MLU FORUM - ATR4 radio

ASTOR RADIO BEGAN BEFORE
BROADCASTING!
The Astor assembly line.
IN the year 1922, before broadcasting commenced in Aus-
tralia, a retail store in Melbourne began business under
the name of Louis Coen Wireless. It sold component
parts for radio receivers, and anything at all associated
with radio. Amalgamated with it was a small wholesale
business of the same type. Large numbers of radio engi-
neers, and enthusiasts generally, bought their early valves,
crystals, and honeycomb coils from the shop of Louis Coen,
when they were playing with a science that has now grown
to proportions beyond the dreams of many of them.
The original two directors of this firm were Messrs. Louis
Abrahams and A. G. Warner. To-day, these men are the
directors of Radio Corporation Pty., Ltd., one of the largest
radio manufacturers in the Commonwealth. From the little
shop in Swanston Street they have progressed steadily, until
to-day, although they still have an interest in the retail
business, the 500 people and more employed by the firm are
engaged in manufacturing radio receivers of every type, and
in handling associated business. The "Astorâ€ receivers made
by Radio Corporation are nationally known, and nationally
advertised, and they sell in such numbers as to place Astor
among the foremost names in radio to-day.
The early activities of Louis Coen Wireless were so suc-
cessful that the directors decided to enlarge their activities.
They set up a chain of retail stores in Melbourne, and later
in Adelaide. This was the phase in radio during which com-
ponent parts were sold in huge numbers, and Louis Coen sold
more than their share of them.
It was, however, the wholesale business that probably
showed the best figures at the peiicd, and in 1928 the turn-
over was in excess of Â£250,000 !
In 1930, when the Scullin Government adopted the tariff
schedule which prohibited the importation of receivers from
overseas, the directors decided to enter the manufacturing-
business. They changed the name of the company to Radio
Corporation Pty., Ltd., and under this title commenced the
business as it is known to-day.
Soon the possibilities of making and selling receivers
appealed to the company so much that it gradually relin-
quished its activities in retail and wholesale selling.' More
and more people were buying radio sets, and soon receivers
made by Radio Corporation were distributed all over Aus-
tralia.
The bigger field of the public which regarded a radio set
as a musical box bought to provide entertainment as against
the section that bought parts to make the set for them-
selves, clearly indicated such possibilities that eventually the
wholesale and retail handling of parts was abandoned alto-
gether, and receiver manufacturing taken over in real earnest.
Radio Corporation had big plans. It was in business to
make and sell sets in a big way. Soon it became evident that
making the sets was one thingâ€”selling and financing the
sales was quite another. Therefore in 1931 the directors
decided to commence an entirely new company, known as
Radio Finance Co., Ltd., the purpose of which was to pro-
vide a flexible and controlled method of financing sales of
Astor sets.
Some of those early sets made a name for themselves
of which the company might well be proud. The famous
Astor Neutrodyne was. one of the most popularâ€”the Baby
Astor in its carved table cabinet was a worthy companion.
Astor design has always been striving to be the first with
the latest, and many of the most modern developments in
radio have been seen on the Australian market with Astor
right at the front. Astor engineers have never been afraid to
pioneer any development which they are convinced will even-
tually be adopted in the industry, and very rarely have they
been mistaken.
The Finance company expanded in direct proportion to
the success of Astor sales, and in 1931 the directors felt that
it could handle more than mere radio lines. They therefore
began to expand the extent of its coverage, and to-day, as
Universal Guarantee Limited, it employs a capital of over
Â£lOO,OOO as a public company, and handles considerable busi-
ness other than radio.
Practically all the apparatus used in radio receivers is
covered by patents in one form or another. Radio Corpor-
ation was quick to see the advantage of covering itself from
this angle. In 1928 it acquired an interest in the patents
owned by the Hazeltine Corporation of America, and formed
an Australian company, known as Neutrodyne, Ltd., to con-
trol this side to its activities. For a number of years Neutro-
dyne was content to consolidate its position in Australia, and
many patents were filed with this end in view.
However, in 1933 the action of the Commonwealth Gov-
ernment in terminating its arrangement with other patent
interests in Australia Led to a reopening of this very vital
matter. As a result, Neutrodyne became very active in its
own interests, and eventually joined the present patent pool,
which controls such matters, in association with Amalgam-
ated Wireless, Philips Lamps, and Standard Telephones and
Cables.
From this resume of the varied interests of Radio Cor-
poration and its associated companies, the full strength of
the company in Australian radio matters is very evident.
Naturally, Astor sets are best known to-day in their
home State, Victoria, although their sales and organisation
is Commonwealth-wide. A keen follower of the trends, par-
ticularly in U.S.A., Astor has adopted and acquired many
ideas from its associates in this country, and applied them to
Australia, with special stress on the production of medium-
priced merchandise.
Some of its later activities, which are bywords now in the
industry, are the production of the first widely accepted
vibrator battery sets, and an enormous output of car radios.
These two lines particularly feature as possibly the best
known products of the factory, which now employs 500
hands, and employs a capital of more than Â£250,000.
It is a big step from a retail store in 1922 to such a com-
pany in 1937. With the energy and initiative of its direc-
tors, Radio Corporation is now one of the biggest names in
Australian radio.
A view of the Astor plant.