In addition to being a history, or a "reminiscence," of a great American company, it will also be a teaching book--one that every businessman will want to read. The business focus is indicated by the proposed title, which will now appear as the lead-in to every Post--
A Requiem for Zenith Radio: Its Rise and Fall, and the Lessons to be
Learned From Its Fall
But this happy event will not take place for several months--and if the author lasts long enough to complete the task. After all, 95 is not a date known for its longevity. But we are all "in God's hands," as Thomas Moore said, so let's look forward with trust and see what comes to pass.
--now let's see what's in this what's in this Post 25.
* * * * * * * *
EXCELSIOR!
(Um . . . excelsior doesn't only mean that stringy wood stuff used for packing boxes, , but more correctly--FORWARD . . . ONWARD to Excellence!)
AND that it what Zenith meant to do after the loss of its Second War--go forward, and on to excellence!
It was to going be tough going. Zenith's prime product--television--had been largely subsumed by the Japanese who, for more than 20 years to come, would persist in "low-balling" television prices. ( Of course, they were also busy trying to take over such American industries as the the automobile, steel, textiles, etc., apparently with the approbation of the "one-worlders." (Please excuse the writer if he sounds bitter for he is, for after all, it is Philip Curtis's opinion--and the author's--that the Japanese had destroyed Zenith, and did it with the active help of the U.S. Government.)
Sorry . . . back to the story of Zenith.
What did Zenith need to so to succeed in the future--to actually stay in business? What products did it have that could be exploited? The radio market was out because it had already been taken over by the Japanese.
First off, it was imperative that Zenith develop landmark improvements in the television technology--improvements so outstanding that Zenith television products would become a "must have," and exclusive to Zenith.. . . products so outstanding that the American public would find them irresistible. Zenith had made such break-throughs in the past-- the remote control and the Chromacolor picture tube are just two examples If Zenith could only find others of their caliber . . . .
Secondly, develop new and existing products that are sure sellers, and many of them!
What's on the horizon? Let's make a list--
A watch company. Purchase it, and one already already named "Zenith." (Already reported on in the previous Post 24. And more to come!)
Medical Electronics. Zenith was already No. 1 in hearing aids. It is a rational step to acquire and/or develop related products.
Cable Modems. Pay-for-view television was fast becoming a reality. (Unhappily, not the Commander's Phonevision(R) system!)
Production of Large Screen Television sets. That is, screen sizes greater than 30 inches.
Computers -- develop a computer-based Zenith data system. Viz., Zenith computers for the use of individuals and businesses.
Promote Zenith's Stereophonic Broadcasting system: The MTS Stereo system
Promote high definition televisions, both their concept and their manufacture.
Promote a 64-inch rear-projection television system.
And, from the Government and Special Products Division--
Militarization of Zenith commercial products such as the TransOceanic and base station transceivers . . .a paging system . . . the Uniscope light amplifier" . . . . proximity fuzes and safe-and-arming mechanisms. . . and, generally, the acquisition of lucrative government contracts
(This Division was described in Post 13.)
Succeeding Posts of this Zenith Book Weblog will cover all these and others, with your help!
So HELP! HELP! Russ Miller has promised to write further on the Zenith Watch company, and if you do the same in your area of expertise, it will be so helpful. And your name might even be listed as a contributor in the forthcoming book! (Gee, whiz!)
* * * * * * * *
My Dear Old Radio!
Do you
recall an old Zenith radio set that you loved and wished you still had? Here is the author’s such radio set, and it is long in my memory. It is a Zenith, of course, one that sat nicely
on a table or shelf and played beautiful music—music from the Commander’s radio
station WEFM, of course. The set is the Model X334, a vacuum-tube radio that dates
back to 1959. The physical design was probably by Mel Boldt*, Zenith’s long-time designer of its radios, remote
controls, video recorders, and related products. After about ten years, the radio began to fail, and I was told that vacuum tube
sets are not repairable because the tube sockets lose their
springiness, and thus lose the electrical interconnections.
So with
much sorrow, I discarded the set, Since then, I have learned that there are
ways to restore the tube-socket interconnections, and am now on a search for
another Model X334. I will let you know
of my luck I finding one.
Perhaps there is an engineer among the readership
who remembers working on the electrical design of the set. If so, please come
forward and tell your story,
*More
about Mel Boldt:
 |
| Melvin A. Boldt |
* * * * * * * *
Now let’s Take
a look into the Zenith’s past in the video media! That is where Zenith lives on, and where Zenith seems almost immortal. —There
are lots of sources, much of it on YouTube.
Try some of these addresses. (Or, calling them by their actual
designation, “URL’s”)--
The Rise and Fall of ZRC. Slide show.
This well-made film shows scenes from the Zenith: people you may know, or have known. Also, buildings, assembly lines, parking lots, skyline scenes--are all shown. The saddest are the views of old Plant 1 on 6001 West Dickens Avenue, in Chicago, once so busy, and now so deserted. The film is followed by the story of radio manufacturer, Philco. The film creator is: “drh4683”. (Good job, drh!)
David Sarnoff talks about color television.
*These are quoted excerpts from the Philip Curtis book The Fall of the American Consumer Products Industry, An American Trade Tragedy
The story of a pioneer television inventor --a history of Philo T. Farnsworth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKPTrq1s_BQ
This is a long, windy film but it finally gets to the point. And what a wonderful name for a TV pioneer ”— “Philo T. Farnsworth.” It’s got a “ring” to it. And Farnsworth wasn’t really a scientist, but a simple farm boy who got the idea for scanning a picture on a cathode ray tube faceplate when he noted the side-by-side furrows his plow made. “Now. . . “ he thought, “ if you could just impress picture information on those “furrows”. . . (that is, those scanned lines of light-emitting phosphor ) . . . . The rest is history.
Zenith on YouTube. There is a “wealth" of Zenith on YouTube. https://www.yout be.com/results?search_query=Zenith+Radio+Corporation
Zenith Trans-Oceanic on YouTube
Zenith R7000 Transoceanic Shortwave Radio - YouTube
▶ 3:06www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYOtz0dyzng
The radio shown will make you green with envy!! It appears to be a Model 7000-2 (1981. It is superb example of the most recent TransOceanic, and is probably the last of the line of he
Transoceanics. What a conversation piece it would make if it were sitting in a place of honor in your living room.
(I had a TransOceanic, circa 1942. --a Zenith model No. 6G601M. It was covered with what appeared to be cowhide. I wish I still had it, but long ago I took it apart for radio parts.)
Here is a TransOceanic shown somewhere in India, one riding a camel--
TransOceanics were famous and in use worldwide. Here an explorer named Fullenwinder with a TransOceanic.. (He was no doubt a friend of the Commander, who seemed to know everybody.)
* * * * * * * *
Antique Radio Renovation and Repair
TransOceanics were famous and in use worldwide. Here an explorer named Fullenwinder with a TransOceanic.. (He was no doubt a friend of the Commander, who seemed to know everybody.)
* * * * * * * *
Antique Radio Renovation and Repair
It is a
popular activity—finding antique Zenith’s and repairing and reconditioning them
to appear and play like new. You may be want to try it yourself. A service that will tell you how to
do it is offered on a website titled “Phil’s Old Radios.” Just click on this address: http://antiqueradio.org/howfix.htm and the following image will
appear--
©1995-2015 Philip I. Nelson, all rights reserved
The instructions go on to ask and answer a series of questions-- Where
can I find someone to fix my radio? . . . Is there a book that I can read?--
etc.
However, unless you
have actually designed and worked on radio sets, such as a Zenith engineer
would have done, you are tackling a formidable task in both in learning and
applying your skills.
Best get it repaired. There are a lot of those who do it. Just click on this link—
Better Yet! If you cherish antique radios, why not join a club of your fellows? If you live in Illinois, join the Antique Radio Club of Illinois. The club consists of a nationwide group of 400 radio aficionados dedicated to the preservation of antique radios and related items. www.antique-radios.org Zenith radios are there, of course. Below is a photo taken at a recent radio club swap meet--
 |
| How did that clock get in there? |
Antique radio clubs are located all over the country. One in California—called the Southern California Antique Radio Society, or SCARS, is an
example. Click on this URL: www.antiqueradio.org
to see what they offer the potential antique radio collector. (Note to Howard
Lange, who moved to California: Howard, here is a hobby for your retirement
years--when you are not hiking canyons!)
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
Now, more about the “Phil” of Phil’s Old Radios. His full name is Philip Nelson. His “Welcome page” address is http://www.antiqueradio.org/welcome.htm
When you open his welcome page, you will see a list of
subjects to click on. As you
successively review them you see a number of subjects and exhibits--a large
gallery of vintage radios; how to
restore radios for beginners; information for radio lovers, especially beginners. In features,
special articles are shown, such as the U.S. patent
drawing for a TransOceanic radio set. It was created by Robert Budlong of Zenith who
designed many of Zenith's radios.
Now, view the repair of one of Zenith’s first television sets as guided by Phil. Click on http://www.antiqueradio.org/welcome.htm, select “Sitemap” and scroll way, way down a long list of all the radios and televisions Phil has repaired through the years. There you will find the following description—
Zenith Model T1816R Television (1955)--
Phil wrote: “People either love or hate the design of this classic 1950's black and white television. I belong to the 'love it' camp. With rounded, futuristic lines and cat's-eye shaped knobs on either side of the screen, it reminds me of a robot or space alien.”
Made in 1955, this large metal-cased TV was designed to sit on a table or a stand. The cabinet is dark maroon with a contrasting silver bezel and gold accents in the knobs. The Zenith name appears in raised letters at the top of the bezel, and there is a small gold metal Zenith logo on the control panel at the top.
Phil wrote: “It has a sixteen-inch screen and it seems to weigh about sixteen tons! I purchased this set for $35 in January, 1998.”
Phil goes on to describe in great detail how he repaired it and made it play again.
* * * * * * * *
It is noted that Model T1816R shown previously was not Zenith’s first television set. There was a much earlier one—an experimental model, featured in an earlier Post of this Weblog—Post 7. The original story below was copied from the Zenith Magazine, Zenith ServiceWorld, published in 1974.
Here is Brian
Mahronic, National Service Manager, with an experimental model built in 1939.
"Bronc"--as he was widely called--and his family watched it for
several years before replacing it with one of Zenith's first production
models. Then the set was banished to the basement.
The
only television station in Chicago at the time was W9XCV, an experimental
station built, of course, by Zenith--another one of Zenith's famous
"firsts."
Mario
Bertucci of the Zenith cabinet shop did the refinishing. The cabinet is a
beauty of blond oak, with a hand-rubbed finish. Even today, it would be a
credit to any living room.
Because the early picture tubes were so long, it was necessary to mount the
tube vertically and project the image on a mirror mounted on the inside of the
slanting lid.
Bronc and Henry Duncan, one of Joe Smith's electronic repair wizards, made it play again. It wasn't difficult--the tuner was cleaned, the electrolytic capacitors, which the years had dried out, were replaced, and a few adjustments were made. The radio also plays again, and plays with the surprising sound of a Zenith.
The power supply was a hazard during the repair --it was a "brute force" power supply in which in the high voltage was built up in stages, with an amperage high enough to "melt your fillings" if you got in the way of it. Later television tubes used a much higher voltage of 30,000, but it was more like a static charge that would give you a tingle--but your fillings were safe.
It plays again!
Here is a photo of the mirrored image as the set received Channel 2.
(Note:
We must wonder where that set is now, and whether it is
still operating. After all, the article above was published in
Zenith Serviceworld magazine in 1974, 41 years ago! If found, it would be worth
a pile$.)
* * * * * * * *
Two women were talking (overheard by the author!) while wading in the warm-water pool of the Gottlieb Hospital Health Center, located on the west side of Chicago.
One
woman asked: “Do you remember the Zenith ‘porthole’ television set—the one with
the round picture window?”.
“Yes,”
the other answered. “It was the television set of ‘Mr. Zenith’–Commander
McDonald.”
The two
were recalling Commander Eugene F. McDonald, Jr., the founders and
long-time President of Zenith Radio Corporation, and widely-known as
"Mr. Zenith." And they were speaking about a Zenith television set
that had appeared on the market 30 years before that conversation in the warm water swimming pool!
Such was the legend of Commander McDonald and Zenith in Chicago! About that porthole television set--It all came about because Commander McDonald took a personal and intense interest in every aspect of a Zenith manufactured item before it left the factory.Every Zenith product had to meet the credo The Quality Goes in Before the Name Goes On! So McDonald examined every television set before it went into production. One day, he was shown the latest model, one however without the escutcheon—that rectangular metal plate that encloses the face of the picture tube and defines the televised image. The escutcheon was not ready, but McDonald insisted on seeing the set anyway. So he was shown a cabinet from which projected a round picture tube—but no picture-outlining escutcheon. He loved it! Perhaps it recalled his days as a Naval Commander and the times he spent at sea peering out of portholes. And that television set went into production and on the market, and had a successful sales run. This despite the fact that the transmitted picture was not round, but rectangular! The American public loved it anyway because it was a Zenith!
* * * * * * * *
The Philanthropy of Eugene Francis McDonald, Jr.
Despite his often
rough speech and
the stern actions made necessary by his role as the chief
executive, McDonald had a kind heart. Five examples come to mind. First, he was
outraged when he learned of the high cost of hearing aids, which he considered
were little more than a tiny microphone along with a simple audio
amplifier and a speaker. He was also sympathetic about people
because, according to his daughter Marianne (below), he
became deaf in one ear when a car he was repairing
blew up next to him. So he set up a separate division of Zenith devoted to hearing
aid research, and to the design and manufacture of hearing aids. The
Hearing Aid Division was set up in a separate building known as “Plant 5.”
The first Zenith hearing aids were
priced at $40—far below the hundreds of dollars being charged at the time by
other manufacturers. Zenith became so successful in the sales of hearing aids that it achieved
the No. 1 ranking in hearing aid sales
A
second example of McDonald’s philanthropy is shown by his concern for his
women employees. Upon learning that he had cancer of the throat (perhaps due to
excessive smoking), he did as he always did when confronted with a problem--he
studied the disease. He learned that there was also a common type of cancer
that affected only women. It is called uterine cancer,
and that it was curable if detected early. He immediately made its detection and treatment available to all Zenith woman employees at no cost to them. Many lives were saved.
The third was
his concern for Ebony Magazine, a publication dedicated to the interests of the
large African-American population in Chicago, which McDonald believed ought to have its own
“voice” in the community. McDonald’s opinion was based upon the treatment
of the early Irish who emigrated to the United States, a treatment typified by the signs “No Irish
need apply,” that confronted Irish job seekers.
McDonald also had an
African-American friend, Matthew Henson, a fellow explorer who had accompanied
McDonald on his expedition to the Arctic.
He learned that the organizers of Ebony Magazine was
struggling to find the start-up money to begin publication, so McDonald
helped fund the publication of the first
issues.
The
fourth example is, of course, McDonald’s setting up the Zenith
profit-sharing plan for his employees. It was perhaps the most
generous of such plans ever conceived and put into practice. McDonald believed
that his employees should share in any profit, for after all, it was their work
that made that
profit possible.
During the Great Depression of
1929-1940, and knowing that Zenith was struggling to stay afloat, many employees showed their dedication to
Zenith by voluntarily reducing or refusing their salaries. When Zenith began to
recover, McDonald repaid them, and showed his appreciation by sharing the dividend normally
meant for the stockholders—with the employees.
(Was there ever another such a company to do this in all of American’s history?)
An
early pioneer employee of Zenith—Gene
Polley—said that the original profit sharing would be as much as 10 to 15 percent of salary When John Nevin took control as President and Chief Operating Officer, he reduced the profit-sharing amount
to between 4 and 8 per cent, with the
share dependent on Zenith’s profit. From
that time on, it never exceeded 4 per cent, as Zenith’s “days of clover” when it could pay more, were
over. Yet whatever the amount, Zenith
never failed to pay profit sharing, even during
the last days of approaching bankruptcy.
We
former employees all acknowledge what the profit-sharing plan has meant to us—for
most, a well-funded retirement. To
those who were laid off because of hard times for Zenith, it meant money to “ tide them over” until they could find another job. (Such hard times time will be soon described in forthcoming
Posts.)
The fifth example of a philanthropic act is a surprising one—the recipient was United States government! After the war
ended, McDonald calculated that Zenith had made too much profit from its
defense contracts, and refunded monies
he thought were unfairly earned.
(The
procurement agencies thought this was a
great idea—the return of “excess” profits on contracts with the government. So
from then on, it was a clause written into major defense contracts In all fairness, procurement agencies have
often “forgiven” contractors who failed to meet their contractual
obligations. Rather than penalizing the
errant contractor, the agencies would settle for accepting whatever the
contractor had produced, and would inflict no penalties. This happened to Zenith’s Government and
Special Products Division, which, on two occasions, failed to produce equipment that met
contractual requirements.)
So let
us all pay tribute to Eugene Frances McDonald, Jr. –our benefactor!
This was his last portrait. He was soon to die from throat cancer. Marianne wrote me to relate that, on the night before he died, he had a milkshake with a shot of
brandy in it—all that he could ingest for several days.
If only
had lived a few more years, perhaps he could have set Zenith on a firmer path
to a longer existence as an independent company.
We will not see his
like again. And his
passing was a loss from which Zenith could never recover.
Requiescat in pace.
* * * * * * * * *
And so ends Post 25, and a fitting end it is.
Mizpah! |
About 30% of my radio collection is comprised of Zeniths. They''re my favorite radios and one which my parents owned (a 1952 J615 model) is what got me started collecting. They are usually the easiest to repair and restore.
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