It is 50 years since the transistor was announced by Bell Laboratories. This article recounts the author's experiences with transistors and their applications in the early years of what has been called the transistor revolution. In the first few years there was a chronic shortage of transistors. Early applications included computers, which offered the promise of providing data on the reliability of transistors used in relatively large numbers under well-controlled conditions. Other work soon showed that transistors could replace valves in such applications as nuclear research instrumentation. When eventually transistors became freely available, they quickly superseded valves in most electronic applications.