Popular Entertainment - Overview
This Museum's popular entertainment collections hold some of the Smithsonian's most beloved artifacts. The ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz reside here, along with the Muppet character Kermit the Frog, and props from popular television series such as M*A*S*H and All in the Family. But as in many of the Museum's collections, the best-known objects are a small part of the story.
The collection also encompasses many other artifacts of 19th- and 20th-century commercial theater, film, radio, and TV—some 50,000 sound recordings dating back to 1903; posters, publicity stills, and programs from films and performances; puppets; numerous items from World's Fairs from 1851 to 1992; and audiovisual materials on Groucho Marx, to name only a few.
"Popular Entertainment - Overview" showing 3 items.
National Carbon Co. "Eveready" Radio Receiver With Speaker
- Description
- Radios, like this Eveready model 2, provided many families of the 1920s with a new form of home entertainment. Amateurs began making home radios to transmit and receive messages early in the 1900s. But using these radios called for engineering skills and a license. Early receivers, called "crystal detectors," while relatively easy to make, required some technical skill and were low in power.
- In 1916, David Sarnoff proposed that American Marconi Company sell broadcast transmitting equipment and "radio music boxes" that could receive the broadcast signals. After World War I, Sarnoff and his idea became part of the new Radio Corporation of America (RCA). A 1920 prototype radio designed by Alfred Goldsmith featured a few simple controls and needed no technical training to operate. RCA and other companies established AM (Amplitude Modulation) stations and began selling receivers. Stereo broadcasts were unknown, so radios needed only one speaker.
- Listeners were entranced by this new medium that delivered both local news and nationwide "network" programming. Since radios could operate on batteries, reception spread beyond cities. Unelectrified rural areas began tuning in, making farm life seem less isolated. Families began to gather around their radios in the evenings to hear music, sports, comedy, drama—and the commercials that paid for "free" programming. The voices of political leaders and entertainment celebrities reached millions of Americans.
- Elaborately styled cabinets, usually of wood, disguised technical components and allowed the radio to blend more easily with other home furnishings. This Eveready model is unusual. The cabinet is metal instead of wood, and can accept optional legs that permit the radio to be converted to a floor-standing model. Radio quickly became popular with Americans, so much so that statistics indicate only two electrical items sold well throughout the Great Depression: light bulbs and radios.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1928
- early developer of radio receivers
- Goldsmith, Alfred
- maker
- National Carbon Company
- ID Number
- 2002.0149.01
- catalog number
- 2002.0149.01
- accession number
- 2002.0149
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Regency Model TR-1 Transistor Radio
- Description
- During World War Two scientists and engineers at Bell Laboratories conducted research on many radar and radio devices. One goal was to find a replacement for fragile and energy-wasting vacuum tubes. Building on war-time research, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, working with group leader William Shockley, developed a device they called a transistor. The first laboratory demonstration took place on 23 December 1947. Bell publicly announced the new invention on 30 June 1948.
- At first the US military bought all the transistors Bell Labs could make, and the company agreed to license other manufacturers. As engineers learned how to use the new invention, plans were made for commercial products that could take advantage of the transistor's small size, energy efficiency, and rugged design. In 1953 hearing aids became the first commercial product to use transistors.
- A small, portable radio seemed a good opportunity, and a company called Idea Incorporated designed and produced the Regency. Planning began in 1951 between Idea and Texas Instruments, supplier of the transistors. Work began in earnest in the spring of 1954, and this first Regency transistor radio was in stores for the Christmas season later that year. The Regency model TR-1 contained four transistors. Capable of receiving AM stations, the radio cost about $50 (that would be almost $400 today.)
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1954
- maker
- Idea Incorporated
- ID Number
- 1984.0040.01
- accession number
- 1984.0040
- catalog number
- 1984.0040.01
- model number
- TR-1
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Emerson Radio
- Description (Brief)
- This radio dates from the late 1930s. By this time radio had become the dominant form of home entertainment in the United States. Americans were glued to their sets to hear their favorite programs, be captivated by sports events, and stay updated with the latest news. Throughout the decade, President Franklin Roosevelt used this popular medium to reach out to Americans with his “Fireside Chats.” On September 3, 1939, he gave his famous talk on the outbreak of the European war.
- date made
- ca 1938
- maker
- Emerson Radio and Television Corporation
- ID Number
- EM*333803
- catalog number
- 333803
- accession number
- 302703
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center