Object Details
maker
Sony
Description
This Sony "Walkman" portable tape player dates from the early 1980s. Originally introduced in 1979 as the “Soundabout,” two people could listen simultaneously while a small microphone permitted them to converse without removing their headsets. Powered by two AA batteries or an optional rechargeable battery pack, the recorder sold well until the decline of the cassette format in the mid 2000s.
Until the middle of the twentieth century portable recording equipment could be quite heavy. The introduction of small transistor radios in 1954 marked a new era in portable entertainment. Philips’ invention of a compact recording cassette in 1962 provided a convenient medium for music distribution.
Credit Line
from Sony Corporation of America
date made
ca 1980
ID Number
1987.0127.01
accession number
1987.0127
catalog number
1987.0127.01
Object Name
magnetic recording device
tape recorder
cassette player
Other Terms
tape recorder; Audio Devices
Physical Description
plastic (parts material)
metal (parts material)
Measurements
player: 5 1/2 in x 3 1/2 in x 1 1/8 in; 13.97 cm x 8.89 cm x 2.8575 cm
Related Publication
Sewer, Andy; Allison, David; Liebhold, Peter; Davis, Nancy; Franz, Kathleen G.. American Enterprise: A History of Business in America
See more items in
Work and Industry: Electricity
Music & Musical Instruments
Popular Entertainment
Communications
American Enterprise
American Stories exhibit
Exhibition
American Enterprise
Exhibition Location
National Museum of American History
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_714276