Manufacturer · USA · Chicago · est. 1918
Zenith Radio Corporation
Zenith Radio Corporation – American radio and television maker from Chicago, est. 1918; creator of the Space Command remote (1956) and Radio Nurse (1937).
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About the manufacturer
- Years active
- est. 1918
- Country
- USA
- Location
- Chicago
The company was founded in Chicago in 1918. In 1937, it introduced Radio Nurse – one of the first commercial baby monitors, with a Bakelite casing designed by Isamu Noguchi. The device was commissioned by Zenith's president; it was Noguchi's first industrial commission. Examples are held in the collections of MoMA and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
After the war, Zenith developed remote controls for television: Lazy Bones (1950), Flash-Matic (1955) and Space Command (1956), on which Eugene Polley and Robert Adler worked. Space Command operated without batteries – a button activated a hammer striking an aluminium rod, and the television received the ultrasonic signal. The receiver with the remote had six additional valves and was about 30 per cent more expensive. Ultrasonic technology was used until the early 1980s.
Today, Zenith is an LG brand. The company should not be confused with Zenith Plastics, which produced Eames chair shells for Herman Miller from 1950.
How to identify pieces from this manufacturer
The Space Commander 400 remote bears the inscriptions in gold relief: “ZENITH / RECEIVER / TUNE / SOUND” and “SPACE COMMANDER / 400”.
