The talking machine world (Jan-June 1928)

Last-Minute News of the Trade All-American Radio Corp. and Mohawk Corp. of Illinois Merge Consolidation Brings Pioneer Manufacturers Under One Roof — E. N. Rauland Is President of the All-American-Mohawk Corp. — Other Officers The music-radio trade throughout the country evidenced an intense interest in one of the most important moves recently made in radio manufacturing circles, when, on March 19, announcement was made of the consolidation of the Mohawk Corp. of Illinois, Chicago, with Fansteel Products Co. to Market Set Manufacturer of Balkite Units Enters Radio Receiver Field With Balkite AC Sets — Table and Console Models The Fansteel Products Co., North Chicago, TIL, manufacturer of the well-known line of Balkite radio power units, in a recent announcement stated that the organization will soon place upon the market a complete line of radio receiving sets. An interview with Herman J. Doughty, director of sales, produced the following information: "The Balkite AC set will retail in the table model at a price between $175 and $200 without tubes, and a comprehensive line of console models will also be available. Jobber and retail distribution will be on a restricted and exclusive basis. Samples will be shown and production will begin at an early date." Elaborating on this statement Mr. Doughty said: "During the past five years we have been one of the most successful manufacturers in the radio field. Balkite radio power units are to-day not only one of the best-known items in radio, but it is a line that is held in the highest public esteem. The good will that Balkite radio power units have built for us is incalculable. It is so great that we have hundreds of letters in our files asking us when we intended to manufacture a radio receiver, and we are glad to be able to tell the radio public that we are now ready. "The good will that Balkite has built for us in the past has been founded on two things, quality and offering the most advanced line of equipment on the market. We intend to follow this policy exactly in the manufacture of radio receivers. The new Balkite set is not low priced, but it is as good a commercial receiver as we and money can make it. We have stopped at nothing to produce a set that will be as outstanding in the set field as Balkite is in the radio power field. It will be different in appearance. The table model will be designed so that it can be used alone as a self-contained unit, or in a console, whichever the owner prefers. It will be different in performance. While the set is fully licensed we have patterned after no other receiver, it will be purely a Balkite product, engineered in our own plant. Our decision to enter the set field is not a hasty one. Some of the features to be incorporated into the receiver are the result of a search in this country and abroad and over four years of development work in our laboratories. "As for distribution, we believe that one of the other factors that is accountable for the success of Balkite in the past is that the trade, both jobber and retailer, have always made money in the resale of our line. We intend that the trade shall make money in handling the All-American Radio Corp., of the same city. In making announcement of the consolidation, the executives of the new company, known as the All-American-Mohawk Corp., stated that the move was effected in order to have the (Continued on page 83) our sets, and we will do everything in our power to see to it that they do. In a radio set line, unlike a radio power line, this calls for restricted distribution. A complete statement of sales policy will be made with the first showing of the receiver itself." Mr. Doughty added a word about the regular Balkite line. "Our announcement of the new set is not to be taken to mean that we intend to discontinue the manufacture of Balkite radio power units. On the contrary, there always will be a demand for power equipment for sets using DC tubes, with five million battery sets in use, for special installations, for sections of the country and districts which make the use of AC tubes impractical. We believe that the radio power unit field will be a profitable one for a long time to come and we mean to maintain our leadership in it." Allen-Hough Offices Move to Racine, Wis. Don T. Allen, president, and George P. Hough, vice-president, of the Allen-Hough Mfg. Co., manufacturer of Allen portables, were recent visitors to New York, making their headquarters at the New York offices of the company. While here Mr. Allen stated that the executive and sales offices of his organization had been moved from temporary quarters in Milwaukee, Wis., to the factory at Racine, Wis. In the latter city the Allen-Hough Mfg. Co. has a thoroughly up-to-date and wellequipped plant with ample facilities for executive and sales offices as well as sufficient room for manufacturing expansion. Mr. Allen spoke very enthusiastically of the company's business growth, stating that sales each month were steadily increasing and new jobber appointments throughout the country have included some of the leading wholesalers in the industry. StewartWarner Adds to Sales Personnel According to an announcement received from the general headquarters of the Stewart-Warner Speedometer Corp., Chicago, several men have been appointed as sales representatives in the radio division of that company. C. E. Hall has been added to the Stewart-Warner radio sales force as traveling representative covering the territory west of Denver. Mr. Hall, for some time, was connected with the Columbia Phonograph Co., and in recent years he was radio sales manager of the Stewart-Warner service station in Minneapolis. He has also been affiliated with General Motors and the Ford Motor Co. Joseph Mayer, formerly of the Federal Radio Corp., Buffalo, N. Y., will represent the Stewart 34d Warner Speedometer Corp. in the Middle West, maintaining his headquarters in Chicago. A. A. Fair, who for the past four years has been connected with the Pooley Co., Philadelphia, will travel the Eastern States in the interest of Stewart-Warner radio products, with headquarters in New York City. Langley and Estey With Crosley Corp. Ralph H. Langley Appointed Director of Engineering and F. Clifford Estey Is Now Assistant to the President Two important announcements affecting the executive personnel of the Crosley Radio Corp. have just been made by Powel Crosley, Jr., president of the company. They are the appointment of Ralph H. Langley as director of engineering and F. Clifford Estey as assistant to the president. Both are veterans of the radio industry. Mr. Langley is recognized as one of the foremost radio engineers in the radio world. He has been a close student of the art for nearly twenty years, during which time he has had much practical experience. Mr. Langley is a graduate of Columbia University, where he completed a course in electrical engineering in 1913. It was while attending the university that the radio virus was injected into his veins. Those who know of his activities say that ever since he was first bitten by the radio bug he has devoted every minute of his life to study (Continued on page 96) Changes Its Name to Grigsby-Grunow Co. According to an announcement made on March 20, Grigsby-Grunow-Hinds Co., Chicago, prominent in the power-unit manufacturing field, has changed the firm name to the GrigsbyGrunow Co. The firm, whose power-unit products bear the name "Majestic," plans to expand its activities and to place upon the market in the near future a full line of radio receiving sets. It is said that the company will manufacture every part, excepting tubes, entering into the construction and operation of these receivers. On the same date a public offering was made of 29,000 shares of no par common stock of the Grigsby-Grunow Co., and application was made to list the issue on the Chicago Stock Exchange. The application was accepted and the stock, which was offered at $40 per share, is at this writing listed at 643/i. The offering syndicate stated that the issue was already oversubscribed and that the counter sales on a "when issued basis" closed on the day of the offering announcement at around 47. It is expected that the directors of the company will place the stock on an annual dividend rate of $3.20 a share. The Grigsby-Grunow Co. was organized in Illinois in November, 1921, with a paid-in cash capital of $45,000. In May, 1927, about $300,000 was raised by a sale of stock to close friends of the company, and, with that exception, the growth of the company has been entirely from its earnings. Balance sheet of December 31, 1927, shows net earnings of $553,358 after all charges, including provision for Federal taxes. The company will manufacture and sell its receiving sets under a license granted by the Radio Corp. of America and allied companies.