Was there a link between Curtis Mathes and Natalie Kalmus?

[Glenn Waters]

Did some of the designers from the old Natalie Kalmus company design the first consoles for Curtis Mathes is a well kept secret. Curtis Mathes tried to unite audio systems with furniture style. These sets were sold at a premium above the cost of average stereos. This was more predominant in the time frame when tubes were used. A leader in TV and stereo furniture was "Natilie Kalmus" both a designer name and a brand for a while. It’s possible that Curtis was influenced by those designs or even used some. Very little is known about the Natalie Kalmus company, other than it was in business less than three years and was located in southern California in the early 1950s. However some evidence shows the company was in business from 1950 to 1959. This would put the companies designer out of work the same year Curtis Mathes started their line of stereos and televisions. There was a real person named Natalie Kalmus (ca. 1878-1965), who is credited with being the co-developer of the Technicolor process.
At the time I was with Curtis Mathes there was a ongoing belief of a link between the two companies designers, tragically when the CM company went though bankruptcy 1992 the company records were thrown into the dumpsters. So somewhere in a landfill in Texas is the answer to this mystery.


Below is a awesome Curtis Mathes stereo console from 1960.