𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗛𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱.
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🎩The first examples of the radio hat were made in the 20s. But they weren’t really successful.
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📻In 1949, American enterpriser Victor Hoeflich presented «Man-from-Mars Radio Hat». So that people could listen to the radio in privacy. It had futuristic design due to technical limitations. The loop aerial and the valves were an outstanding feature of the hats.
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🚂It looked geeky and non-fashionable, but its inventor did his best to promote the hats. There were eight bright colors of the hats - even the Rose Pink color. And Hoeflich promised to develop «ladylike radio hats with ribbons and feathers».
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📯Thanks to media coverage, radio hats became widely popular. They cost $7.95 and were sold by mail order or in department stores across the U.S.
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🥁In fact, the radio hat had lots of limitations. Classical radio performed much better. Radio hats received only the AM broadcast band, (classical radios were able to receive FM). The antenna was directional. So the signal could be lost if the user turned their head.
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📶Radio hats received the signal within a 20 miles (32 km) radius. The battery was carried in its user’s pocket. So the popularity of the radio hats dropped quickly.
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🔷 Their production was stopped in 1955.
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