Also, production was moved to China (and Japan?) to reduce costs. I think the answer is that we weren’t buying the TR1 in the UK and, from the replies above, alternative makes that followed the TR1 were cheaper. My lecturer thought that early transistor radios were much cheaper. I have evidence of a manual worker earning about £14/week). The problem I had, at $49.95 (nearly £17 at $3 to the pound) the TR1 wasn’t cheap in the UK. Portable radios expended the music industry, pirate radio thrived to supply demand and Woodstock progressed from that. Portable radio allowed young people to listen to new styles of music, such as Elvis Presley. How? Well, in a nutshell, until the pocket sized radio came along radio listening was pretty much a family affair, often listening to what the parents wanted on. One of the themes in my essay is that the invention of the transistor in 1947 has a link to Woodstock music festival in 1969. I suppose from your point of view the pocket radios were the start of teenagers having pop music available to them anywhere and all the time. Batteries were more convenient than those used in valve sets and usually lasted longer. The first stage was a more or less technical one. It is useful to consider how long one has to work to be able to afford one.įor what it's worth I see two stages in the introduction of portable transistor radios. My own view, is to relate prices to earnings. The pocket radios arrived later in large numbers and these were relatively cheap but comparatively ( related to earnings ) still more expensive than today's pocket radios.Īs Paul says it is difficult to make price comparisons. There were others similar and about the same price in the early 60s. It is not however equivalent to the TR1 as it was quite large and not a pocket radio. This was similar in price and size to valve portables of the same period. The Bush TR82 was availble fron 1959 and the price then was £22/11/6 with purchase tax on top. The third edition of Jonathan Hill's book "Radio Radio" has an updated section on transistor radios and gives an indication of prices.
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