When I saw the Fisher Price Radio at my sister-in-laws home it reminded me of a Fisher Price TV Radio baby toy that I had in my childcare business 30 years ago. Looking at the model sold today I did a double take because it looks identical. In fact, Fisher Price has reintroduced their 1959 TV Radio baby toy, and I feel it is superior to many of the more modern toys on the market today.
Over the years Fisher Price has made a variety of musical toys, many of them featuring the same womans voice, (which by the way gets very annoying). The Retro Fisher Price TV Radio is more of a manual radio, with a knob that needs to be turned to activate the music, which is a rendition of The Farmer in the Dell.
You turn the knob just a little if you want to play a short tune, but wind it all the way for the music to play for an extended period of time. This is an improvement over the versions that have a button you must push every time you want to hear a short tune. I also like the fact that the Retro Fisher Price TV Radio has a visual aid, pictures scroll across the top of the radio, which match the song being played. I prefer this to the red flashing light on some of the newer Fisher Price baby radios.
The Retro version is rectangular in shape with a bright yellow front that features the “Turn” dial, a dowel like carrying handle and a faux antenna. The case is decorated with graphics of children and animals from the 50’s and 60’s. When I first saw the retro version I thought I was looking at the original toy my daughter played with back in 1982, it looks that similar.
Although Fisher Price rates this toy for children 18 months of age and up, our baby is ten months old and she loves it. Music has always engaged her and she finds it stimulating. She will listen to the music and clap her hands along with it. When she is having a fussy time I pull out the radio and it quickly averts her attention and gets her out of her foul mood. I also find this works well when she doesn’t want to eat, I sit it on the table and let her watch it as I feed her.
I believe the original 1959 version had a spring on the antenna, so that much has changed, but other than that this TV radio looks identical. Even the colors and symbols are the same! My granddaughter is not able to wind the radio by herself, and that is one drawback, but I still love the old fashioned simplicity of this toy and highly recommend it to anyone wanting to take a walk down memory lane.