CLASSIC 1950s ARTICLES ON EARLY TRANSISTOR AUDIO AND HOBBYIST APPLICATIONS An Interview with Paul Penfield Jr. Oral History – (Continued)
Go To Penfield Oral History, Page 10	The above photo is a segment of the first page of a transistor construction article written by Paul and published in the August 1955 issue of Radio and TV News. This project used Raytheon germanium alloy junction transistors and was a unique application developed by Paul to take advantage of this new technology. Some of you may remember buying the parts for this project as a kit from Lafayette Radio, which was a mail order supplier of electronic parts to hobbyists. According to Paul, “Lafayette approached me to commercialize some of my construction projects. What they did was produce a collection of parts, together with a reprint of my article. They contacted me to make sure I thought it was suitable for them to do and I agreed. They didn’t have to pay royalties. They weren’t asking my permission, but more my advice as to whether the circuit actually worked”. The photo to the left is from the 1956 Lafayette catalogue and offers the parts and instructions to build Paul’s Transistorized Headlight Dimmer. Note the CK722 transistors for $0.99 each.
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