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1954

  • Work on this object began.

2017

2018

2025

  • You found it!

Regency TR-1 Radio Transistor Radio, 1954

This is a transistor radio. It was designed by Painter, Teague and Petertil and manufactured by Texas Instruments and Industrial Development Engineering Associates, Regency Division and engineered by Arthur P. Stern and patented by Richard C. Koch. It is dated 1954 and we acquired it in 2017. Its medium is plastic, brass, electronic components; leather, metal (case). It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

Advertised as the world’s first pocket radio, the TR-1 set the stage for future portable radio and digital media technologies. Developed in the year of the United States’s largest ever nuclear weapon test, the radio’s brass dial allowed the user to choose the desired frequency, and the small triangles indicate the appropriate wavelength for news during potential nuclear attacks.

This object was donated by Robert Greenberg. It is credited Gift of Robert M. Greenberg.

  • Radio
  • 20 x 19 x 9 cm (7 7/8 x 7 1/2 x 3 9/16 in.).
  • Gift of Henry Dreyfuss.
  • 1972-88-184-a/c

Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 12.7 × 7.6 × 3.8 cm (5 in. × 3 in. × 1 1/2 in.)

Cite this object as

Regency TR-1 Radio Transistor Radio, 1954; Designed by Painter, Teague and Petertil; Engineered by Arthur P. Stern (American, born Hungary, 1925 - 2012); Manufactured by Texas Instruments, Industrial Development Engineering Associates, Regency Division; Patented by Richard C. Koch (American, 1934 - 2011); plastic, brass, electronic components; leather, metal (case); H x W x D: 12.7 × 7.6 × 3.8 cm (5 in. × 3 in. × 1 1/2 in.); Gift of Robert M. Greenberg; 2017-51-6-a,b

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Bob Greenberg Selects.

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/1142029031/ |title=Regency TR-1 Radio Transistor Radio, 1954 |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=13 July 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>