Crown Radio began life as Asahi Radio Co., Ltd. in 1948. Part of what makes their little radios so interesting is the great variety of them. While some radio makers made only toy crystal radios, and some made only inexpensive radios with limited transistor counts, and some made only higher-end, fully functional radios, Crown did it all.

Through most of their golden age, Crown radios were distributed in the US by Shriro Inc., a Hong Kong-based marketer and distributor founded in 1906 and still a major international trader to this day.

Crown made a pioneering transistor TV (see my book Vintage Transistor Televisions) and they made phonographs small and large, tape recorders, car stereos, office transcribers, and even calculators—all with at least some stylish flair.

But their most beautiful work, and their biggest contribution to product design, is in the great little radios documented in this book. To buy a copy, visit CollectorNet.net