#Gembox no sound license
#Gembox no sound series

The radio uses Professor Hazeltine’s Neutrodyne circuit.Ĭrosley was in a better position than many other radio manufacturers when the stock market crashed in 1929. It was returned to working condition with only minor repairs. It appeared to have been in a small closet that had been walled up as part of a renovation project. I found it sitting undamaged on a shelf, all that remained of a house that had been torn down for highway construction back when I was a kid around 1969. This particular Gembox has an interesting story.

#Gembox no sound series

While not as sophisticated as the competing Atwater Kent 40 series metal cabinet radios, they sold for about 25 percent less. The metal cabinet was less costly to manufacture than a wooden one, and provided some shielding against unwanted electrical noise and static. leading up to WWII, producing sets such as the 1928 metal cabinet “Gembox” depicted here. The Crosley Radio Company would go on to hold a position in the top five radio manufacturers in the U.S. He had one other selling point-unique at the time-his products came with a money back guarantee if the customer was not satisfied.īy 1928, the company began building a new facility to house manufacturing facilities and WLW studios, located in the Camp Washington neighborhood of Cincinnati. His radios, like his car parts, sold for less than many other name brands. This was based on two concepts: one being if more listeners could hear the station, he could sell more sets and make them cheaper in quantity the other being a more powerful signal requiring a less sophisticated, less powerful and therefore less expensive receiver. Powel theorized that the more powerful he could make his radio station, the cheaper he could sell his radios. By 1927, WLW was transmitting with 50,000 watts. As technology developed, particularly that of higher power tubes, he applied for and was granted several power increases over the next six years.

#Gembox no sound license

After developing experimental station 8CR, he applied for and was granted a license for a 50-watt station bearing the call sign WLW, operating on 700 kHz near Cincinnati Ohio. also recognized that he could sell more radios if there were more stations to listen to. In addition to producing his first radio sets in 1921, Powel Crosley Jr. Crosley also chose a dog, only this one listening with headphones. It sold for $9.95.Īpparently inspired by RCA’s logo of Nipper the dog listening to “his master’s voice” on a phonograph, and tying in with the name of their first tube radio, Mr. In 1925 they released the “Crosley Pup,” which was a one-tube, battery-powered regenerative receiver with headphones. By 1924, for a period of time, Crosley was able to lay claim to being the largest manufacturer of radios in the world.

Still a reasonable piece of change at the time, but dirt cheap when compared to tube sets they flew off the shelves. While not as powerful at a tube set, it sold for only $7. Using the existing facilities of his auto parts manufacturing plant, he produced his first model radio, the Crosley Harko, a tubeless crystal radio in 1921. Part of a Crosley Pup magazine advertisement as it appeared in numerous magazines. He was impressed with the technology and realized he could manufacture them for less. Crosley purchased a book about radios and together with his son, built their own. At the time, even less expensive radios could come with a price tag of $100 or more, the equivalent of about $1,300 in today’s dollars. Crosley was shocked at the prices for an item which he viewed as a toy. While at a department store in early 1920, Powel’s young son asked for a radio. After several failed attempts to start his own automobile company, he along with his brother Lewis, became successful at manufacturing and selling auto parts. He was fascinated by automobile technology and all things mechanical in general, and also interested in Henry Ford’s assembly line techniques. He then attended the University of Cincinnati but dropped out after two years. The young Crosley attended the Ohio Military Institute where he graduated with a high school degree in 1905. Even though this is a column about radio, I can’t help but mention at least some of his many accomplishments. He would go on to become a leading industrialist and lead a colorful life with many achievements, including starting his own car company, Crosley Automobiles, and owning the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 18, 1886.