Name/Title
Dumont TelevisionEntry/Object ID
2021.13.1Description
Hanging sign for an early television network.
Text: "DUMONT / First with the Finest in... TELEVISION"Context
DuMont Television Sign
1950’s
Gift of Marc Wanamaker
argon mercury in noviol gold phosphor tube, vacuform plastic, metal frame
28x16”
This backlit plastic and neon window sign advertised DuMont Television, a pioneering broadcast network which began as an extension of Allen B. DuMont Laboratories. The Lab, which was founded in 1931 created the first consumer all-electronic television receiver, successfully extended the life of a cathode-ray tube in order to make consumer-ready TV sets, and developed radar technology during World War II.
DuMont made their first broadcast in 1945 to announce that the U.S. had dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Rather than mirroring the standard model of 1950’s TV where one advertiser supported the full show, the station sold commercials to different advertisers to avoid the veto authority held by exclusive sponsors. The network created TV programming aimed at people of color during a time when other American networks solely catered to white audiences. Dumont hosted the first U.S. T.V. series to star an Asian American, Anna May Wong, and Hazel Scott was the first black woman to host a network TV show.
DuMont rivaled NBC and CBS, however its lack of affiliation with radio station’s as well as broadcasting restrictions led to the stations closure. By the 1970’s the program archive was destroyed, resulting in a lack of name recognition for this influential network.