My first transitor radio was an AMC, I believe, which was a Shillito's Department Store brand. Shillito's was in Cincinnati, part of the Federated chain of stores, for which my father was an architect, so we got 20% off by shopping there. I think I still have it in a memory box somewhere. It's a little bigger than a deck of cards. Has a leather case with a strap and a little pouch that snaps on the side of it to carry the ear phone. I think it may still even work. With the ear phone plugged in, I used to listen to Moon River, a show of organ music and poetry, every night before I went to bed.
My first record player I got for graduation. Don't remember the brand, but I held onto it for many, many years because it had the capability of playing 78rpm. It went to LA with me and I held onto it, even after it was replaced by later models. In fact, I don't think I got rid of it until right before I moved back here. It was stored in my garage until it finally went to the Goodwill.
My first TV was a small b&w that I bought with money I earned during the summer between freshman and sophomore years of college. Again, I think it was a Shillito's brand. It cost me $68, as I recall. I bought it so I could watch old movies in my dorm room instead of trekking to the University Med Center to watch them in the lobby there (all the dorm TVs were usually tuned to the Tonight Show with a crowd watching. I could hardly say: "Hey, guys, let's watch Hope and Crosby in the Road to Morocco instead.") Again, I held on to this TV a long time, until I replaced it with a colour one in LA.
First VCR was bought in LA. I think it was a JVC. I bought it with my first film money from the Sherlock Holmes films. Don't remember when I finally replaced it.
