See more objects with the tag communication, music, industrial design, radios, sunburst, dials, listening.

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Object Timeline

-0001

1943

  • Work on this object began.

1953

  • Work on this object ended.

1996

  • We acquired this object.

2014

2015

2017

2025

  • You found it!

Sunburst Radio

This is a radio. It was designed by Henry Dreyfuss and manufactured by Radio Corporation of America, RCA Victor Division. It is dated ca. 1948 and we acquired it in 1996. Its medium is molded plastic, cast gilt-metal, chrome. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

Dreyfuss once observed that three million listeners tuned in to the NBC Symphony radio broadcast each week, concluding that, "The American people will listen to good music, if given the chance." The Sunburst’s straightforward, easy-to-use design presented that chance, expressing Dreyfuss’s life-long mission to elevate and democratize taste through well-designed, commercially accessible consumer goods.

It is credited Gift of Anonymous Donor.

This object has not been digitized yet.
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Our curators have highlighted 4 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • TR-1 Transistor Radio
  • molded plastic, brass; leather and metal (case).
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Its dimensions are

20.00 x 32.00 x 20.50 cm (7 7/8 x 12 5/8 x 8 1/16 in. )

Cite this object as

Sunburst Radio; Designed by Henry Dreyfuss (American, 1904–1972); Manufactured by Radio Corporation of America; USA; molded plastic, cast gilt-metal, chrome; 20.00 x 32.00 x 20.50 cm (7 7/8 x 12 5/8 x 8 1/16 in. ); Gift of Anonymous Donor; 1996-72-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The World of Radio.

The Conservation department has taken 2 photos of this object.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18654035/ |title=Sunburst Radio |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=11 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>