Atwater Kent and unions.

[jackjoh]

After reading the Nevada Union joke I got to thinking about one of the few radios available in the 1930's the Atwater-Kent which was also the largest manufacturer in the US. Uncle Joe had a DC model on the farm in Marshfield, MO. I think it was a model 825 dual band that he would spend most of his time listening to after supper and before going to bed. Grandpa Waddell had one with a green neon tube tuner. We had, I think, a model 469 that we heard The Lone Ranger, I Love A Mystery, The Shadow and others. I remember hearing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7th 1941. That is just some history, the reason I mention unions is that old man Kent got fed up with Union demands and said he would close down the plant if they didn't stop and they didn't so he closed down the largest radio plant in the US. It also needs to be said that all his radios were Tuned Radio Frequency, TRF, types which were expensive and heavy to make and Superhetrodyne types had just come on the market that were cheaper and lighter. Anyway it looks like Hostess could go the way of Atwater-Kent.

 

[brandonlmb]

That's intressting story.

 

[jmaxj]

x2 kinda cool to read.

 

[mesha]

Thanks jack, not all of us have as those same memories to draw from. Cool story.

 

[gijohn40]

I had an old helicrafter shortwave radio that I can remember pulling stations in from arizona with the shadow and other old time programs on it... that was fun times as a kid.

unions can be good and they can be bad.. if the hostess union would have just told the employees what the company had settled on then there would still be a hostess... but someone got the idea they could ask for more and more and more and the company would cave and here we are...

 

[Team1k]

My dad grew up in that same era, as such i remember going to his work and listening to The Shadow, albeit on a computer

The Shadow Knows!

Thanks for the reminder of good memories.

 

[jackjoh]

I am sure you guys remember the Shadow so here is a story. The producers of the show were looking for someone to introduce the show so they set up interviews and were not having any luck until a big black man came in and when he talked with a deep baritone voice they said you are hired. At the first show he stepped up to the mike and said, WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE MINDS OF MEN - THE SHADOW DO.