Do you perhaps remember this toy? Here it is as shown in the 1964 Sears catalog. I believe it was made for Sears by a Newark, NJ company called Remco, who, per my online research, made a very similar-looking model sold as a kit that also had a transmitter and took two extra batteries. Remco made a few similar products, too, as well as many other toys of the 1950s and 1960s.The reason I ask is because this was one of my favorite toys when I was about 5 years old! I used to pretend to do radio programs using the push-to-talk microphone and loved looking at the electronics in the open back. The image of this toy has been in my mind for a few years and I wanted to see if my memory was correct. It took a long time to find a picture, but I'm sure this is the item. I can see my parents buying this at Sears, too, since the store on William Penn Highway (still there) was the closest store to our house in Churchill.
Did this toy have anything to do with my eventual (or perhaps then-existing) love of radio? Surely! I also recall building Heathkits, "repairing" my dad's old high-fidelity tube gear and Garrard changer, making radio programs and comedy skits on reel-to-reel and cassette tape in 5th through 8th grades, a pretend 6th grade radio classroom station my friend Matt Shaffer and I operated, and a few other apparent foreshadowing events.
This toy really mesmerizes me, though, as it was undoubtedly my first foray into radio play/pretend -- at age 5. I did not remember this toy clearly until three or four years ago (as I get older, I'm finding that different memories "bubble up" from time to time). It clearly had an impact on me, though. I hope to ask my parents how they came to choose it for me (did I ask for it?) and will report back what I learn.
By the way, here's a cool website that helped me find this picture -- http://www.wishbookweb.com. This contains complete Sears catalog scans from the 1940s to 1980s (and some from other stores) and may help you find some lost memories, too.
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