![A blue and white, molded plastic, rectangular portable casette player with the Sony logo in silver in the upper left corner and the word STEREO in capital white outlined letters underneath just left of center. A clear rectangular shape beneath reveals the black cassette tape inside the player, beside which is a white arrow pointing upwards and a white sticker with [MADE IN JAPAN] printed in blacl capitals on it. On the right hand side a number of white buttons and dials can be seen In the upper left is an orange plastic button with two headphone jacks beside it to the right. A black cable is plugged into the jack nearest the button and curls round to the right attached to a pair of aluminum headphones with orange foam earpieces.]( https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/331411_b8cc17ad9f1da0fb_b.jpg
"TPS-L2 Walkman Portable Cassette Player And Headphones")
There are 3 other images of this object. See our image rights statement.
Object Timeline
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1979 |
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2017 |
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2022 |
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TPS-L2 Walkman Portable Cassette Player And Headphones
This is a Walkman Portable Cassette Player and Headphones. It was designed by Kozo Ohsone and Akio Morita and manufactured by Sony Corporation. It is dated 1979 and we acquired it in 2017. Its medium is molded plastic, aluminum, steel, polyurethane, electronic components. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
Introduced in 1979, the Sony Walkman TPS-L2 was the world’s first portable music player. The design changed music listening habits forever, increasing music’s mobility. The device’s lightweight body and battery life made it popular with those active in the exercise craze of the 1980s and 1990s. The Walkman offered privacy due to the lack of an external speaker, but also encouraged sociability with a second earphone jack that made it possible for two people to share the music experience.
This object was
donated by
Robert Greenberg.
It is credited Gift of Robert M. Greenberg.
- Muji Wall-mounted CD Player
- abs plastic, metal.
- Gift of MUJI.
- 2013-35-1
![Here we have a thin, boxy, rectangular grey-green plastic radio. The long, front side is made of vertical rows of speaker holes, shaped like thin bars. On the thin top side is a transparent window with numbers and red pointer and a small [BRAUN] logo. To the right side is a folded in metal telescopic antenna. There are six buttons below the window: three tan dials and three smaller, retractable buttons on the right in tan and one red. There is a thin metal handle with black plastic cover in the middle that floats above the top side. There are holes for plugs on left side.](https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/161891_da35b75cc80a8cf7_n.jpg "T 52 Clairtone Portable Radio")
- T 52 Clairtone Portable Radio
- molded plastic, metal.
- Gift of Barry Friedman and Patricia Pastor.
- 1986-99-23
- R-72 Portable Radio
- abs plastic, metal.
- Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler.
- 2007-37-5
Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.
- Album Cover, Defunkt
- offset lithograph on paper.
- Gift of Tibor Kalman/ M & Co..
- 1993-151-56
Its dimensions are
H x W x D (cassette player): 13 × 8.7 × 3 cm (5 1/8 × 3 7/16 × 1 3/16 in.) H x W x D (headphones): 16.5 × 14.2 × 4 cm (6 1/2 × 5 9/16 × 1 9/16 in.)
Cite this object as
TPS-L2 Walkman Portable Cassette Player And Headphones; Designed by Kozo Ohsone and Akio Morita; molded plastic, aluminum, steel, polyurethane, electronic components; H x W x D (cassette player): 13 × 8.7 × 3 cm (5 1/8 × 3 7/16 × 1 3/16 in.) H x W x D (headphones): 16.5 × 14.2 × 4 cm (6 1/2 × 5 9/16 × 1 9/16 in.); Gift of Robert M. Greenberg; 2017-51-4-a/c
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Bob Greenberg Selects.
