Tech Evolution: 1960-2000 Guess the Gadget!

The past wasn't just about "cool" fashion choices; it was also filled with awesome music and everyday objects that people used, relied on, and couldn't imagine living without. But to your modern eyes? They might look like alien artifacts, weird paperweights, or just... plain confusing!

That's why we're kicking off a brand new, super-duper, slightly perplexing blog series: Guess That Gadget!

Each post, we'll pull a mysterious item from the archives of decades past – things that were once totally normal but have since vanished, evolved beyond recognition, or just become... obsolete cool curiosities. Your mission, should you choose to accept it (and we hope you do!), is to take a good look, use your modern wits, and drop your best guess in the comments about what on earth these things are and what they were used for!

Ready to test your historical object knowledge? To see if you can decipher the purpose of yesterday's tech and tools?

Let's kick things off with our very first mystery item!

Long before the glowing screen of the television dominated living rooms, the radio was the king of home entertainment and the primary way many people got their news. 1 This objects is a descendant of that era, specifically gaining huge popularity in the 1960s. While portable radios started showing up in the 1950s, the ones from the 60s, like this were a more modern upgrade thanks to something called transistors which made them smaller and more efficient. 2  

One is a small handheld device, often in fun colors and designs, and the other is a bit larger. Both have knobs to tune into the radio staion you wante. They let people do something that's incredibly common today, but in a totally different way. They didn't make calls, didn't show pictures, and definitely couldn't scroll through endless videos. Actually, you would use your imagination, maybe relating more to your own life. Years later, looking back, it was the times in your life you remember.  To hear your favorite tunes, catch the news, or listen to baseball and football games, you had to tune the dial, and sometimes the sound wasn't perfect, with a bit of static you'd try to minimize by adjusting the dial just right.

So, tell us...