In the early days at Cranbrook Academy of Art, students were encouraged to submit entries to a myriad of design and architecture competitions.  Sponsored by museums, magazines, colleges and industry, competitions were a way for fledgling designers to make a name for themselves.  Winning entries could catapult a designer or architect into the national arena.  In 1939, the “Design of Radio Cabinets” was sponsored by the Radio and Television Department of the General Electric Company through Interior Design and Decoration.  Designs were submitted in two categories: a table model and a console model.  The only design requirement was that a “dial or tuning control treatment” be incorporated in the design.

Entry for “Design of Radio Cabinets” competition, 1939. Cranbrook Archives.

This entry was submitted by the team of Edward Elliott and Ted Luderowski, both architecture students studying under Eliel Saarinen.