“Nocturne” is one of the most unusual radio sets to have appeared in the 1930s. The Sparton corporation hired leading US industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague in a bid to attract new groups of buyers. When searching for new design options he came up with an aesthetic based on his preference for machines, and in the process relied on cool, modern materials, namely glass and chrome. Unlike the customary 1930s wirelesses, Teague set out not to design a perfectly shaped casing, and therefore did not focus on the technology. This is instead tucked away in a small wooden box behind the mirror. He instead based his radio on telling symbolism: The then still young medium of radio as a mirror of the world. In addition to “Nocturne”, which with its price tag of 350 dollars cost almost as much as a car, at the same time Teague designed other, smaller radio sets, including the perfectly circular “Bluebird”, which is likewise to be found in Die Neue Sammlung’s collection.