Two early transistors in a sample box distributed by Bell Telephone Labs. Each transistor is a steel, cylindrical can with hole in one side, recessed top, two leads at right angles emerge from the bottom. Printed on top of box: “Bell Telephone Labs. / Transistors / Complimentary Sample / For Experimental Use Only”. One transistor marked: “AP1198”, the other is marked “AP1274”.
John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley at Bell Telephone Laboratories developed a revolutionary device in 1947: the transistor. Using a semiconductor like germanium, transistors could transmit or amplify electrical currents more reliably and using far less power than vacuum tubes. The Bell Telephone Company provided most of the telephone service in the U.S. at that time but worried about anti-trust regulations should they try to monopolize the transistor invention. So for a licensing fee or $25,000 any company could gain access to transistor technology. This 1948 sample case contains two germanium point-contact transistors “for experimental use only.”
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