c.1960 Arvin Silvertone 1201
Shirt pocket radio, thermoplastic cabinet
5 3/16 x 3 1/4 x 1 3/4 inches / 132 x 83 x 45 mm
Four transistors (GE), superheterodyne circuit
One tubular 9-volt battery
Manufactured by Arvin, USA
Distributed by Sears, USA
A big fat US "shirt pocket" transistor radio, beautifully plain-and-simple in its cabinet design, relying almost entirely on the cabinet's many lines for its appeal, including the louvered grille that wraps around the whole body — such a spartan contrast to all the wild Japanese shirt pocket designs of the time!
Shown below is a December 18, 1960 ad from the Newport News Virginia Daily Press Newspaper, courtesy Joe Haupt, for the "1961" 1201. When establishing a date for a radio based on a Christmas ad, you would have to assume that the radio was well into production the year preceeding the distribution date.
To completely remove the chassis from the cabinet, I'd have to peel up the "Silvertone transistor" badge to get to the screw underneath, and I'm not going to do that. But pulling the chassis up out of the cabinet as far as I can, I'm able to see two GE transistors: a 2N1087 pinch-top and a 2N1144S top hat — most likely the other two transistors are also GE.
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