Antique Atwater Kent Radios

Inventor Arthur Atwater Kent established Atwater Kent Manufacturing Works, which produced batteries, electric motors, and fans, in Philadelphia in 1896. In 1921, he patented the revolutionary breaker-point automotive ignition coil for gas engines, as well as the first fuel gauge for cars. With the money he made making cars viable, Kent turned his focus to radio technology in 1921, hiring the best and brightest engineers and marketers. In 1922, Atwater Kent started offering do-it-yourself kits containing radio components and "breadboards" to install them upon. The Model 1 came with a tuner, a detector, and a one-stage amplifier. In order for Kent to avoid patent fees on the use of a regenerative circuit, he sold a variometer separate. Model 2, also offered around 1922, came with a three-tube amplifier. The Model 5 was an attempt at compact design, but it didn't work well. Because the product was discontinued, that particular model is rare and coveted by collectors today. For Christmas 1923, the company introduced the Model 10, which was made up of a detector, two radio-frequency amplifiers, and two audio frequency amplifiers attached to a mahogany board. This radio still didn't have a case, so all of its working components were visible. By mid-1925, Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company was the biggest American radio manufacturer. In the late '20s, Atwater Kent started offering table radios that came in metal or wooden cabinets and used as many as eight tube amplifiers. In 1929 alone, the factory churned out 1 million radio sets. From 1926 to 1934, the company sponsored the "Atwater Kent Hour" on NBC and CBS, which featured orchestral music as well as the country's top opera singers. By the mid-1930s, the radio market could no longer sustain the level of quality Kent demanded of his products. His competitors like RCA were putting smaller, cheaper radios with diminished sound quality. Kent decided to retire and closed his factory in 1936. Because Kent had such high standards of quality many of his radios still work today and are treasured by collectors.