MADE IN JAPAN: Transistor Radios of the...

MADE IN JAPAN: Transistor Radios of the 1950s and 1960s by Randy Handy, Maureen Erbe & Aileen Farnan Antonier (Chronicle: $16.95; 108 pp. , illustrated, paperback original). Before the Walkman and the boom box made their dubious debuts, people who wanted to make noise had to rely on the transistor radios that are the subject of this tongue-in-cheek salute. These diminutive radios provided not only music, but miniature examples of ricky-ticky ‘50s design--using one was like plugging a “Googie” coffee shop into your ear.