Author Description

Zenith's "The Quality Goes in Before the Name Goes On" is one of the most recognized, and well earned, corporate mottos in America. Founded by two Navy radiomen in 1919, luck and the infusion of capital from a wealthy adventurer and car salesman started the Zenith Radio Corporation on a journey that would propell it to the top of the United States electronics manufacturing industry. The rise was an interesting one, the cast of high profile. With access to the Zenith corporate archives and their discovery of the long sealed files of one of Zenith's founders, the authors present for the first time the documented story of Zenith radio and company from 1919 through 1935. Professors Cones and Bryant draw on their long experience as radio enthusiasts and writers for both the popular and scholarly press to tell the fascinating story of Zenith's impact on early radio history. They present a wealth of never before published photographs, documents, and information, as well as color portraits of many Zenith radios of the era. Complimenting the story is an illustrated catalog of nearly every Chicago Radio Laboratory and Zenith radio model produced between 1919 and 1935 and a database of valuable information which covers every radio produced by the company, along with a rarity and price guide.