1959 Continental TR-182
Shirt pocket radio, thermoplastic cabinet
2 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 1 1/4 inches / 63.5 x 114 x 32 mm
Six transistors (TEN/Kobe Kogyo)
One standard 9-volt battery
Distributed by Continental Merchandise Co. Inc., New York
Manufactured by Sharp (Hayakawa Electric Co.Ltd.)
What's extremely cool about this particular unit is its bright red translucent plastic cabinet, so highly unusual -- there's that very early, low-serial-number red Zenith Royal 500 that has a translucent cabinet, and there's also a 1963 Russian-made bright red Topaz-2 that has a translucent cabinet -- I'm sure there must be a few other radio models with translucent cabinets, but overall they seem to be pretty scarce.
This Continental also has a really nice white painted speaker grille and a cloisonne badge. It's also found as a Sharp TR-182, shown below, a photo from my old M31 transistor site -- I have it there as 1958 (maybe wrong -- I don't remember how I got that date, and I barely remember the radio). I must have sold or traded it a long time ago -- and with that lavender painted grille, just what was I thinking?
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