1955 Zenith Royal 500, 7XT40 chassis
Coat pocket radio, nylon cabinet
5 3/4 x 3 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches / 146 x 89 x 38 mm
Seven transistors (socketed ovals)
Superheterodyne circuit, hand-wired aluminum chassis
Four 1.5-volt AA cells
Manufactured by Zenith Radio Corp.; Chicago, Illinois
Zenith's first transistor radio: the unit shown here is the first chassis version (7XT40) of the first Royal 500 model series, followed by the 7XT40Z and 7XT40Z1 chassis, both produced in 1956. All three versions had hand-wired chassis, unlike their successors which used pc-board chassis. And unlike their many successors, beginning with the 1957 7ZT40 chassis series, the first three Royal 500 versions lacked vernier tuning.
The earliest Zenith 500 cabinets are easily identified by the lettering on the cabinet back: the words, "Tubeless All Transistor" are stamped in large script lettering, as opposed to the small bold, "TUBELESS - 7 TRANSISTORS" lettering found on the 7XT40Z series cabinets. Also, while the words, "UNBREAKABLE NYLON" appear above the battery door on the 7XT40Z series, those words appear on the battery door itself on the 7XT40 cabinet. (See comparison photo below.)
All Zenith Royal 500s cabinets were made of nylon, a material not used all that often for transistor radio cabinets -- the vast majority of transistor radio cabinets were made of ABS, a version of polystyrene that was much less brittle than plain polystyrene but still far more susceptible to cracks, chips and scratches than was nylon. Zenith's "UNBREAKABLE NYLON" stamp found on the back face of all 500 cabinets clearly was a claim that went too far: some small percentage of cabinets today can be found cracked or chipped -- yet to this day, many nylon radio cabinets are not only free of damage but have retained that wonderfully glossy "like new" finish that few ABS cabinets have managed to hold onto without restoration.
Along with the Regency TR-1, the Zenith Royal 500 is a US transistor radio that no one is about to forget anytime soon.
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