RCA model 6Q1 short wave receiver
date: label: date made
content: ca 1940
label: date made
content: ca. 1940
name: label: maker
content: RCA Corporation
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Unit designed by John Vassos who called it the "New Yorker". The design recalled a stage proscenium, following the idea that the radio was equivalent to theatrical entertainment. Vassos described the radio as follows: "The items I am designing fall into various categories. For instance the 1939-1940 plastic "New Yorker" radio designed for RCA, I consider one of the unique so-called "good-will" designs for Latin America. Also this radio was selected as the "1940 plastic expression of contemporary radio" by the Architectural Forum in its Design Decade number and set a standard for strictly American design. It had one hundred percent Latin-American acceptance and its success stemmed directly from its appearance - there were other equally good radios from the angle of performance, but the plastic quality of The New Yorker appealed aesthetically to all classes. Over 120,000 sets have been sold - the set retails at $29.95 in the United States and as high as $49 in South America, depending on locality; this is a very high price for volume business in this type of radio. RCA Victor considers the New Yorker a phenomenal success and attributes it entirely to design." (John Vassos, 29 March 1941)
label: Description (Brief)
content: RCA (RCA Victor Co. Inc.) model 6Q1, radio broadcast receiver, New York 1940. Operating principle: superheterodyne with radio-frequency and intermediate-frequency stages, 455 kHz. includes pre-amplification stage. Wave bands: broadcast plus two shortwave bands. Alternating current supply. Loudspeaker: electro-magnetic dynamic (moving-coil on the Rice-Kellog principle) with field excitation coil - mostly used as choke. Table model, low profile. Six tubes: 6SK7. Reference: Collectors Guide to Antique Radios, Fourth Edition, 1997. Circuit diagram reference: Rider's Perpetual, Volume 11, 1940 and before; http://www.radiomuseum.org.
label: Location
content: Currently on loan
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Paul Johnes
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1989.0657.05
label: accession number
content: 1989.0657
label: catalog number
content: 1989.0657.05
label: model number
content: 6Q1
objectType: label: Object Name
content: radio
label: Object Name
content: radio receiver
label: Object Name
content: 1989.0657.05
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 3/4 in x 16 1/2 in x 10 1/4 in; 32.385 cm x 41.91 cm x 26.035 cm