Public Perception of the BP-10 Personal Radio

In the late 1930s radio sales were primarily for table top and floor console radios in fine wood veneer cabinets.  They were pieces of furniture as much as they were entertainment devices.  Cheaper sets in plastic were available, but they were considered inferior even though almost all of the sets sold could be plugged into the wall.  A few could be run from batteries, but those were primarily for the “farm market”.  Most farms back then had no electricity.  So, when RCA introduced the BP-10 personal portable radio in 1940 it met some resistance from radio salesmen.  It was not in a pretty wood cabinet and it did not plug into the wall.  The price was also higher than some of the cheaper small radios that could be plugged in, but too cheap to be profitable to the radio salesman. 

A battery only radio was somewhat of a novelty in 1940.  A few battery only sets had been introduced in 1939.  But, those were large “luggable” sets designed primarily to be taken from place to place not played in transit.   In fact the manufactures of the 1939 radio covered their radio cabinets in so called “airplane fabric”.  This was the same fabric used to cover travel suit cases of that era.

With all that considered it was anyone’s guess as to how the public would react to the BP-10 radio.  RCA’s David Sarnoff (CEO) was confident that a true “on the go” small portable would be a hit with the public.  The rest of RCA was not so sure.  Nevertheless, RCA pulled out all the stops promoting the new BP-10 Personal Portable radio.  The BP-10 was advertized in magazines, newspapers, movies, and just about every other way possible in 1940.  Public acceptance was dramatic.  With over 200,000 sold in less than a year the BP-10 was one of the most recognizable radios of the era.  The radio was so successful that the art deco black and chrome look was copied by Emerson, Motorola, Westinghouse, and other radio manufacturers.  In fact the black and chrome look persisted right up through the transistor radio craze.

 

The original black and chrome 1940 BP-10 radio on the right with a 1962 Silvertone transistor radio on the left.