Still at work on the book I mentioned last week. Have you ever heard the Weird Al song "Everything You Know Is Wrong"? That's sort of how some of the chapters of the book are making me feel. I almost cringe looking at my blog posts on the subject, because it's clear to me that I've grown as a writer in the years since they were first done, but also because so much of what I wrote was based on incorrect information. Granted, that's not entirely my fault, but it's still humbling.
But I'm still doing my best! This week we're debuting the first post from Cameron County, thanks to a picture sent by the Shenandoah Sentinel's Kaylee Lindenmuth. She had to make a trip there one day this summer and sent me a few pictures. (She always thinks of this blog when she sees a marker and tries to help. I appreciate her so much.) This company's story is a little bit complicated, because the names changed a lot, but I'll try to make it as easy to follow as I can.
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| The marker is located at the intersection of West Fourth Street (PA route 120) and Poplar Street. Image courtesy of Kaylee Lindenmuth. |
Frank had purchased and built a hay and grain business, which he sold after a year for a tidy profit of $3,500 - quite a nice chunk of change in those days and nothing to sneeze at even now. On the recommendation of his attorney, he invested that money in the Merritt Manufacturing Company in exchange for half ownership. By November, Merritt wanted out of the entire thing, and for another $750, he sold his own interest in his company to Frank, who was now the sole owner. He moved operations to the community of Danvers, and gave it the new name of Bay State Lamp Company. His brother Edward joined him, and they formally incorporated in 1907.
Okay, but we're still in the wrong commonwealth. Meanwhile, in 1906, another company was established in the community of St. Mary's, known as the Novelty Incandescent Lamp Company, Inc. Although the owners' plan, as the name suggests, was to make and sell light bulbs in whimsical novelty shapes, this never came to pass. They instead got into the business of refilling lamps, and in 1907 the company was sold and moved to Emporium, the seat of Cameron County. Ownership changed hands several times over the next few years, with the company belonging to General Motors at one point, and then throughout World War I it was owned by General Electric. GE decided to close it down after the war due to an economic recession, but it was purchased by yet another group of businessmen, who renamed it Nilco (short for Novelty Incandescent Lamp Co.) Lamp Works.
Using their technological wizardry, the Nilco owners added another branch to the company which was meant to capitalize on the new-fangled gizmo called the radio, which was all the rage. The core of a radio was a device known as a tube, and it was made using the same basic process as an incandescent lamp, so it wasn't hard for them to break into the new industry. With a license from RCA and financing in the form of selling shares, 1924 saw the introduction of the Sylvania Products Company. A few years later they began sponsoring their own radio show, which was aired by twelve stations across the country and featured the Sylvania Foresters, an orchestra whose members were all employees of the factory.
Back in Massachusetts, the Bay State Lamp Company stopped doing bulb renewals in 1913, and changed to making new incandescent lamps. Rebranded as Hygrade Incandescent Lamp Company, it grew quickly and relocated to Salem in 1916. By 1928, they had bought out another company, the Strong Manufacturing Company, and also got into making radio tubes.
Here comes the part where it all starts coming together. Both Hygrade and Sylvania Products were soon selling their radio tubs to the Philco Corporation, a Philadelphia-based electronics manufacturer which was a pioneer in radio and, later, television. In particular, this was the company that first started mass-producing radio sets with the tubes already in place, rather than having the tubes sold separately. This meant that Philco became the biggest client of both of the tube-producing companies. In 1931, therefore, the two providers decided to merge, and Nilco, Sylvania, and Hygrade were all bundled together into one company known as the Hygrade Sylvania Corporation.
Hygrade Sylvania, much like their pals at Philco, was quickly established as an industry pioneer. By combining the technological knowledge and assets of the two companies, they became a tour de force in the industry. The 1939 World's Fair in New York saw their debut of the first fluorescent lamp. In 1942, they changed their name (yes, again) and became - as the marker says - Sylvania Electric Products, Inc.
The other particularly noteworthy thing about Sylvania Electric Products is how many women it employed. Of course, it's well known that during WWII, a lot of women took on the jobs of men on the home front because so many of the men were away in the fighting. But Sylvania (and the companies it had previously been) was always an employer of women, as early as 1904. This is because, to quote from a 1942 article in Collier's magazine, "men haven't the patience nor the skill with their fingers that the work requires." Emporium, having so many women coming to work in its factory on the top secret project, was nicknamed the first "Girls Town". It was the work of these women, and the product they created, which led to the Allied victory during the Battle of the Bulge and the defeat of the Japanese forces. Sylvania was one of the rare recipients of the coveted Army-Navy "E" Award for outstanding production contributions to the war.
Successful as it was, though, the company couldn't go entirely unscathed through its history. In July of 1956, at one of their New York laboratories, there came a series of three explosions involving thorium. People didn't know a lot about thorium's tendency to ignite, and the explosion happened during the burning of scrap thorium. Several people were injured; one, Oliver Blaber, died from his injuries a month later. The lab's official statement was that he died from complications of third-degree burns, although the death certificate gave the cause as thorium poisoning.
As a fun extra, GTE Sylvania was a major sponsor from 1951 to 1956 of the game show Beat the Clock. Contestants could receive Sylvania televisions or radio sets as prizes (or consolation prizes, depending on how they did), and their trademark "Blue Dot" flashbulbs were used when taking pictures of the contestants.
The company continued to make its signature vacuum tubes until the early 1980s. In 1981, though, GTE started pulling out of making electrical distribution equipment, and started selling off some of its assets. They also got out of the lighting business in 1993; the North American division became Osram Sylvania Inc., while the foreign division became Havells Sylvania. (The factory in Emporium remained operational until 1990.) Osram Sylvania later changed its name one last time, becoming LEDVANCE, though it still sells products using the Osram and Sylvania brand names all over the world. In particular, Sylvania remains a leading brand of light bulbs for vehicles.
Next time you go to change a light bulb and see the name Sylvania on the shelf, remember that for a long time, they - like so many other things in our everyday lives - were made right here.
Sylvania Electric Products at the Historical Marker Database
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
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