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Why Radio Shack Equipment Was "Realistic"

Theophilus Punoval

Theophilus Punoval

The Queen says it's OK...
I always thought that Realistic was an unfortunate brand name because of the connotation of being "realistic" instead of "real", but if I'm so smart why ain't I rich?

However, the reason they used Realistic was due to a small magazine published in the 1950s and 60s, The Realist. It was popular - in a limited way - with college professors and on the Upper West Side of Manhattan as a sort of intellectual publication.

In 1956 Radio Shack began selling their house brand of electronics under the name "Realist". However, the magazine was using that name already and objected, so RS changed to Realistic beginning in 1957.

Here's a cover from the Realist, an issue featuring an interview with one of the middlebrow intellectual lights of the day, Mort Sahl...who was (and still is) a very funny man.The Realist.jpg
 
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I always wondered why RS entry-level of compact stereos were named "Clarinet". They didn't sound or look like one :p
 
Actually, I believe it was the Realist camera company that sued Radio Shack for the use of the Realist name (only used on one amp and tuner). This company made the Stereo Realist camera, the most popular of the dual-lens 35mm cameras (Slides were viewed in 3D in a special viewer). One more gadget that was popular for a while and faded away...

Looked up Stereo Realist on Wikipedia and found this:

>Trademark

>RadioShack's hi-fi brand "Realistic" was originally "Realist" at its 1954 launch, but was renamed due to the camera maker's prior claim on the trademark.[47]

300px-Stereo_Realist.jpg
 
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Tom Bavis said:
Actually, I believe it was the Realist camera company that sued Radio Shack for the use of the Realist name (only used on one amp and tuner). This company made the Stereo Realist camera, the most popular of the dual-lens 35mm cameras (Slides were viewed in 3D in a special viewer). One more gadget that was popular for a while and faded away...

Looked up Stereo Realist on Wikipedia and found this:

>Trademark

>RadioShack's hi-fi brand "Realistic" was originally "Realist" at its 1954 launch, but was renamed due to the camera maker's prior claim on the trademark.[47]

300px-Stereo_Realist.jpg
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This is the right answer, folks. Stereo Realist.
 
Indeed. David White Company objected to Radio Shack's use of the Realist brand name as David White Company manufactured the Stereo Realist camera. So, Radio Shack renamed their HiFi Realistic, which was in reality a superior brand name.
 
Perhaps in the 50's and 60's the Realistic brand was recognized as being a good quality line of components but by the mid 70's when hifi stores started opening and brands such as Pioneer Sansui and Marantz became available to the masses Realistic components lost their reputation..
 
Sprags said:
Perhaps in the 50's and 60's the Realistic brand was recognized as being a good quality line of components but by the mid 70's when hifi stores started opening and brands such as Pioneer Sansui and Marantz became available to the masses Realistic components lost their reputation..
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IMHO, the quality of the audio gear was just fine when compared to other similarly priced components from the brands that you mention as well as others. The target market for Radio Shack was the average homeowner. The Realistic top of the line model topped out at about $600 when the other "name" brands often went far beyond that. The reputation issue was largely due to the way that Radio Shack diluted the Realistic brand name by using it on everything from cheap transistor radios and clock radios to cheezy kiddie record players. It even appeared on some children's toys being sold at Christmas time. There's all that and then there is the way that they completely lost their focus and their way in the changing market back in the early to mid 80s. It sure didn't get any better after that, now did it?

It's good to see some of the Realistic audio equipment from "back in the good old days of Radio Shack", the 60s and 70s, getting some long overdue acknowledgment and respect around here.

And to think, they could have been a contender. :sadwave:
 
I cut my teeth in the 70's .... Realistic was either for those geographically isolated (inasfar as hifi choices go) .....or your basic lower level enthusiast (by which I mean : would not have self identified as a "stereo nut") .

Back then if you were "into sound" you likely would avoid Realistic (if you had the choice) for a more "highbrow" name (like Pioneer, Marantz, Kenwood, Sansui ..etc etc)
 
I worked as a high school/college kid in our local Radio Schacks from 1969 until 1974...we hated the name Realistic, when all the other brands had such cool names...as it turns out, many of our stereo customers were returning Vietnam vets who had sold their systems to buddies still there when they got sent stateside. They seemed quite happy with their "affordable" Realistic systems...we really had no idea how those other brands compared. Interestingly, when RadioSchack absorbed Allied Radio and took on all those Pioneer-sourced components, the recognition factor went way up!

Within the past couple years I actually was able to acquire an original STA-120 receiver..."the flagship" when I started working there. Sadly it had so many issued that I had to recycle it =( I still wonder about the Allied "395," that was one all the vets really focused in on...
 
I've had many RS Realistic components in my story. i can only remember the two that failed, The Optimus-1's that were old when I got them and replaced the horn, along with the woofer so they sounded great once more. The Amp, I can't remember the model, but was brushed aluminum with a dark window in the middle, LED's displaying am/fm frequency and volume. I bought it new in 1981 when MOS-FET was new tech. It died an instant death in 1993, just up and died. I havel some large 35 watt speakers that mimic Pioneers from back in 1972. All the rest seemed to be good affordable stuff.
 
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It was a Realistic STA-2200 MOS FET Power Digital Synthesized AM/ FM Stereo Receiver.
It was beautiful, love at first sight.
 
It was Realistic because it looked like the good stuff and affordable for your living-room, so you could spend on more of what you enjoyed. Yeah man...... whatever. Pass the pipe man.
 
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botrytis said:
Well, it was made for them - just like Sears, Wards, etc. RS did not make anything.
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Actually, they did. They owned all or significant portions of several manufacturing facilities. Antennacraft (in New Jersey) made their outdoor Television antennas. Tandy wire and cable made most of their cables, coaxial cables, audio cables, and speaker wire. They also owned Tandy magnetics, (audio tape) and most of, if not all of Memorex audio tape manufacturing for quite a number of years. They sold a LOT of Realistic speakers that were made in Tandy cabinet factories. One of their speaker design engineers is a member of AK. Most of the audio equipment was designed and engineered in-house and then custom manufactured by various companies over the years, some of which were partially owned by Tandy. TRS-80 computers were made in various Tandy owned factories. They were also designed in-house. Most of the store furniture and fixtures were made in Tandy owned plants, and that's a LOT of fixtures!

Those are all that I can remember after all these years. There may be others though. (I left them after twenty-five years with them in 1993, so don't blame me for what they have become!) Of those products not manufactured by Tandy or a Tandy owned company, certainly the majority of those products were either custom manufactured to Tandy's design and specifications, were private labeled OEM products, or were sourced overseas and packaged by Tandy packaging. Their size gave them a tremendous amount of leverage with those manufacturers.

And to think of what they could have been! Instead, they threw it all away. But that is a story that we all know and has beaten to death more than once around here.
 
In the 50's/early 60's Realistic fell in the category of "seller" brands like Allied-Knight and Lafayette.
It was ranked in the tier below Heathkit and Eico by the HiFi guys because it's origin was suspect.
 
I don't care what anybody says, Realistic did make some good gear for a good price. When they changed to Optimus, that's when I thought the quality really took a turn for the worst overall. Most of their Japanese made equimenent was made by suppliers for Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, Aiwa & CEC
 
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