1955 Motorola 56T1:

3 1/2"H x 5 1/2"W x 1 1/2"D excluding antenna handle

Motorola's first transistor radio, and the smallest of its "antenna handle" coatpocket radios... All these sets have a metal cabinet -- so where does the ferrite rod antenna go?

GE solved this problem on its own metal-cabinet radio, the extruded aluminum P760 series models, by placing the ferrite rod in a discreet and unassuming black plastic housing cut into the top back of the radio's cabinet -- you hardly even notice it's there.

Motorola's solution was much more in-your-face in appearance than was GE's -- nearly bordering on the ridiculous -- and also much more memorable... The antenna was housed inside a plastic "carrying handle" many times bulkier than a simple brass wire handle such as what the Zenith Royal 500 or Emerson 888 employed. In terms of actual fat content, Motorola's "Weatherama" handle, pictured on these pages, wins the prize hands-down: The cubic volume of the handle alone exceeds the entire cabinet volume of many of the smaller Japanese pocket transistor radios.

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© 2007 by Robert Davidson, transistors@abetterpage.com