RCA Correspondence from October 1929
These documents come from correspondence files in the theremin archive of the George H. Clark Collection at the Smithsonian. We have reformatted the lists to display all of the theremin serial numbers in order, with the mentioned theremins in black, and the rest in gray. The original GE letter erroneously listed serial number 100027 twice and is not included here, although without it the total number is one less than the 199 mentioned in the letter. This error could be an incorrectly listed serial number (i.e. 27 instead of 17) or an actual duplicate stamped serial number.
These letters are responses to a request to know which theremins had already been manufactured with the then-defined pitch range of 1100 hertz. After a coordination meeting on October 10th, a 1400 Hz pitch range was standardized for the remaining theremins to be built.
General Electric Company
General Office Schenectady, N. Y.
1 River Road
SCHENECTADY, N. Y.
October 11, 1929
Mr. E.F.Kearns,
Radio-Victor Corp. of America,
233 Broadway, N. Y.
Re: RCA THEREMIN
Dear Mr. Kearns:
in reply to your request of October 10th to Mr. Young, the following is a list of the serial numbers of the 199 RCA Theremins which have been shipped up to, but not including, October 11th:
100000
100001
100002
100003
100004
100005
100006
100007
100008
100009
100010
100011
100012
100013
100014
100015
100016
100017
100018
100019
100020
100021
100022
100023
100024
100025
100026
100027
100028
100029
100030
100031
100032
100033
100034
100035
100036
100037
100038
100039
100040
100041
100042
100043
100044
100045
100046
100047
100048
100049
100050
100051
100052
100053
100054
100055
100056
100057
100058
100059
100060
100061
100062
100063
100064
100065
100066
100067
100068
100069
100070
100071
100072
100073
100074
100075
100076
100077
100078
100079
100080
100081
100082
100083
100084
100085
100086
100087
100088
100089
100090
100091
100092
100093
100094
100095
100096
100097
100098
100099
100100
100101
100102
100103
100104
100105
100106
100107
100108
100109
100110
100111
100112
100113
100114
100115
100116
100117
100118
100119
100120
100121
100122
100123
100124
100125
100126
100127
100128
100129
100130
100131
100132
100133
100134
100135
100136
100137
100138
100139
100140
100141
100142
100143
100144
100145
100146
100147
100148
100149
100150
100151
100152
100153
100154
100155
100156
100157
100158
100159
100160
100161
100162
100163
100164
100165
100166
100167
100168
100169
100170
100171
100172
100173
100174
100175
100176
100177
100178
100179
100180
100181
100182
100183
100184
100185
100186
100187
100188
100189
100190
100191
100192
100193
100194
100195
100196
100197
100198
100199
100200
100201
100202
100203
100204
100205
100206
100207
100208
100209
100210
100211
100212
100213
100214
100215
100216
100217
100218
100219
100220
100221
100222
100223
100224
100225
100226
100227
100228
100229
100230
100231
100232
100233
100234
100235
100236
100237
100238
100239
100240
100241
100242
100243
100244
100245
100246
100247
100248
100249
100250
100251
100252
100253
100254
100255
100256
100257
100258
100259
100260
100261
100262
100263
100264
100265
100266
100267
100268
100269
100270
100271
100272
100273
100274
100275
100276
100277
100278
100279
100280
100281
100282
100283
100284
100285
100286
100287
100288
100289
100290
100291
100292
100293
100294
100295
100296
100297
100298
100299
Very truly yours,
B.R.CUMMINGS
RADIO ENGR. DEPT.
PER:CDKENTNER
Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company
East Springfield Works,
653 Page Boulevard,
SPRINGFIELD. MASS.
Oct. 11, 1929
*
Mr. E. F. Kerns
Production Division
Radio-victor Corp. of America
233 Broadway, N. Y.
Dear Mr. Kerns:
At your suggestion, I am enclosing a list of the serial numbers of Westinghouse sets which were intended to cover the eleven hundred range. These will be marked with a large letter O
stamped on the shipping case beside the serial number. The serial numbers of these are as follows:—
200000
200001
200002
200003
200004
200005
200006
200007
200008
200009
200010
200011
200012
200013
200014
200015
200016
200017
200018
200019
200020
200021
200022
200023
200024
200025
200026
200027
200028
200029
200030
200031
200032
200033
200034
200035
200036
200037
200038
200039
200040
200041
200042
200043
200044
200045
200046
200047
200048
200049
200050
200051
200052
200053
200054
200055
200056
200057
200058
200059
200060
200061
200062
200063
200064
200065
200066
200067
200068
200069
200070
200071
200072
200073
200074
200075
200076
200077
200078
200079
200080
200081
200082
200083
200084
200085
200086
200087
200088
200089
200090
200091
200092
200093
200094
200095
200096
200097
200098
200099
200100
200101
200102
200103
200104
200105
200106
200107
200108
200109
200110
200111
200112
200113
200114
200115
200116
200117
200118
200119
200120
200121
200122
200123
200124
200125
200126
200127
200128
200129
200130
200131
200132
200133
200134
200135
200136
200137
200138
200139
200140
200141
200142
200143
200144
200145
200146
200147
200148
200149
200150
200151
200152
200153
200154
200155
200156
200157
200158
200159
200160
200161
200162
200163
200164
200165
200166
200167
200168
200169
200170
200171
200172
200173
200174
200175
200176
200177
200178
200179
200180
200181
200182
200183
200184
200185
200186
200187
200188
200189
200190
200191
200192
200193
200194
200195
200196
200197
200198
200199
G.W. PETTENGILL
Resident Radio Engineer
East Springfield Works
CWF:MJ
CC:
Prof. Theremin
C.M. Sinnett
A.N. Curtiss
R.P. Houlihan
R.H. Emerson
