The RCA company is now under way writing their-
history. I hope to have it shortly. The sound powered units made during
W.W.II were made by General Electric (GE) for RCA. Later RCA made their
own elements. The headsets, bands, cords etc. were always made by RCA.
Just the elements were made for a short time by GE.
Stromberg Carlson
Stromberg Carlson made their own unit
including
the elements. Some think Dynalec made their elements, but this is not
the
case. Read Dynalec history below to see how and when they started.
Stromberg
Carlson started in 1894 in Chicago by two Swedish men and manufactured
telephones at first. In 1904, Stromberg-Carlson's original
Chicago
plant was closed and all operations were moved to Rochester, New
York.
They supplied sound powered equipment to the Navy during W.W.II. In
1955
General Dynamics, a major defense supplier, was attracted by these
scientific
abilities and Stromberg-Carlson's developments in electronics. in
1955, the two companies merged. During the 1960's, in an effort to
consolidate
the wide range of products they were manufacturing, Stromberg-Carlson
decided
to concentrate on their traditional market: the U.S. independent
telephone
industry. In the late1950's, they acquired the United
States
Instrument Corporation (USI) in Charlottesville, Virginia - a major
manufacturer
of telephone components and Sound powered equipment during W.W.II. Over
the next few years, the telephone manufacturing divisions of
Stromberg-Carlson
were moved to Charlottesville into what was the US Instruments plant.
At
this point the patents and plant manufacturing Sound powered handset
(USI)
was sold to Dynalec Corporation a new starting company. With that
purchase was the rights to US Instruments sound powered equipment.
Stromberg
Carlson continued to build and sell to the Navy headsets untill the mid
1980's. In 1982 Comdial Corporation, purchased the
Charlottesville
facility from General Dynamics. The headset were then made by Dynalec
Corporation
now in Sodus, New York. The rest of Stromberg Carlson was sold to
Seimens
Corp. and is part of that company today.
Source of
information above
Comdial and their web site at
http://www.telanet.com/comhis.html
Dimension
Electronics, Inc. and their web site at (a Comdial
company)
http://www.dimensioncom.net/Comdial/History/history.html
Siemens
Stromberg-Carlson
http://www.primenet.com/~towens/ISDN/siemens.htm
Dynalec Corp.
and their web site at
http://www.dynalec.com/aboutus.html
Telephones Antique to modern by Kate E
Dooner
Dynalec Corporation
Founded in 1960 in Rochester, New York,
Dynalec's
first product was an entertainment center for the U.S. Navy. They
begun
makeing sound powered handsets very closely resembling US Instruments
equipment.
The equipment and right to do so may have come from Stromberg Carlson
when
they moved to Virginia from Rochester, New York. The
facilities
that Dynalec started in was Stromberg Carlsons old
facilities.
As Dynalec's product line grew they moved 35 miles east to larger
facilities in Sodus, New York. They started the headset line in the mid
1980's, about the time when Stromberg Carlson stopped making them.
Rights
to do so may have been bought at that time from Stromberg Carlson, or
maybe
Stromberg Carlsons patents ran out. The headset that Dynalec makes are
an exact copy of Stromberg Carlson's old units. Dynalec is one of a
very
few companys that supply Sound powered phones to the Navy and private
ship
owners still today.
Sources of
above information
Dynalec Corp. and their web site at
http://www.dynalec.com/aboutus.html
Hose-McCann Telephone
Company
Inc.
Hose-McCann Telephone Company Inc. was established in 1936,
Charles
G. Hose and Thomas J. McCann developed and patented the first sound
powered
telephone for marine use, creating a safe, reliable, rugged and
independent
external power communication system. One of two companies that supply
Sound
powered phones to the Navy and private ship owners still today.
Source of
above
Hose-McCann Telephone Company Inc. and their web site at
http://www.hmctelco.com/
United States Instrument
Corporation
(USI)
Still looking for information on this company. It no longer
exists
as a company today. Was bought out by Stromberg Carlson/General
Dynamics.
See Stromberg Carlson.
The Wheeler Insulated Wire
Company
Inc.
Working on this company. Were bought out
in
the late 1980's by Sound Powered Communications Corporation. See
Sound Powered Communications Corporation.
Western Electric Company
Formed in 1869 as a telephone company in
Cleveland,
Ohio. Started out making telegraph equipment and misc. telephone
equipment.
In 1877 they moved to Chicago, Ill. And became Western Electric Company
(official name). They supplied Western Union with their phone equipment
from 1878 – 1879. In 1881 they were bought out by The Bell Company.
They
became the sole suppliers of the Bell System. They eventually sold to
their
own employees who formed the company Graybar Electric Company that is
still
in business.
Source for above
Telephones Antique to modern by Kate E
Dooner
Automatic Electric
Company
Formed in 1901 as an offshoot of
Strowger
Automatic Electric Telephone Exchange Company in Chicago, Ill. The
company
made telephone equipment. During the war (W.W.II) they made phone
equipment
and sound powered equipment for the defense department. In 1955 they
were
bought out by General Telephone and Electronics (GTE).
Source for above
Telephones Antique to modern by Kate E
Dooner
David Clark Company Inc.
Working on a history. This company has
been
in existence for over 40 years.
sources of above
David Clark Company Inc. and their web
site
at
http://www.davidclark.com
Sound Powered
Communications
Corporation
Started in the late 1980's, SPCC bought
out
the financially troubled Wheeler Insulated Wire Company Inc. and
started producing elements in Wheelers old factory. Now in Trenton NJ.
they still produce sound powered handsets.
