Acquired a 1958 Emerson Vanguard 888
 

These large early transistor radios are so well made. They're practically a small table radio of the period in sound quality. This black version was cleaned-up like a jewel and I painstakingly touched-up the gold graphics. They came in a slew of colors including red and turquoise. The design is very "mid-century" abstract with random patterned grill slats and free-form stalks that lead up to the tuning knob and on/off/vol control. "Vanguard" was the first launch rocket to send Americas first satellite into space.

All I can say is..."Oooooohh!"

The iPod of the beat generation.

A cool example of what may have been someone's favourite Christmas gift 62 years ago.

Yes. These must've been quite a gift in the day for a teenager. They play really well. They were $48 in 1958. That's like spending about $500 today. I guess you can say like buying a basic iPhone today.
Also - thanks John - I've done detailing all my life on these old sets and this one gave me quite a challenge! I actually went back 3 times before I was satisfied. The ridges of the graphics wear down to nearly nothing so you have to mostly paint fee-hand. I used toothpicks to clean-up the excess. You have to have a steady hand and a lot of patience.

Beautiful classic USA made transistor radio. And love the Vanguard, Emerson's nicest transistor radio.

I've got a turquoise Pioneer still running on all the original parts. They're really good preformers that pull in the stations.
The chassis reminds me of a AA5 with transistors in terms of component size. Big IF cans, capacitors, volume control, tuner.
10/10 restoration you've done. I want to add a Vanguard to my collection one of these days.