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R-72 Portable Radio
This is a Portable radio. It is dated ca. 1972 and we acquired it in 2007. Its medium is abs plastic, metal. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
The Panasonic R-72 transistor radio, also known as the Toot a loop, is a wonderful example of pop art inspired design. Departing from the square box format, this portable is shaped like a donut with an off-center hole, designed to be worn on the wrist. Simply by twisting the swivel joint at the thinnest point, the radio forms an “S” shape, with the circular station dial at the top and the speaker at the bottom. This example in red is characteristic of the bright hues available in this model.
The R-72 would fill a gap in the museum’s collection of radios, which has, at the time of acquisition, much stronger representation in table top models (1930s–1960s), with only a few examples of portable transistor types in the box format and two 1980s examples in unusual shapes by Philippe Starck. Mid-20th-century consumer electronics is an area of collection interest.
This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Staying in the Loop.
This object was
donated by
Jacqueline Loewe Fowler.
It is credited Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler.
- iPod Nano Digital Media Player
- polished anodized aluminum, arsenic-free glass, molded polycarbonate resin.
- Gift of Apple.
- 2010-34-6
- Staircase Model (France)
- cherry (wood), walnut.
- Gift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw.
- 2007-45-8
- Model 547 Radio Radio
- bakelite (tm), metal.
- Gift of George R. Kravis II.
- 2018-22-79
Our curators have highlighted 5 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:
- Videosphere Model 3240 Portable Television Portable Television
- plastic, acrylic, metal, chrome-plated metal.
- Gift of George R. Kravis II.
- 2018-22-51
- TPS-L2 Walkman Portable Cassette Player And Headphones
- molded plastic, aluminum, steel, polyurethane, electronic components.
- Gift of Robert M. Greenberg.
- 2017-51-4-a/c
![Here we have a thin, boxy, rectangular grey-green plastic radio. The long, front side is made of vertical rows of speaker holes, shaped like thin bars. On the thin top side is a transparent window with numbers and red pointer and a small [BRAUN] logo. To the right side is a folded in metal telescopic antenna. There are six buttons below the window: three tan dials and three smaller, retractable buttons on the right in tan and one red. There is a thin metal handle with black plastic cover in the middle that floats above the top side. There are holes for plugs on left side.](https://images.collection.cooperhewitt.org/161891_da35b75cc80a8cf7_n.jpg "T 52 Clairtone Portable Radio")
- T 52 Clairtone Portable Radio
- molded plastic, metal.
- Gift of Barry Friedman and Patricia Pastor.
- 1986-99-23
Its dimensions are
H x diam (closed).: 7 x 15.2 cm (2 3/4 in. x 6 in.)
Cite this object as
R-72 Portable Radio; Japan; abs plastic, metal; H x diam (closed).: 7 x 15.2 cm (2 3/4 in. x 6 in.); Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler; 2007-37-5
