The Michael Todd Regency TR-1 Transistor Radio "Around the World in Eighty Days" Mike Todd Gift Set

TTTThe Regency TR-1 transistor radio gift set, known today as the "Michael Todd", are radios that were presented to the cast and select friends of Michael Todd to celebrate the 1956 release of "Around the World In Eighty Days

This gift package, once billed as the rarest of the Regency TR-1 group of transistor radios during the early 1990's, is obviously rare, but not quite as rare as originally believed, if you accept them as equals to each other. On the other hand, each radio with its accompanying "book" gift package is a one of a kind set because there is a unique name embossed on the inside cover of each radio, to whom the radio was presented. In every case, the name of the movie producer, Michael Todd, also appears on the inside of the front cover.

Characteristics of this radio include a high serial number, later style case with a coin slot and surface stamped Regency/Crown logo. One benefit of a radio with a high serial is that parts were used that evolved over the course of the manufacturing run of the radio, and therefore were more dependable. This radio works perfectly!

There is a difference in the font styles of the text used for Bill Shawn's name, and that used for Michael Todd's name, so Mike's name appears larger. Bill Shawn was most always addressed as William Shawn, but is called Bill here. Mike's name appears in a more formal manner, Michael Todd.

The Regency TR-1 "Michael Todd" Transistor Radio Gift Set

Other Facts:

As of June 3, 2006 there are approximately six of these gift sets known to collectors. Radios given to Arthur Miller, Shirley MacLaine, and Bill Shawn are easily verified at this point, with the hope that additional recepients can be included soon. So, how many of these sets could there be? Well, the number of cameo appearances alone numbered 42, and these individuals were big stars long before their appearance in this movie. It would be hard to conceive that cameo actors such as Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton, Marlene Dietrich, Caesar Romaro, and Melville Cooper did not receive these radios as gifts. This list of names does not include Peter Nivin or Cantinflas, who along with Shirley MacLaine were cast as main characters. There literally could be a few hundred of these radios that were given away, and hopefully have not yet ended up in a landfill. Hopefully, a number of them will turn up and become available to collectors within the next ten years or so. What about Edward R. Murrow? He was chosen to give the prologue for the film, so that the published statistics about it would be more credible. He was probaby given a radio too.

It was originally thought that all of the Regency TR-1 radios were Jade Green. This is now known to be untrue, as around two Mandarin Red radios are known to be included in the gift sets. Further, Michael Todd had his own personal Regency TR-1, a Mahogany set, with a leather case stamped with his name on it. A gentleman who worked for Michael Todd attempted to sell Todd's personal radio, plus a Mandarin Red radio in 1997, and was advertising for offers on each radio individually. I can't confirm if one or both were sold, but I believe the Mandarin Red radio was. No additional information is known about Todd's personal Regency TR-1 at this point in time.

William "Bill" Shawn, the editor of "The New Yorker" from 1952 to 1987 is believed to have been the recepient of the radio pictured above. While not appearing in any list of cast, support or technical people apparently was instrumental in favorable comments being made about the movie in his publication. A couple of statements attributed to "The New Yorker" were published in the official "Around the World in Eighty Days" Almanac: "Big, splashy. The actors are all fine, and the scenic effects are tremendous" and "He's half-smart to everything" in reference to Michael Todd himself. More material that appeared in "The New Yorker" will be studied soon to determine more evidence that Mr. Shawn was certainly deserving of his special gift. The important message to collectors since the discovery of this particular radio given to Bill Shawn is that individuals other than actors received these gifts. This fact certainly guarantees a large number of these radios probably exist, even though most are not currently known to collectors.

When were these gift radios distributed? Most likely it was during the summer or late fall of 1956, as the production opened during the fall of this year. The radio pictured above contains a tuning capacitor with a date code of 543 (43rd week of 1955) and a date code of 544 appearing on one of the transistors. After this time, the radios would have to be packed and shipped to whomever made the "book" presentation cases and/or to the party responsible for placing them inside the "books". From there, the radios were probably mailed directly to the individuals that were supposed to receive them. Hopefully, other collectors will be forthcoming with serial number and date code information to narrow down this time frame. The bottom line is that these radios cost a large sum of money and it would have been easier to pay for them after early box office receipts were received. Michael Todd made numerous requests for advancements from investors in order to complete the movie, even after the conclusion of filming, during the editing process.

These radios were not from 1954, during the first weeks of production as has been published on another web site, but rather over the course of the last two months of 1955. This is further proof that frequently quoted information about the Regency TR-1 transistor radio was "manufactured for only one year" is untrue. Additional proof is that TR-1's were produced with pearlescent cases and were distributed to several high-end markets for Christmas, 1955. It would be hard to believe that Regency Electronics, a company and staff who wasted nothing, would manufacture and promote new upscale case colors, only to shut down production within two months or so.

Michael Todd stares out at a Spanish bullring that is reflected in the "bug eye" lens of the Todd AO camera that filmed the revolutionary "Around the World in Eighty Days" -Photo by David Seymour, from the book "A Valuable Property, The Story of Michael Todd", written by Michael Todd, Jr. and Susan McCarthy Todd

Eighty Days premiered on October 17, 1956 and exceeded all expectations, including those of Michael Todd.

"Spectacular entertainment - Mr. Todd outdoes the movies with Around the World in 80 Days." -Bosley Crowther, New York Times

More than 68,894 people hailing from 13 different countries needed to produce the movie

Hard tickets were sold and popcorn was not served so the audience's attention would not be diverted during the film.

680,000 feet of color film was shot

Jules Verne, author of "Around the World in Eighty Days", and originator of science fiction died in 1905, long before the birth of Michael Todd.

Page Updated June 4, 2006

Special thanks to Glenda Jensen, former employee of Michael Todd Company, Inc. for taking the time to correspond about her memories of working for Mr. Todd.