Don’t touch that dial… these weird 70s bathroom music machines combined the utility of a toilet paper roll holder with the sweet sound of an AM radio.

Audio Waste Land

A visit to one’s parents or grandparents wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the “facilities”, where you stood (or sat, as the case may be) a fairly decent chance of finding a restroom radio. Encased in plastic dyed in unnatural hues apparently lifted from a 1958 DeSoto brochure, these incongruous yet ingenious multifunctional devices emerged at the end of a decade that witnessed one of mankind’s most historic accomplishments: landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.

American Ingenuity

A mere 16 days after Armstrong and Aldrin left the first human footprints on another heavenly body, the United States Patent Office formally granted patent #214,839 to John F. Lewis of Hawthorne, CA for his “Combined Radio Cabinet And Toilet Paper Holder”. No doubt Lewis was greatly relieved, having applied for the patent almost ten months previously. As for Armstrong and Aldrin, presumably they were relieved as well once they could relieve themselves in Earth gravity again.

The Rolling Tones

It wasn’t long before a number of manufacturers (including “Stewart“, above) began pumping out restroom radios that generally hewed quite closely to Lewis’ patented design. Among the differences – some might say improvements – were same-sized Volume and Tuning dials and the relocation of the battery compartment to the top of the unit, protected by a snap-on cover. On the downside, the dials’ milled edges were tough to clean… yuck.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Rockn Rolls Retro Toilet Paper Roll Holder Radios

Last year, Roman Mars of 99% Invisible and PRX broke records, raising $375,000 with a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign – this year, Radiotopia aims to collect $250,000 in contributions on Kickstarter page to support its lineup of seven amazing radio shows. So far, this campaign has gained over 2,500 backers and $100,000 in its first 24 hours – to see why, read on and listen to a collection of select stories, one per show, embedded for your listening pleasure below.

Funded directly by fans, Radiotopia represents “a new model for audience engagement and revenue growth in public radio” as well as a “collective of the best story-driven shows on the planet.” For their last campaign, designed to make 99% Invisible a weekly production, WebUrbanist brought you seven of the show’s most compelling episodes in an effort to support their crowdfunding endeavors. This year, we are highlighting one episode from each of these unique and compelling podcasts. As fellow independent media producers, we encourage you to check these out for yourselves and show your support for these amazing programs.

99% Invisible has gone from a garage radio startup on design and built environments to one of the most popular and celebrated award-winning audio programs in the world. From this past season, Holdout represents the a great example of how the show explores the intersection of urban planning, zoning laws and esoteric architectural history. At the heart of this episode is the nail house of Edith Macefield, a woman who refused to sell her home at any cost – developers ended up building around it, but, like any good story, the end is not the point, and there are many twists along the way. Bonus: a t-shirt featuring this famous home is one of the Kickstarter rewards you can get for supporting Radiotopia!

Radio Diaries “tells the extraordinary stories of ordinary life,” enabling citizen journalism since the 1960s and collaborating “with teenagers and octogenarians, prisoners and prison guards, bra saleswomen and lighthouse keepers” along the way. When Borders Move explores the strange phenomena of geographical boundaries defined by landscape features like rivers that stubbornly refuse to stop moving over time. In this episode, personal interviews with impacted individuals are spliced in between larger examples and explanations, showing the human side of these larger historical shifts.

Love + Radio “features in-depth, otherworldly-produced interviews with an eclectic range of subjects, from the seedy to the sublime.” Bedouin Love is a short show featuring a poignant but “brief conversation of love, death, and camel’s milk” with a guide in Petra, Jordan, an ancient historical site where Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and other films were shot. It represents another side to the tourist experience – those hard-to-capture but powerful person-to-person moments that go beyond the contents of superficial and sanitized travel guides and give you a sense of the day-to-day life and culture of a place.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Radiotopia Fundraiser Support 7 Story Centric Prx Podcasts

Stripping away all non-essential functionality, these sleek audio accessories are tiny enough to be effectively invisible and entirely wire-free. No need to worry about charging, either – their small carrying case lets you power them back up on the go.

Earin just finished raising £972,594 on Kickstarter, over 5 times its original funding goal, reflecting how much so many of us wish to get rid of those pesky wires when listening to music on the move.

Beyond long battery life, ergonomic comfort, snug sport-friendly casing other essential considerations, stretch goals for the project include waterproofing, phone adapters and battery monitors.

From its creators: “No unnecessary functionality has been added. No sensors, no lights and no microphone, that’s right – no microphone! Not because we couldn’t but because we wouldn’t! We use balanced armature speakers, used in professional in-ear-monitors and hearing-aids to deliver the best possible sound and to keep power-consumption at its minimal. High-density rechargeable batteries are used to keep playback time up and size down.”

Much of the technical specs on their Kickstarter page will be of interest to audiophiles (and show just how much these makers have thought about their project), but in summary: “The architecture of the earbud is based on two main covers which are ultrasonically welded to create a water-tight seal, protecting the electrical components. The materials are carefully selected to withstand both climate and impact testing. As all project members have extensive experience of creating similar consumer products, we know what works and what does [not].”

Remember when searching for a good radio station was a process of discovery, slowly turning a knob to hear snippets of music or talk making its way through the static? The anticipation was part of the experience, not knowing just what you might hear as you made your way around the dial. A fun concept called the Radioball brings back that feeling with an interactive three-dimensional design marrying retro and modern technologies. You simply roll the ball to change the station.

“Thinking back to the days of old analog radios, the magic of finding unexpected stations in the midst of fuzz was both enchanting and evocative,” says designer Ben Collette. “Compare that with today’s digital-based interactions of screens and tact switches; they give us exactly what we want when we want it, but leave no room to stumble onto alternative choices. The radioball prototype was built as a starting point for conversation about the need for richer, more spatial interactions.”

A lightweight, 3D-printed urethane mesh forms a honeycombed ball shape, which is then fitted with electronic components like speakers. The sections of the ball and the components are held together using magnets, and the design team is playing with various colors and levels of transparency for the outer mesh.

For version 2.0, Collette added a digital gyroscope to the control board so that a slow twist on any facet turns the volume up or down. It’s also got a larger battery and an easily accessible mini-USB slot for recharging the device.

Don’t touch that dial or pause for station identification, these eleven decrepit, decommissioned and DJ-less radio stations have signed off forever.

Broadcast Noose

(images via: Rural Ruin, JJ MacCrimmon)

I’ve got Dr Johnny Fever and the only prescription is more cowbell? Sorry Johnny, all the cowbell in the world ain’t gonna bring back the hundreds of small and independently-owned radio stations that once dotted the landscape… from coast to coast! JJ MacCrimmon brings us one example that will remain anonymous so as to avoid further depredations from music-hating vandals and graffiti artists.

(image via: Rural Ruin, JJ MacCrimmon)

This station may have started out as a residence and although it’s not known exactly when it was abandoned, the presence of scattered long-play records indicates it operated before stations stopped playing actual vinyl over 15 years ago. That’s the door to one of the broadcast booths above… somehow the painted smiley face on the porthole window fails to inject any humor into this sorry scene.

Where Is Your Radio God Now?

(images via: History’s Dumpster and Tim Loesch)

The former WCHR station building in Bucks County, PA began broadcasting Christian music on August 7th, 1965 from this small but solidly-built structure. In 1998, the independent station was bought by Nassau Broadcasting and shortly thereafter, transmissions from this location ceased or as one might say, gave up the holy ghost.

KOME-atose

(images via: Mike Ransom, Tulsa TV)

What’s abandoned in Tulsa, stays abandoned in Tulsa, or so it would seem in the case of KOME 1300 AM. Supposedly off the air by 1965, the station building is surprisingly clean and uncluttered – why hasn’t anyone salvaged that sumptuously padded control room door? We’re guess KOME was a country music station because (A) it’s in Tulsa and (B) there’s a Stetson Hats poster on one of the control room walls. Kudos to Jim Hartz for capturing KOME’s current status and Flickr user Mike Ransom of Tulsa TV for posting these and many other interior images.

Men Out Of Work

(image via: TasermonsPartner)

TasermonsPartner of deviantART found a lovely vignette to represent an abandoned radio station in the ghost town of Cook, Australia. Once upon a time, Cook was home to over 300 people but times change and these days a mere 10 holdouts are holding out for… a Vegemite sandwich, perhaps.

Next Page - Click Below to Read More:
Tuned Out 11 Off The Air Abandoned Radio Stations