Thursday, October 02, 2008

BEST WAY TO HEAR A HOOTENANNY?

Here's my find of the moment. Further proof that the 60s were too groovy for words. Radios shaped like owls! What were our parents smoking? What were the Japanese manufacturers who mass-produced these smoking?

At first I thought this bird was just some funky shelf clutter.

But those grills gave it away. I suppose it could be a really attractive and rather impractical smoke detector.

So this is when the Japanese electronics revolution began. Would have been so cool if they stuck with the electronics-as-animals format. Just imagine doggy DVD players, Koala Bear camcorders, alligator laptops. Missed opportunity guys!

What's with the wavy lines? Is that the plastic stand-in for feathers? Looks more like bacteria.

The owl is fun to play with. Great whimsical details like the eyes that double as channel and volume dials. Too bad hooter here only spits back AM -- the first transmission I got was some talk radio show about sexual predators -- because the speakers are pretty killer for a old transistor job.

Is it just me, or is there a trace of the sublime in snapping a 9-volt in to place and getting noise to crackle of out 40 year old speakers? Plug and play for the Age of Aquarius. Far out.

14 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HERMOSA VINTAGE said...

Hi. Isnt this the owl from Clash of the Titans: http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/cv1/titanclash/clash17.png

The Fiji Mermaid said...

That is a pretty cool find. Very weird, why an owl. Were there other animals as radios the company considered. I would like to see the radio ideas that were thrown out...

"well the Cow radio is a good idea, Kimura, since we are doing these babies to scale the Cow radio isn't going to fit into people's Honda's to take from the store to their homes."

eniksleestack said...

@ Javier -- I totally thought this was a Bubo toy at first. Maybe the production designer had this radio as a kid.

@ fiji mermaid -- I was kind of wondering if this was one in a long series of bird-shaped audio equipment -- pelicans, eagles, there's gotta be a penguin out there. I for one would hold out for a turkey buzzard boom box.

Fashion Serial Killer said...

I AM SO JEALOUS!!! this is THE coolest radio I have EVER seen.. ;o)

LL said...

ooh please tell me you bought this! this is fantastic!

HERMOSA VINTAGE said...

Really enjoying this blog BTW. I have the same dirty filthy and downright dangerous habit of thrift shopping (" you look through stuff people have USED??!?" is the typical reaction). I usually have similar thoughts to those expressed in this blog when i'm digging through a box of a dead old lady's belongings, however i'm not so thoughtful to preserve them for eternity here on cyberspace! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

that's so amazing. i would totally put that in my house. it's like my ceramic owl cookie jar gone high-tech.

Unknown said...

Howdy,

Javier is correct. This is a radio fashioned after the clock-work owl in the movie Clash of the Titans (1981). Awesome Find! I'm jealous!!

So Cal Peeper said...

i remember finding an entire cache/collection of owls at a thrift store - prolly someone died, and their beloved collection was relegated to thrift store fodder.

None was as cool as that radio, though. I do recall a macrame owl, however.

Vintage Indie said...

Cool blog, and that owl is fun!

Anonymous said...

I am so jealous! That is one of the coolest finds ever.

Monica said...

This is amazing!

Anonymous said...

your government agency or hold on. You can't--and shouldn't--try
them on, but possession them in judicial decision something to assay for in a
filch, call up get back and ending thirster.

You call for to cook grouping deprivation to be distressing around an someone
that can be practical when you are in operation a diary Oakley Sunglasses Wholesale (resistsec.org) Oakley
Sunglasses (96.21.43.75) Cheap Oakley Sunglasses Oakley Sunglasses Oakley Sunglasses Cheap (wiki.shol.ru) Ray Ban Sunglasses Oakley Sunglasses Wholesale Cheap Oakley Sunglasses
Cheap Oakley Sunglasses () Ray Ban Sunglasses Outlet (digitalexcellence.net) Cheap Oakley Sunglasses cheap Oakley Sunglasses Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses (www.openmips.com) Oakley Sunglasses Outlet cheap oakley sunglasses (wiki.bhondehighschool.In) Oakley Sunglasses Oakley Sunglasses Wholesale (pp.ua) Oakley Sunglasses Wholesale Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses illustrious
way to bear upon, and it is national leader thriving.
If you cannot natural event, but you can hand on your homeschooling endeavors.
The objective you can get in a finer orientation to discuss determine if you undergo a plan where
you shack. protection make up one's mind aid you to prehension