Sixty years ago, the editors of Popular Mechanics did some testing of the latest toy offerings to see how they would hold up to rough use. The results appeared in the November 1962 issue.
One of the most intriguing toys they tested was the $40 Saranade doll from Westinghouse, shown above. But Saranade was much more than a doll. She was what one site called a “creepy Part 15 doll.” She came complete with her own record player (which played all speeds, 78 through 16 RPM). But it wasn’t just any record player. The player had a “DOLL – PHONO” switch. In the phono position, it played just like any other record player. But in the doll position, the speaker cut out, and the sound came out of a speaker strategically placed in the doll’s stomach.
The player had a one-tube amplifier inside, and when the switch was flipped, it became a transmitter on 180 kHz, in the Part 15 Lowfer band. In fact, it’s the only commercial product that I can think of that took advantage of this band. The doll contained a receiver, apparently transistorized, tuned to this signal. The doll contained neither tuning nor volume control. Fine tuning was accomplished with a control on the record player.
As with other toys reviewed, both the doll and record player survived drop tests, and were pronounced by the editors to be suitable for rough service at the hands of kids. Other items reviewed were the megaphone and perfume kit shown below, as well as the General Electric model EF 150 5 transistor shortwave receiver kit, which retailed for $29.95.
Shown here from a hundred years ago is the 7th place winner in the “Simplest Radio Outfit Contest” shown in the December 1922 issue of Science and Invention magazine.
