RCA "Radiola I" prototype radio broadcast receiver
date: label: Date made
content: December, 1921
label: associated date
content: 1921
name: label: associated person
content: Goldsmith, Alfred
label: maker
content: RCA Corporation
label: maker
content: Radio Corporation of America Research Department
notes: label: Description
content: This prototype receiver was made by Alfred Goldsmith in 1921 in response to David Sarnoff’s request for a simple "radio music box". Convinced that most people were uninterested in the technical details of radio and did not need a transmitter, Sarnoff's goal was to sell radios that received signals and had a few simple controls. Goldsmith's prototype, called the RCA Radiola I, could run on direct or alternating current and had only two controls. One knob turned the radio on and controlled the volume, the other selected the station. This set the pattern for mass-produced receivers sold during the 1920s.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: from Gertrude Maud Goldsmith
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.335232
label: catalog number
content: 335232
label: accession number
content: 315406
objectType: label: Object Name
content: radio receiver
label: Other Terms
content: Radio
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 1/2 in x 18 in x 10 1/4 in; 24.13 cm x 45.72 cm x 26.035 cm