1960 Harpers GK-631
Shirt pocket radio, thermoplastic cabinet
4 1/2 x 2 9/16 x 1 1/4 inches / 114 x 65 x 32 mm
Six transistors (Hitachi), superheterodyne circuit
One standard 9-volt battery
Manufactured by Crown/Asahi Musen?
Distributed by Harpers International, Inc., New York
What a gorgeous radio, a great example of reverse-painted plastic cabinet design.
While I've always felt that only Crown (Asahi Musen) could have made a radio as beautiful as this GK-631, I've never had any proof. And I still don't — but the number stamp 150560 shown below does add something to the notion. It fits the production date numbering scheme used exclusively by Asahi Musen on most of its c.1959/60 models, both for it Crown models and its suspected OEM models. That would make the assembly date for this example May 15, 1960. Please see my Crown production date codes page.
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