Spitz Planetarium
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1960
name: label: inventor
content: Spitz, Armand
label: maker
content: Spitz Laboratories, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: Armand Spitz (1904-1971) was a newspaperman and science educator who began developing planetariums in the early 1940s. His planetariums proliferated in the aftermath of Sputnik, and may be said to have democratized astronomy education. Inexpensive and easy to use, they brought planetarium shows into schools, colleges, and other community buildings around the country. The A2, introduced in the summer of 1958, was the most popular model. This example was made by the Spitz Laboratories, Inc. in Yorklyn, Delaware, and was used at Montgomery College in Takoma Park, Maryland.
label: Description
content: Ref: “Armand N. Spitz, Astronomer, Dies,” Washington Post (April 16, 1971), p. C10.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: Delaware, Yorklyn
topic: label: Subject
content: Astronomy
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Sputnik
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Montgomery College
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1988.0477.01
label: accession number
content: 1988.0477
label: catalog number
content: 1988.0477.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: planetarium
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: aluminum (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plywood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: glass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 94 in x 60 in x 28 in; 238.76 cm x 152.4 cm x 71.12 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: crate: 108 in x 70 in x 34 in; 274.32 cm x 177.8 cm x 86.36 cm