From Far East to Museum: The Journey of the National Panasonic SG-106

A week ago, I received a fascinating WhatsApp message that immediately caught my attention:

"Good afternoon, I read the article about your museum in the newspaper and thought you might find this interesting. Are you interested in a rare radio cassette recorder? My dad gave it to me in 1971 before it hit the market."

Attached was a picture of a rare National Panasonic SG-106, a portable cassette radio phono 3-in-1, made in Japan in the early '70s. Intrigued, I responded right away. Within days, I received the device from Faye, a delightful lady, who shared its captivating history with me:



"As a child, our family moved around the Far East, living in Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. My father was a key figure in import/export between the Far East and Europe, deciding which products to trade. One day, a National Panasonic representative gave him a sample of the SG-106. Dad handed it to me and promptly forgot about it. A few months later, he asked for my thoughts on it. At 12 years old, I was thrilled! The device was amazing. It played vinyl records, had a radio, and, most importantly, recorded and played cassettes. I could take this portable wonder to friends' birthday parties or enjoy music together. My enthusiastic feedback convinced Dad to import the model to Europe."

After a lifetime with one family, this cherished device has found a new home in the Retro Audio Museum in Lelystad, the Netherlands, which continues to charm visitors with its rich history.

 

Well that's an interesting device. I had both the Panasonic sg-j 500 and also the sg-j555 which were both AM/FM cassette and turntable that slid out of a drawer. They both worked and I sold them both and I made videos of them. Be interesting if you could make a video of this for the world to see as I've never seen this model before.

 

Panasonic seemed to consistently have at least a Radio Phonograph in their range
Some pictures of our families SG-J500 here
https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/triple-take-it-on-the-run-baby.1564/page-2

It puzzles me as to why Philips didn't do that. In the same era they were making both radios and numerous funky portable record players. Maybe the radio division and record player divisions weren't on speaking terms (especially as the record players were all made in France).

 

A great story and the Machine itself! Keep up!