Modesto Radio Museum

10/18/2026

MILESTONE 10/18/1954: Its introduction was one of the most important events in radio history, not because of its technical performance, but because it fundamentally changed where and how people listened to radio. The effects on programming and formats continue today.

The Regency TR-1 reached stores in November 1954, just in time for the Christmas shopping season. It was developed by Texas Instruments and was the first commercially produced transistor radio and one of the first widely sold transistorized consumer products.

The set wasn't cheap. It sold for $49.95 (about $620 today) but buyers were attracted by something they had never seen before: a radio small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. About 100,000 to 150,000 TR-1s were sold despite their mediocre audio quality.

For the first time, listeners could carry radio with them virtually anywhere. The biggest long-term impact may have been on teenagers. They could listen privately, away from parents and family preferences. The transistor radio became almost a symbol of teenage culture.

One modern analysis noted that the TR-1 ignited the public's appetite for portable devices, a trend that ultimately led to the Sony Walkman, Apple iPod and today's smartphone.

10/16/2026

BROADCASTER Using a small crystal radio set as a kid, he began listening to the radio. One newspaper account said that he "spent hours listening and by the age of 12 was reading newspaper stories into a telephone mouthpiece. At 15, he went on the air on a 100-watt station.

When most people think of Douglas Edwards (1917-1990), they think of television. In fact, his radio career was longer and, in many ways, more significant than his TV work.

Between 1935 and 1940, Edwards worked at WAGF in Dothan, AL, then at WSB in Atlanta and WXYZ in Detroit.

In 1942, Edwards accepted an offer from CBS Radio to move to New York as an assistant announcer of the network's nightly 15-minute news program "The World Today." When anchor John Charles Daly was sent overseas as a CBS war correspondent, Edwards replaced him. Two years later, CBS sent Edwards to London. Returning in 1946, he became anchor of the "CBS World News Roundup."

Later, Edwards worked on both the CBS TV and radio.

For 22 years between 1966 and 1988, Edwards became the signature voice of CBS Radio's evening news coverage, anchoring "The World Tonight."

Hear Edwards now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_pa9Js1Vq0

(image: CBS News Correspondent Douglas Edward on the right and Robert Trout on the left covering the US presidential election on 11/6/1956 from CBS Election Headquarters in Grand Central Terminal studios. CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images)

Please “Like" or "Follow" this page to receive more Radio History posts.

10/09/2026

10/09/2026

10/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/barhof/posts/pfbid02RpoUf3ixbt4EXaYRunAc9V14Taov4Qv3bwPQHnsb23qqGkUhyCNRCf2kmq3NNju6l

10/09/2026

Congratulations to our very own Sh***un Tom Kelly. All of us with the Modesto Radio Museum are proud of you and happy to be a part of your incredible journey. You can hear Sh***un on SiriusXM’s ‘60s Gold at 4:00pm daily. Now a National Radio Hall of Fame member!

10/08/2026

10/06/2026

Now Playing for Graffiti Ghould lovers…