carrying.
Admiral started out, not as a company, but a brand--a brand of the Continental Radio and Television Corporation, founded in 1934... Wait a minute,.. radio and.. television(?)--in 1934? Well, that's what my research shows, but I've got to wonder if they really had the word "Television" in their corporate name in 1934. In this graphic from 1942 they do, but, well, that makes no sense either. They didn't even offer a television set until 1948. So they named themselves "Continental Radio and Television" 12 years before they offered a TV? OK. Seems kind of odd, but I guess in those days the word "television" had such magical connotations as the ultimate in high tech.. that they couldn't help themselves. Over at Dumont, a REAL television pioneer, they took a different approach. Dumont began manufacturing TVs in 1938 and even though they were a pioneeer, they didn't have "television" in THEIR name, going instead by the name "DuMont Laboratories." Anyway, setting aside the historical curiosity of Continental's name, they were making a complete line of radios and phonographs by 1940, including tabletop models, portables, and big consoles. But no TVs. Still, some of their radios did offer the television sound band, so you could HEAR television programming, even if you couldn't SEE it.
In another piece of twisted logic, Continental turned around, in 1940, and dropped the word television from their corporate name.. changing the name of the whole outfit to, simply, Admiral Corporation. Though they dropped the word "television" from the corporate name, they did, sure enough, get into the television business in a big way. By the mid-century ...
We looked at this, the world's first solar radio, in another video on this channel. Had this 1956 radio been the wild success Admiral was hoping for, next up would have been a pocket-size solar model. Admiral already had a model number series for it, the 6S. Admiral had already printed the brochure for it--and we're looking at it. The "6" in the model number would be for the six transistors, in keeping with Admiral's naming convention for their transistor radios.
Now, even though pictures and descriptions were shown in this 1956 dealer literature, there is no evidence that even a single example of this smaller solar radio was ever made or sold. We see that it was slated to come in the same colors as the larger 7L series radios. And, apparently, for the solar power they were to use the same external Sun Power Pak as the larger models. Now, as we learned in that other video, that solar pack was expensive. The larger 7L model had a list price of $60--for just the radio. Adding the Sun Power Pak option to make it solar would set you back an additional $185, more than triple the cost of the radio alone. If the pocket-size 6S radio were to use the same sun pack, well, it would be one expensive little radio.
Today we're taking a look.. at what came out of all that. With an added transistor, totalling seven, but without the solar option, Admiral introduced its 7M series, Admiral's first pocket-size transistor radio and a very attractive choice for the 1950s radio buyer.
Here it is as advertised in Holiday magazine in May. May of what year, they don't say. And I have only the page with the ad, not the rest of the magazine so I can't check. It's 1956 or 1957, probably '57. "20-foot Listening Test proves Admiral outperforms 'em all." "When you shop for a pocket portable, make this simple comparison test. Take an Admiral 7-transistor and any other pocket portable. Step back 20 feet and compare their tone, clarity, volume. What a difference Admiral's extra power makes at this typical listening distance!"... If this ad were to appear today, it would have to have a caution warning: "Do not step back 20 feet near cliffs or in buildings with open windows."
It goes on: "Admiral's 7 transistors replace tubes. Can't wear out, burn out, or break. Distant stations come in clearer, with power to spare for turn-up-the-volume occasions, or at intimate whisper volume. One set of inexpensive batteries gives a year's ordinary use. Wide color choice. Make the Admiral 20-foot test today. Hear the difference!"
I can't swear this case is actually leather, although it gives a pretty good impression of leather.. and it has held up quite well--as leather would--and not like those "composite" cases that are a blend of cardboard and who knows what and are the organic equivalent of pot metal. The name Admiral is gold-foil-stamped on the flap. The radio's grille is painted black, the dial is underpainted to prevent wearing off the numbers, and the company's name appears raised in the gold aluminum trim panel on the front. In a deluxe touch, the Admiral name is then painted white. We see a quality construction inside and a chassis with seven black RCA transistors.
The handle folds down under the radio for stowing it in your pocket; it folds back a bit for using it as a stand; and it folds up for carrying.
Admiral started out, not as a company, but a brand--a brand of the Continental Radio and Television Corporation, founded in 1934... Wait a minute,.. radio and.. television(?)--in 1934? Well, that's what my research shows, but I've got to wonder if they really had the word "Television" in their corporate name in 1934. In this graphic from 1942 they do, but, well, that makes no sense either. They didn't even offer a television set until 1948. So they named themselves "Continental Radio and Television" 12 years before they offered a TV? OK. Seems kind of odd, but I guess in those days the word "television" had such magical connotations as the ultimate in high tech.. that they couldn't help themselves. Over at Dumont, a REAL television pioneer, they took a different approach. Dumont began manufacturing TVs in 1938 and even though they were a pioneeer, they didn't have "television" in THEIR name, going instead by the name "DuMont Laboratories." Anyway, setting aside the historical curiosity of Continental's name, they were making a complete line of radios and phonographs by 1940, including tabletop models, portables, and big consoles. But no TVs. Still, some of their radios did offer the television sound band, so you could HEAR television programming, even if you couldn't SEE it.
In another piece of twisted logic, Continental turned around, in 1940, and dropped the word television from their corporate name.. changing the name of the whole outfit to, simply, Admiral Corporation. Though they dropped the word "television" from the corporate name, they did, sure enough, get into the television business in a big way. By the mid-century ...
