Stromberg-Carlson

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This article is about Stromberg-Carlson, the American telephone equipment manufacturing company. For the phone phreak with a similar name, see Strom Carlson.

Stromberg-Carlson was a telecommunications equipment manufacturing company formed in 1894 as a partnership of Alfred Stromberg and Androv Carlson. Along with Western Electric (who supplied the Bell system) and the Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company, it controlled the nation's supply of telephone equipment until after World War II.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Products 3 Non U.S. Branding 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

In 1894, Alexander Graham Bell's patent for the telephone  expired. Stromberg and Carlson, Chicago employees of the American Bell Telephone Company, each invested $500 to establish a firm to manufacture equipment (primarily subscriber sets) for sale to independent telephone companies.

Stromberg-Carlson was originally located in Chicago, with Carlson managing manufacture and Stromberg responsible for marketing. Stromberg-Carlson quickly established a reputation for reliable equipment and stable prices.

In 1901, the temporary chief executive of the Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company, Wallace De Wolf, assisted executives of rival telephone equipment manufacturer Western Electric in an attempt to take over Stromberg-Carlson. A bitter stockholder fight ensued, and the takeover attempt failed. Stromberg-Carlson reincorporated as a New York state corporation in 1902, where state law better protected the company from takeover efforts.^[1][2]

In 1904, Stromberg-Carlson was purchased by Home Telephone Company, a relatively large service provider based in Rochester, New York. The new owners quickly relocated all Stromberg-Carlson operations to New York. In 1955, Stromberg-Carlson was purchased by General Dynamics. In 1982, General Dynamics sold the PBX division of Stromberg-Carlson to Comdial Corporation, and the Central Office division (located in Lake Mary, Florida known as GPT Stromberg Carlson sold 40 percent of its operations to Siemens AG in 1991. The new company, Siemens Stromberg-Carlson, became the third largest vendor of central office switches in the United States—with a combined installed base of 5 million access lines. They continued to manufacture the DCO as well as the Siemens EWSD out of the Lake Mary facility, moving production of the EWSD from New York to Florida.

[edit] Products

Stromberg-Carlson produced several unique switching systems, including:

• XY, a "flat motion" switch logically similar to Strowger switching.
• ESC, an early electronic switch similar to 1ESS switch; notable for its quick dialtone speed.
• DCO (Digital Central Office), a time-division switch similar to 5ESS switch or DMS-100.

The Stromberg-Carlson DCO was the first Class-5 digital local office switching system installed in the U.S. Stromberg-Carlson put their switch into service in July 1977 in Richmond Hill, Georgia.

Besides telephone equipment, Stromberg-Carlson produced consumer radios in the 1920s and 1930s. They also manufactured radio equipment during World War II, including the ubiquitous BC-348 radio set. Many schools and other institutions were equipped with Stromberg-Carlson intercom and public address systems.

Television receivers and loud-speakers were also manufactured.

[edit] Non U.S. Branding

In Argentina, the brand was acquired by Gularo S.A.. The brand is one of the leader in Mp3's and sells as well other electronics such as DVD's, phones, MP4's, televisions, and speakers.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Adams, Stephen B. and Butler, Orville R. Manufacturing the Future: A History of Western Electric. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. ISBN 0521651182
• Cohen, Andrew Wender. The Racketeer's Progress: Chicago and the Struggle for the Modern American Economy, 1900-1940. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 052183466X
• "Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Co." Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000). Chicago: Chicago Historical Society, 2005.

[edit] External links

• An 1894 Stromberg Carlson telephone, one of the oldest operating telephones in the U.S., is available for public use at the Shohola Museum of Communications and Technology.