A. Atwater Kent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ad for an Atwater Kent radio receiver in the Ladies' Home Journal (September, 1926)

Arthur Atwater Kent (1873–1949) was an inventor and prominent radio manufacturer based in Philadelphia. In 1921, he patented the modern form of the automobile ignition coil.

Kent attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the 1890s but dropped out twice without receiving a degree.

In 1922 Kent produced his first radio components and in 1923 his first complete radios, working a facilty on Stenton Avenue. In 1924 the company moved to a new $2 million plant at b4745 Wissahickon Avenue in North Philadelphia. This plant, constructed in sections, would eventually cover 32 acres. In 1925 the Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company became the largest maker of radios in the nation. The company also sponsored the popular The Atwater Kent Hour,a top-rated radio concert music program heard on NBC and CBS from 1926 to 1934. The show featured top entertainment and became one of the most popular and acclaimed regular radio programs of the era. At its peak in 1929, the company employed over 12,000 workers manufacturing nearly one million radio sets. The plant itself was an architectural sensation and received hundreds of visitors annually. ^[1]

In 1937, Kent helped organize and pay for the restoration of the Betsy Ross House in Center City Philadelphia. In 1938, Kent helped found the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia, Philadelphia's city history museum.

Kent is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.

[edit] Patents

U.S. Patent 1,391,256 - Induction coil structure - 1921
U.S. Patent 1,474,152 - Induction coil - 1923
U.S. Patent 1,474,597 - Induction coil - 1923
U.S. Patent 1,569,756 - Ignition coil - 1926
U.S. Patent 1,597,901 - Radio apparatus - (Filed Nov 29, 1922; Issued Aug 31, 1926.)