1961 Toshiba 8TM-41
Coat pocket / small portable radio, thermoplastic cabinet
6 5/8 x 3 13/16 x 1 5/8 inches / 168 x 97 x 41 mm
Eight transistors (Toshiba), four 1.5-volt AA cells
Manufactured by Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co. Ltd. (Toshiba), Kawasaki, Japan
One of the more stylish "coat pocket" / small portable transistor radios made in the 1960s, reminiscent of some US portable and tabletop tube radios from the 1940s and 1950s, yet still very much a 1960s radio. The designers chose their colors carefully: a midnight-blue body with a gray back cabinet half — a color combination that shows up again in the tuning and volume knobs, the gold-colored grille, and the gold-colored reverse-painted tuning dial area in which the tuning scale is silver/gray.
For some reason, this set has been sidelined by collectors in favor of the similarly proportioned 1960 8TM-294B with its conspicuous matte aluminum "waffle" grille -- I don't know why. This 8TM-41 is one of many examples of great styling from Toshiba that's also good design.
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