Transistor radio
A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Following their development in 1954, made possible by the invention of the transistor in 1947, they became the most popular electronic communication device in history, with billions manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s. Their pocket size sparked a change in popular music listening habits, allowing people to listen to music anywhere they went. Beginning in the 1980s, however, cheap AM transistor radios were superseded by devices with higher audio quality such as portable CD players, personal audio players, boomboxes, and (eventually) smartphones, some of which contain radios themselves.
American automobile industry in the 1950s
Until mid-decade, all radios in automobiles used vacuum tubes, but on April 28, 1955, Chrysler and Philco announced the development and production of the first all-transistor radio for an automobile. Dubbed the Mopar model 914HR, it was jointly developed by Chrysler and Philco and offered as a $150 option for 1956 Imperial and Chrysler car models. Philco manufactured the radio exclusively for Chrysler at its Sandusky, Ohio plant. A few years earlier in 1952, Blaupunkt had been the first company to offer FM radio for automobiles, although AM radio still dominated for years to come. Beginning in 1955, Chrysler offered a small phonograph called the Highway Hi-Fi in its luxury cars, which played proprietary seven-inch records. It proved unpopular and was soon discontinued.