Origin of the Emmy statuette

The Emmy award statuette of a winged woman holding an atom was designed to symbolize the dual goals of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The wings represent the muse of art and the atom the electron of science, according to Sandra Parker, who wrote online about the origin of the Emmy statue in the archives of American television at www.emmys. org/awards/emmyorigin. php.

"After rejecting 47 proposals for what was to become the Emmy statuette, academy members in 1948 selected a design that television engineer Louis McManus had created using his wife as a model," Parker said.