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  #1  
Old 09-17-2004, 09:54 AM
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Promotional Pocket Radios

When I was a kid, several of the soda bottlers would occasionally hand out AM pocket radios that resembled their vending machines and sometime bottles or cans of soda. I was watching a film about The Beatles first visit here to the U.S. in 1964. Apparently PEPSI gave them one of their "vending machine" radios. Throughout the documentary they were listening (and seeing!) in amazement how people were reacting to them and their music. Unfortunately, I can't even get a puny 29kb picture to load into the AK system to show you what it looks like.
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Old 09-17-2004, 10:41 AM
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I've got a Sunoco Gas pump transistor radio around here somewhere...
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Old 09-19-2004, 06:58 PM
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Re: Promotional Pocket Radios

Quote:
Originally posted by CELT
Unfortunately, I can't even get a puny 29kb picture to load into the AK system to show you what it looks like.
No problem, Celt. Here's a neato webpage with pictures and an the interesting story of the Beatles' Pepsi radio!

http://www.antiqueradio.com/Feb02_Meet_Beatles.html

Paula
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Old 09-19-2004, 07:46 PM
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Wow-that IS neat, Paula ! Wonder if that little guy is somehow still around? Was it left in the hotel, only to be filched by an enterprising cleaning lady, now the property of her daughter or grandaughter?" Or did it make it back to Jolly Olde, to be added to the ever-increasing pile of boodle & swag the Beatles must have collected in their trips in the '60s? It would be worth a fortune now, if it's still around, & was in any kind of decent shape at all.-Sandy G.
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Old 09-19-2004, 08:45 PM
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Re: Re: Promotional Pocket Radios

Quote:
Originally posted by Paula
No problem, Celt. Here's a neato webpage with pictures and an the interesting story of the Beatles' Pepsi radio!

http://www.antiqueradio.com/Feb02_Meet_Beatles.html

Paula
Extemely cool! Thanks Paula!
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Old 03-05-2005, 03:36 PM
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Years ago (during the era when AM stations played music and top-40), some radio stations would distribute small, cheap pocket transistor sets with their callsigns and/or frequency on the front panels. I remember seeing one of these with the calls of Baltimore station WCBM on it; I think they were promotional items, meant to promote the Baltimore baseball team. I don't remember offhand, however, whether these radios were fixed-tuned to WCBM's frequency (some of these promotional sets were made to receive only the station they were advertising) or were tunable.
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Old 03-05-2005, 07:29 PM
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Here ya go.
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Old 03-06-2005, 08:50 AM
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God I feel old when I look at this stuff and it jogs the memory!

Ron
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Old 03-06-2005, 09:43 AM
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Somewhere I have a blue plastic AM/FM set that's made up to look like a pack of Polaroid 600 film. It will either use a spent pack of 600 film as its power supply or 6 AA batteries. For something I gave $1.99 at a Hog Lots Closeout store (Big Lots), it sounds pretty fair.-Sandy G.
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Old 03-06-2005, 08:16 PM
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Pan American radio

I wish I could remember where I got this rather sturdy 6 transistor RCA. Labeled RCA International "Compliments of Pan American" on the front. The inside label says RCA Model 8QTR611 (with the meatball logo), RCA International, Ltd., Far East Branch, Hong Kong. It's a shade of green that only a hospital could be proud of...and works just fine.

Dave A
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Old 03-06-2005, 08:23 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave A
It's a shade of green that only a hospital could be proud of
Reminds me of that avocado refrigerator I had to work on awhile back.
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Old 03-06-2005, 09:51 PM
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That RCA was a nice gift for flying! Expensive tickets back then, I suppose, especially first class. I have one but its horizontal, not vertical, can't remember what color. Got a collection of oddball transistors. Neat to hear about the WCBM radio as this was a favorite growing up, along with WCAO. My earliest radio memories, probably late 70s, are switching between the 2 stations which were both pop or similiar then. I do have a WCAO radio which sez on the front something like "Hot tunes for summer fun" or something, on the back is a switch & one position is marked with a football! I've never tried it but I reason that this would tune you direct to "Radio 60, WCAO" and that they were carrying the Colts at the time. I've got an Exxon oil can, Welch's grape soda, Tide detergent, Sinclair & Sunoco gas pumps, a Canadian radio station, etc. Just pick 'em up when they're cheap 'cause they don't take up much space. I've seen those Polaroid radios around but never realized they could run off a film pack-wow! A novel idea! If I see one (cheap) I'll pick it up.
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Old 03-07-2005, 12:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bgadow
My earliest radio memories, probably late 70s, are switching between the 2 stations which were both pop or similiar then. I do have a WCAO radio which sez on the front something like "Hot tunes for summer fun" or something, on the back is a switch & one position is marked with a football! I've never tried it but I reason that this would tune you direct to "Radio 60, WCAO" and that they were carrying the Colts at the time.
WCBM and WCAO are still around in Baltimore (with their original calls), on 600 and 680 respectively, but their formats have changed (as have most U. S. AM stations). They are now both talk stations, but were probably top-40 when your promotional set was new. I live in northern Ohio, but I found out about these stations' whereabouts and doings via TVRadioWorld.com; however, I can often hear Baltimore's 50kW stations at night, as clearly as any of the 50kW Cleveland stations.

The switch on the back of your WCAO promotional radio likely is a fixed-tuning selector. The position marked with a football switched in circuitry to tune the set to WCAO's 600kHz frequency. The other switch position did the same, tuning the set to WCBM on 680.
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