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It’s possible to have a fantastic adventure when you travel. On other trips you could be bored out of your mind. You never know what kind of experience you will get when you leave your door, tugging your two or four wheeled suitcase behind you. (FYI, I strongly recommend the four wheeled bags. They’re much easier to handle.)

I speak from experience. As the daughter of an airline pilot, my family traveled a lot, especially when I was a kid. Of course when you’re young, you’re not interested in sightseeing all the time. You also care very much if there’s some form of entertainment in the hotel or motel room, be it a television or a radio.

Unless you got this spiffy radio-clock set under the tree, then your travel entertainment problems disappeared.

For here is a great example of American and German design, all in one, sleek container. Inside this unique case you’ll find two, easy to carry items, guaranteed to make any hotel stay more comfortable. A small transistor radio, to fill the room with music or discussion and a wind up alarm clock to keep you from oversleeping.

I took a good look at the clock and found that it was made by a West German company called Endura. Despite being a brand I have never heard of, it’s a pretty clock. Square, gold trim, with turquoise accents spaced around the face at five minute intervals. You also find two turquoise strips drawn in thin lines, along the hour and minute hands. It turns out these accents are more than just decorative, they’re practical. They glow-in-the-dark. A lovely feature if you wake up in a dim motel room, wondering what time it is. Also it’s cool that the clock was made in a country that no longer exists, since West Germany merged with East Germany back in 1990.

The other piece of tech is this cutie, made in the USA. RCA Victor’s “Pockette” Personal Portable Radio. Heck even the title is longer than the actual set. At only 4 inches tall and 2 1/2 inches wide, the Pockette is truly “portable.”

Invented in 1954 the first transistors were large by our standards. For example, my one pound, four ounce “Emerson 888 Explorer,“ was the size of paperback book. Still smaller and lighter than the tube radios that came before, but not as compact as the RCA Pockette, which must have come much later, during the 6Os I would guess.

Anyway the look of the Pockette is space-age fantastic. The circular dial sits on top of a silver, bow tie shaped, background. This model, like my Emerson 888 Vanguard, has the Conelrad triangles at 640 and 1240 kHz to warn of impending nuclear annihilation. This proves that the Pockette was made between 1953 and 1963. Those were the years that radio manufacturers were required by law to include the Conelrad symbols.

Back to the dial. The top half of the circle displays the numbers 5 though 16, each stop home to a different station, depending on where you lived. The bottom half of the circle was free of any numbers, it just had three, black graphics that looked to me like birds in flight. It’s interesting that they chose to only use half of the dial to tune into the stations.  You can only turn it around the upper half of the curve. It stops before it reaches the bottom half. There must have been a technical reason for this, but I have no idea what it could be. Strange, yet the dial is beautiful.

Also beautiful is the speaker grill, which takes up the bottom two-thirds of the device. Split into five columns, the grill resembles (if you use a lot of imagination) the roof of a house. Horizontal slats fill each column, one slat stacked on top of another. The height of the column’s on the left and right taper upward until they meet in the middle, like if you looked at the roof of a house from it’s side. (I said you had to use your immigration!) The name RCA Victor is proudly displayed at the bottom, completing the look.

I know they came in at least two colors, because I own two, white and this beautiful two-toned blue-green and cream colored model. I suspect they came in many more color choices, but I’m happy with the two sets I have.

On the back of the two-tone I found the words RCA Victor embossed in the plastic above the famous Little Nipper logo. It also said the radio was made in the USA. Those were the days.

All this is nestled in the most fantastic case I have ever seen! A beautiful tanned leather, this case was also made in West Germany. It comes with a convenient handle to carry everything.

While the bottom is one piece, the cover splits in two sections, so you can open them together or separately. Each cover protects it’s own specially designed chamber, one for the clock and one for the radio.

Lift up the left cover and you see the Pockette nestled inside, but wait! There’s more to this cozy compartment than meets the eye. The radio sits in a specially sized plastic tray. Attached to the top of the tray is a small leather band with snaps at both ends. You can raise the plastic tray up and snap it onto the top of the cover. This turns the cover into an easel which supports the radio at an comfortable angle for easy listening. Close the lid and those same snaps keep it shut.

The case is also designed to prop up the clock, but it works a little differently. Here the clock is attached to the lid of the case, not the base. Since the timepiece isn’t as long as the radio, that side is split up into two sections. The clock nestles nicely in the larger space, while the front compartment has a lid for easy earphone storage. They put a post in the wall between the two chambers, which matches a slot built into the bottom of the clock. Click slot A into post B and voila, the clock stands nearly upright.

With this case it’s easy to mix and match. Want to hear the radio first? Prop it up. Need only the clock? Raise that side and let the numbers glow! I can’t wait to take it on my next trip, whenever that is going to be.

Another Glorious example of Vintage Stuff.