VEF Spidola
Overview
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
transistor radio
Transistor radio
A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver using transistor-based circuitry. Following their development in 1954 they became the most popular electronic communication device in history, with billions manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s...
with short wave band in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. It was manufactured by the VEF
VEF
VEF, Latvian acronym for Valsts Elektrotehniskā Fabrika , is a manufacturer of electrical and electronic products in Riga, Latvia. VEF was the biggest Latvian factory in Soviet era and the leading communication technology producer in the Soviet Union...
factory in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
since 1962. Small series under the name "Spidola" (Спидола ПМП-60) were manufactured since 1960. It was named after the fictional witch Spīdola
Spidola
Spidola may refer to one of the following.*Spīdola, also spelled Spīdala, a witch from Latvian national epic poem Lāčplēsis*VEF Spidola, the first Soviet mass-produced transistor manufactured by VEF...
from a Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n epic poem.
In fact, the word "spidola" was a common synonym for "transistor radio" for long time in Russian language (another one was "transistor").
Among uses of Spidola was listening the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
, and in the process of at least one Soviet dissident Spidola was mentioned to be confiscated as an "instrument of crime".