Radio hat

Lore & Background

The radio hat was manufactured by the American Merri-Lei Corporation, a leading supplier of party hats and novelty items. Its founder, Victor Hoeflich, had invented a machine to make paper Hawaiian leis while still in high school in 1914, and by 1949 the company shipped millions of leis to Hawaii each year. Hoeflich, an inventor and gadgeteer, hoped a radio with innovative packaging and a publicity campaign could be a runaway success. The transistor had just been invented but was still an expensive laboratory curiosity; the first pocket transistor radio was five years away, so the radio hat used existing vacuum tube technology. The tubes were a prominent design feature, along with the visible loop antenna and tuning knob. The hat was available in eight colors.

In March 1949, Hoeflich held a press conference to introduce the "Man from Mars, Radio Hat." He had several teenagers modeling the hats for reporters and photographers. Pictures and news stories appeared in newspapers coast to coast, typically including a photo of a young lady wearing the hat and a six-paragraph story. The radio hat also received widespread coverage in magazines such as Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Mechanix Illustrated, Radio-Electronics, Life, Time, Newsweek, and The New Yorker. The hat was sold in department stores and by mail order; a Van Nuys, California service station chain sold them as a promotion item to customers who purchased gasoline. Despite the massive publicity, sales did not last; advertisements stopped in early 1950. In a 1956 interview, Hoeflich said the company still got orders for the hat even though it was long out of production.

The June 1949 issue of Radio-Electronics featured a two-page article describing the circuitry and construction of the radio. The cover photograph showed a 15-year-old Hope Lange wearing a Lipstick Red hat; she later became an award-winning actress, nominated for the 1957 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Peyton Place.

Reader's Guide

The radio hat represents a notable early attempt to combine fashion with portable radio technology, using vacuum tubes at a time when the transistor was still a laboratory curiosity. Its internal battery pack provided 1.5 volts for the filaments and 22.5 volts for the B+ supply, much safer voltages for use in a hat than the higher voltages common in other simple radios of the era. The circuit used a 1S5 tube as a regenerative detector and a 3V4 tube to amplify audio for the earphone. The regenerative detector operated with cathode feedback well into the oscillation range; strong local stations blocked the oscillations, allowing clear reception, while distant stations produced an objectionable heterodyne squeal. The loop antenna was part of the resonant tuning circuit and was somewhat directional, so signal level could vary when the listener turned their head. The radio hat's significance lies in its demonstration that novelty packaging and a strong publicity campaign could generate widespread interest, even if the product's sales were short-lived. It also illustrates the state of portable radio technology just before the transistor revolution, and its coverage in both technical and general-audience magazines shows how it captured the public imagination.

Did You Know?

• The radio hat was introduced in early 1949 for $7.95 as the "Man-from-Mars Radio Hat."
• The hat was available in eight colors including Lipstick Red, Tangerine, and Chartreuse.
• The June 1949 issue of Radio-Electronics featured a 15-year-old Hope Lange modeling the hat on its cover.
• The radio hat used vacuum tubes because the transistor was still an expensive laboratory curiosity.