A History of Photography in USC Libraries Collections

3 midget radios, Southern California, 1931

The Dick Whittington Studio took this image of three radios placed in a row in 1931. It was presumably taken for advertising purposes under Crow Radio Co. Each of the three radios is standing at a slight angle to the camera, showcasing the front and sides of the product. This picture exemplifies the use of photography in the context of advertisement and promotion. No longer were illustrations needed to show the consumer what a product looked like. Simple and elegant in design, the photograph benefits from a solid background because it contrasts the dark material of the radios and the background. This strategy highlights the features of each radio and focuses the viewer’s eye on the true subject of the image. The three radios were captured using nitrate film, meaning the negatives were light and flexible. The importance of this lies with the fact that this image likely needed to be widely distributed amongst various advertising companies, newspapers, and magazines. With the relatively new idea of mass media during the interwar period, advertising saw a rise in the number of ways that a company could promote their product and sell it to the public. This image was likely printed and combined with type to create something that we would recognize as a typical advertisement. Despite the straightforward composition of this photograph, it had the potential to become an eye-catching advertisement when combined with print and used in conjunction with the ever-evolving technology of graphic design and print media.

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