VEF Spidola

VEF Spidola (VEF Spīdola, ВЭФ Спидола) was the first mass-produced transistor radio in the Soviet Union. It was manufactured by the VEF factory in Riga, Latvia since 1962. Small series under the name "Spidola" (Спидола ПМП-60) were manufactured since 1960. It was named after the fictional witch Spīdola from a Latvian 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, and in the process of at least one Soviet dissident Spidola was mentioned to be confiscated as an "instrument of crime".

See also

• VEF

References