Radio Corporation of America | People | Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

The Radio Corporation of America, commonly known as RCA, was founded in 1919. The company emerged to fill the vacuum left by the end of the United States government’s monopoly on radio communications; this had been necessitated by World War I and the need to communicate across the Atlantic without the use of telegraph cables, which had been cut by the Allies in order to curtail the communications of the Central Powers. In 1919, American naval officers met with General Electric Corporation to request that GE cease selling alternators to the British firm Marconi. The officer proposed that, instead, GE establish an America radio company to partner with the U.S. Army and Navy to create a monopoly on... more.

We have 12 objects that Radio Corporation of America has been involved with.

Here we have a boxy black radio with a minimal design. It has rounded edges and tapers inward toward the bottom with decorative gold accent that runs along the base. Like a 3-d trapezoid, the radio angles inward toward the top. In the front, it has four gold wheel dials (two on each side) to the left and right of a golden, central, circular speaker. Around the speaker is a window with black numbers on a gold background arranged like a ray, to indicate the tuner station. Framing the speaker and window is a simple gold band with vertical lines.

Drawing, Design for an Industrial Round Radio

Radio Corporation of America has collaborated with
Henry Dreyfuss and
John Vassos and
Henry Dreyfuss Associates and
Selden T. Williams and
Alfred Weiland.

Short URL: http://cprhw.tt/p/2D1mn/
Person ID: 18536821
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