#1960s Transistor Radios

[joehaupt]

Vintage Zenith Royal 400 Transistor Radio, Model R400F, Chassis 7GT40Z2, AM Band, 7 Transistors, Made In USA, Circa 1961 by Joe Haupt

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

1960s silvertone transistor radio |2023|

[goshyesvintageads]

Zenith Corp, 1967

[emeraldexplorer2]

Decca Radio & TV print ad, 1960

[mannymuc]

Satisfying Radio Listening in the 1960s

My personal copy of the big hit single of 1965 (German edition) combined with a drawing taken from a contempary ad for portable transitor radios

[radiomuseum]

Juliette 5 band 18 transistor radio, model NA-5018, made in 1967

With super cool light up lights!

[seamusicpoetry]

Vintage Marvel Transistor Radio, Model 6 YR-15A, AM Band, 6 Transistors, Made in Japan, Circa 1960

By Joe Haupt

[misforgotten2]

Alden's Christmas Book  -  1960

[helloparkerrose]

[your-dankle-bloob]

So, this might’ve been obvious to some, but I found something really interesting while digging around on Eggabell’s wiki page. Did you know that Bugsnax’s worldbuilding is very 60s/70s inspired? Let’s start with what I found on the wiki:

(photo from 1966)

After seeing this small tidbit it struck me that a lot of the theming and technology in the game is very 60s/70s-esque. For example:

Beffica’s phone seen in the end credits is a push telephone commonly used in the 70s. And,

Clumby’s office phone is a rotary phone stylistically similar to those found in the 1960s (rotary phones originate way further back, but the one seen here is relatively modern in appearance)

In the same picture we can also see in the background the radio is reminiscent of a transistor radio from the 1970s.

And throughout the game you can notice typewriters are commonly used by the grumpuses (Floofty has one in their hut in Snaxburg, and Jamfoot has one in the Triplicate Space. You can also hear typewriter sounds in the music used during interviews.) On this note, it’s also important to point out that newspapers are incredibly frequent in the game, and appear more vintage than modern due to the lack of color and general aesthetic:

(it’s also interesting to note that Snorpy has an obsession with radio waves rather than, say, idk, cell towers? A much more modern conspiracy focus?)

A modern and vintage newspaper for comparison:

(Going back to hat aesthetics for a minute, I wanna point out that the whole fedora with a PRESS note tucked into the band on the side is a VERY vintage depiction of journalists/reporters)

A lot of the gear used by the journalist have similarities to technology used around those decades as well:

The journalist’s snaxscope is very stylistically similar to a 1960s voigtlander camera:

Their tape recorder is a portable reel to reel tape recorder stylistically similar to those from the 60s-80s, albeit significantly downsized (it looks a lot like a mashup of a reel to reel and a cassette player):

And the snaktivator made and given to them by Floofty is reminiscent of the 50s-60s sci fi aesthetic (this could just be contributed to them being a nerd, but I thought it was interesting enough to be put on the list)

Something else small but worth noting is the boombox used by Cromdo and by Filbo during the parties is quite 70s-80s-esque, and the record player in Wiggle’s hut is, of course, a timeless commodity.

The final thing I wanna touch on is the reel to reel tape player used in Clumby’s office and in Lizbert and Eggabells hut:

Not only is it very vintage device (in fact, it’s more closely similar to ones predating the 60s than ones from the 60s-70s), it’s very important to note that all the reels, when projected onto the screens, are a yellowy monochrome instead of in color:

Of course, there’s some things that conflict with all this, such as the songs that Wiggle’s records reference being released in the 90s at the earliest, and Beffica’s entire way of speaking, but the fun of a fictional world is that you can add things like this just for the hell of it! I think Bugsnax’s worldbuilding is really interesting with all the vintage references paired with the much more modern ones. Also, let me know if there’s anything I missed - I’d love to see other oldies references in this game!

[joehaupt]

Vintage Airline Portable Transistor Phono Radio, Model GEN-1306A (62-1306), AM Band, 2-Speed Phono, 6 Transistors, Made In Japan, Sold By Montgomery Ward, Circa 1967 by Joe Haupt

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

1960s airline transistor radio |2023|

[thevaultofretroandvintage]

Listening to a transistor radio [1960s]

[muzaktomyears]

today I bought a whole book (Growing Up: Sex in the 1960s, Peter Doggett) just because I flicked through and saw this:

Dr David Holbrook, writing in the New Statesman as an educationalist, regretted that it was 'painfully clear that the Beatles are a masturbation fantasy, such as a girl presumably has during the onanistic act - the genial smiling young male images, the music like a buzzing of the blood in the head, the rhythm, the cries, the shouted names, the climaxes'. (A secondary school teacher wrote to the same magazine to blame the Beatles for inciting some of his boy students to walk hand in hand through the woods, or thrust their hips forward in unison as a group of them crouched around a transistor radio.)

[vintage-tech]

Get an 8mm movie camera, projector, and screen with some other accessories and receive this transistor radio free! 1960s

[fuzzkaizer]

Hofner - PRE-AMP

"... isn’t really a pedal at all, but it’s plays a very significant part in early electric guitar! This is a Hofner Pre-Amp, made in England during the 1950’s. If you were a beginner guitarist and couldn’t afford one of those new and expensive guitar amplifiers, the Hofner Pre-Amp is there to convert your (tube) Hifi Receiver or Radio console into your very own guitar amp! Just plug the banana clips into the “Phono” input and flip the switch 💥 Utilizing a Mullard OC71 germanium transistor and a very simple boost circuit, it’s no surprise that the 1960’s Dallas Rangemaster circuit is very eerily similar to that of the Hofner Pre-Amp."

cred: instagram.com/djlavalamp