Early Market Strategy
"......Regency president Ed Tudor figured out that with the cold war
going on at the time and with the fear of a nuclear attack (A.K.A.
"The Bomb") from USSR the transistor radio was going to become an
essential life survival item. He projected sales of at least 20
million sets in three years" ref:
Enrico
Tedeschi
A Change in Market Strategy
As Regency progressed in the market place, upscale consumers were targeted. An ad in Holiday magazine reads rather humorous by today's standards......."He Drives a 300 SL, She Charges at Cartiers, He's a Letterman in His Junior Year/They All have This in Common/A Winter Vacation with a Regency Radio." ref: M. B. Schiffer
Dallas' Neiman-Marcus ran an ad in 1956 featuring the TR-1 as a fashion accessory for graduation and Mother's Day. Colors were presented as......."Petite model eased in black plastic $41.98. Or colorfully in ivory, red, green, grey or mahogany plastic $52.20. Very chi-chi one in jeweled iridescent sky blue, pink, orchid or pearly white plastic $67.58, white leather carrying case $2.00. Prices include tax and batteries."ref: DALLAS TIMES HERALD, April 22, 1956, pg E-8.
Regency Goes HOLLYWOOD
Movie producer mogul Michael Todd
(husband of Elizabeth Taylor in the mid-fifties), placed Regency
TR-1's in gift books to commemorate his movie "Around the World in 80
Days." A detailed account regarding the Michael Todd Regency TR-1's
can be found at http://www.radioexpo.org/RegencyTR1Todd.html.htm
View some of these radios below:
* Shirley MacLaine's TR-1, Steve Reyer web site http://people.msoe.edu/~reyer/regency/shirley.jpg
* British actor Trevor Howard with TR-1 , Steve Reyer web site http://people.msoe.edu/~reyer/regency/Trevor_Howard.jpg
* Arthur Miller's TR-1, Kaczowka collection http://www.oldradios.com/radios/:
binder case with radio inside http://www.oldradios.com/radios/todd0.htm
TR-1 in gift case http://www.oldradios.com/radios/todd2.htm
2005 DreamWorks movie "The Ring Two": The Daily Astorian newsroom hears the police report on a Regency E-106 scanner about the fate of "The Ring's" next victim. Naomi Watts on the far right, follows-up with the investigation (Watts was also the female lead in King Kong, 2005).
.......
The Regency TR-1
makes the Ballot to be on a Stamp, but is Stamped Out at the
Polls
As part of the new millennium
celebration, the US Postal Service nominated a number of candidates
for the "Celebrate the Century" stamp series, and let the public vote
on the final selection. The 1950's Science and Technology series
included TRANSISTOR RADIO CREATED (see Rock 'n Roll picture below)
and noted "The transistor radio became available to consumers in
1954. It was one of the first uses of the transistor, which
revolutionized the electronics industry." Unfortunately the TR-1
didn't make the vote.
Regency Rocks on Aussie Stamp
In 1998, the
Australian Post issued a series of stamps to commemorate Rock 'n Roll
songs of the 50s, 60s and 70s. The Regency TR-1 was illustrated on a
stamp that featured the 1970 hit "Turn Up Your Radio" by the group
Masters Apprentices. The song was considered one of the great
Australian rock anthems. The radio was supplied from the collection
at The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney. Australia
Post web site. information provided by Bruce Barnett
"It's Only Rock 'n Roll, but I Like It"
The Stones
The portable transistor radio is credited in
part with advancing rock 'n roll into the American culture. Quote PBS
program, Transistorized,
"Now that music could be played out of earshot of their disapproving
parents, music became more daring and revolutionary." The timing was
right, and in 1954, Bill Haley's "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and soon to
follow, "Rock Around the Clock" hit the charts, along with Elvis'
first record, "That's All Right."
But this success was something that the transistor radio inventors had not anticipated nor were pleased about. When Regency co-founder, John Pies' children became teenagers, it was common to hear "turn that music down" barked at the Pies household. Nobel prize winner (for co-inventing the transistor), Walter Brattain, complained that his only regret for inventing the transistor was that it stimulated rock and roll.
For Inquiring Minds
Much has been written about the origin of the transistor - was it humans, or was it space aliens? Here are some keywords to continue the search.
KEYWORDS: alientel.com, Roswell, American Computer Company, AT&T, Jack Morton
What were the Visionary Companies Doing at the Birth of the Transistor in 1947?
