Sylvania Electric Products
1901 Frank Poor became a partner in a small company in Middleton, MA, that renewed burned-out light bulbs. The company would buy an old bulb for a few cents, cut off the glass tip, replace the filament, and reseal the bulb.
Poor soon moved the business to Danvers, bought out his partner, and called his new company Bay State Lamp Company. His brothers soon joined him in the enterprise.
1909 The Poor brothers started the Hygrade Incandescent Lamp Company to sell new carbon-filament light bulbs
By 1911 they were also selling new tungsten filament light bulbs. The Bay State refilling operation was soon discontinued.
1916 Hygrade opened a new plant and headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts, which could turn out 16,000 lamps a day.
1922 A different company, the Novelty Incandescent Lamp Company, was purchased by a Bernard Erskine and two associates, who founded the Nilco Lamp Works
1924 Nilco formed the Sylvania Products Company to make receiving valves for radios.
1931 Hygrade, Nilco and Sylvania merged to form the Hygrade Sylvania Corporation. The company sold lamps under the Hygrade name, and radio tubes under the Sylvania name.
1938 Hygrade Sylvania marketed its first fluorescent lamp.
1942 the company changed its name to Sylvania Electric Products, Inc.
The 1940s and 1950s witnessed enormous growth, as new plants were opened. The company increased its production of materials and components, phosphors and metals. Sylvania also expanded into consumer electronics, television tubes and radios.
1956 Opening of Sylvania-Thorn Colour TV Laboratories[1]
1959 Sylvania merged with General Telephone Corporation. The new company became known as General Telephone and Electronics and, later, GTE.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, 1 October 1956
- [1] History