Interesting Article About Barker & Williamson
Those who subscribe to Electric Radio know all about it but for those who don't.........
I've always been interested in exactly how small and obscure companies in the radio business sprang to prominence. So there is a series of articles in Electric Radio about how Barker & Williamson came to be a well known and successful manufacturer. As was the case with most companies back then, it was more happenstance than anything else.
Hallicrafters got the huge WWII contract for the BC-610 because in it's civilian form as the HT-4 it was the only 400 watt xmitter that would fit in a standard Army ambulance of the day.
So the Army wants the new BC-610 to work 2-26mc into a 15 ft whip antenna and the Army guys at Ft. Monmouth are trying to make it work via large variometers and things are getting really dicey, arcs and sparks galore with lots of tuning components going up in smoke. So the Hallicrafters people are getting their coils from B&W and call them to take a little trip to Ft. Monmouth and see what they can do to help.
Barrie Barker and Jack Williamson breadboarded up a new tuner and it works like a charm becoming the oft seen at 'fests BC-939 and later the TN-339 used with the T-368 xmitter, of which B&W built a bunch also. One problem arose with the tuner in high humidity and would blister the phenolic coil forms.
So now B&W decides the coil forms and end plates in the tuner design must be made of ceramics, and this is where the story becomes personal to me. B&W was pleased with some other ceramic parts that a small shop in Chattanooga, TN named American Lava Corp. (later to be acquired by 3M) had done for them, so they got the nod to do the parts for B&W and expanded their operation quickly. American Lava became a large manufacturer of ceramic parts for electronics and even my father and one uncle worked for them. My father only a short time but my uncle spent his whole career there.
Hallicrafters gets a huge contract because the HT-4 is the only xmitter short enough to fit in an Army ambulance, B&W becomes successful via it's relationship with Hallicrafters, American Lava becomes successful via it's relationship with B&W and even my family profits from American Lava.
All happening by nothing more than pure chance.
