This tall but still very legible ghost sign for Philco Radios peeks out from behind the building in front of it on McDermot Street in downtown Winnipeg.
The sign is only a few feet wide, and stretches from the roof of the building nearly to the ground. This reflects great economy AND the value of advertising, since if the sign were any wider it would be completely blocked by the neighbouring building, but it was in an important enough consumer advertising area to be squeezed in despite the sight lines.
From Wikipedia, some history of the company (MUCH more can be found in the article -- including Philco's work for NASA): (
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"Philco, (founded as Helios Electric Company, renamed Philadelphia Storage Battery Company) was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. It is currently a brand of Philips.
In the early 1920s, Philco made batteries, "socket power" units, and battery chargers. With the invention of the rectifier tube, which made it practical to power radios by electrical outlets, Philco knew their business was doomed, and decided in 1926 to get into the booming radio business. They followed other radio makers such as Atwater-Kent, Zenith Electronics, RCA (and the little-remembered Freshman Masterpiece, FADA Radio, AH Grebe, etc.) into the battery-powered radio business. By 1930, they were selling more radios than any other maker, a position they held for more than 20 years.
Philco built many iconic radios and TV sets, including the classic cathedral-shaped wooden radio of the 1930s (aka the "Baby Grand"), and the very futuristic (in a 1950s sort of way) Predicta series of television receivers.
Early history
Philco was founded in 1892 as Helios Electric Company. From its inception until 1904, the company manufactured carbon-arc lamps. As this line of business slowly foundered over the last decade of the 19th century, the firm experienced increasingly difficult times. As the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company, in 1906 it began making batteries for electric vehicles. They later supplied home charging batteries to the infant radio industry. The Philco brand name appeared in 1919. From 1920 to 1927, all radios were powered by storage batteries which were fairly expensive and often messy in the home.
First major product.
A very successful August 1925 product, called the "Socket Power Battery Eliminator", was a rectifier unit that allowed users to operate their battery-powered radios from standard light or wall socket. By 1927 over a million of these units had been sold. However, the invention of the vacuum tube rectifier (incorporated into the coming 1928 line of radio sets) made this technology obsolete.
In 1926, Philco decided to begin making radios. The first Philco radios were introduced in mid 1928. 96,000 were produced that year. Up to that time most radios were handmade and priced for relatively wealthy consumers.
TBy the 1929 model year Philco was in third place . . . in radio sales. In 1930 the company sold 600,000 radios, grossed $34 million, and was the leading radio maker in the country. By 1934 they had captured 30% of the domestic radio market.
Philco radios were notable for their economy of design without sacrificing quality or durability. Like other makers of the era, they offered a wide line of radios beginning with five-tube sets all the way up to high-fidelity consoles with 20 tubes in 1937-38. Philco also made battery-powered radios which were by then called "farm radios", most of which had cabinets identical to their AC powered versions.
The Philco "Baby Grand" (today called "Cathedral" radios by collectors) was a shape that featured an arched top that wrapped from the sides over the top. . . . Philco sold far more of this style than any other maker, a total of over two million (in over twenty models, with from four to eleven tubes) from 1930 to 1938; many of them exist today in collections. By today's standards, most of them are still excellent performing AM band radios when restored." [end]
Thanks to Uberwaymarkers Peter and Gloria for better coordinates. :)