Above is an ad from the June 7, 1963 Journal with a special "Lucky Dad" Sweepstakes promotion being held by the Downtown Merchants Association of Lorain. The only requirement was to register Dad at any one of the participating stores. In addition to the main prize of a $100 savings bond, each store contributed a prize – either a sample of its own particular merchandise, or a gift certificate. The winning father received all the goodies; but what's interesting is that whoever registered him got a transistor radio, courtesy of WEOL in Elyria.
Small, portable AM transistor radios were still a hot item in 1963, having only been mass-marketed since the late 1950s. I remember one Christmas when my siblings and I each received one; they were green and came with some kind of faux leather wraparound case which we quickly removed. The radios themselves didn't seem to work real well, but could at least receive the stations we listened to, such as CKLW out of Windsor.
Eventually, transistor radios seemed old-fashioned next to huge boom boxes that also could get FM.
Today, I still listen to AM radio in my car, even when the stations I listen to simulcast on FM. (Don't ask me why.) And some car manufacturers have already removed AM radios from their new vehicles, or are planning to. If AM radio ever really goes away, I'll miss it – along with the CD players that are already history in new cars.
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It only took me a few minutes on eBay to find a transistor radio exactly like I used to have. It turns out it was a Westinghouse. And by George, it still had its leather-like case that was such a nuisance.
8 comments:
I am also one of those who misses cd players in cars.Hell,I miss cassette players and even 8-track players.But luckily I have a few older cars that still have these players in them.I've got a boatload of Elvis,Beatles,Rolling Stones and The Doors 8-tracks that I jam too when I'm cruising.But with each new technological advancement comes a changing of the guard I guess.Freddy Cannon had a 1960 hit song titled "Transistor Sister".It's a groovy little tune.
See-Kay-El-Double-YOU.... WEATHER...
Sunday.
Sunday!
SUNDAY!!!
AT DETROIT SPEEEEED-WAAAAAAY!!!!
MONGOOSE... VERSUS COBRA!!!!!
SEE "BIG DADDY' DON GARTLITS SET HIMSELF ON FIRE AND RUN THE QUARTER MILE IN 5 MINUTES!!!!!
I am listening to AM radio right now. On my work from home days, WTAM 1100 Wills and Snyder show starts my day with news, sports, traffic, and weather. I remember back when it was 3WE (WWWE 1100) and Pete Franklin used to say the 50,000 watt station covered 38 states and half of Canada. I did pick up an Indians game on 1100 once on vacation while we were in Georgia so maybe there's some truth to that. Dan, I forgot about CKLW. I didn't realize it was out of Windsor but it was one of the AM stations that played decent music as a kid.
"A young Detroit man was found early this morning, dead, in the head, with lead!
This is Byron McGregor, CKLW 20-20 News!"
There's an app called BIG8 RADIO that plays music from CKLW and other Detroit stations of the period.
We used to use transistor AM radio as "lightning detectors" on incoming storms!
I remember shock jock Gary Dee on am radio WWWE back in the early to mid "90s.He used to be the king of talk radio in the 1970s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iidVOlm8aik
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