1960 Yaou 6G-397
Shirt pocket radio, thermoplastic cabinet
4 1/16 x 2 5/8 x 1 1/4 inches / 103 x 67 x 32 mm
Six transistors (TEN/Kobe Kogyo: 2SA30, 2x 2SA31, 2SB32, 2x 2SB33), one standard 9-volt battery
Manufactured by Yaou Electric Co. Ltd., Japan
Here's another small pocket radio from Yaou that, like the the 1959 Yaou 6G-908, does a whole lot with a plastics-only cabinet — although in this case maybe a bit too much? The full-face white grille is framed and accented by the black front half of the cabinet, and for better or worse the back half of the cabinet is a pale pink. The reverse-painted dial area is a bit strange and seems to make about as much sense as the back half of the cabinet being pink. Michael Jack's photo caption sums it up really well: "This Yaou radio exhibits several design elements. At first glance they don't all harmonize well with each other but the more you look at it the more you like it."
In July 2016 collector Jan Smith from the Netherlands shared some photos of his Yaou/General produced in 1961 — same radio all around, including a pink back half, but here the badge on the grille reads "GENERAL" rather than "YAOU" — see photo below. Yaou used the "General" name on sets ranging from 1950s tube portables up through transistor radios manufactured in the early 1960s.
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