Western Electric Company (WECo), USA
Western Electric Company (sometimes abbreviated WE and WECo) was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It also served as the purchasing agent for the member companies of the Bell System. In 1929, Western Electric was also a big player in early cinema sound systems. It created the Western Electric Universal Base, a device by which early silent cinema projectors could be adapted to screen sound films. It also designed a wide-audio-range horn loudspeaker for cinemas. This was estimated to be nearly 50% efficient, thus allowing a cinema to be filled with sound from a 3-watt amplifier. This was an important breakthrough in 1929 because high-powered audio valves were not generally available back then. Western Electrics’ reputation for sound management was such that in 1949 President Truman requested that Western Electric manage a major defense laboratory, Sandia National Labs.
Western Electric: the short history
One figure on the original page needs a correction. It describes Western Electric's 1929 cinema horn as nearly 50% efficient; the current Wikipedia article gives about 25%, enough to fill a cinema from a 3-watt amplifier. Either way, the point stands: with powerful audio tubes not yet widely available, loudspeaker efficiency was what made sound film practical.
Other dates around the page: Western Electric opened in Chicago in 1869, became the Bell System's manufacturing arm in 1881, and supplied the Vitaphone system that brought sound to the movies in 1926. In 1995 the Western Electric name and the licence to make vacuum tubes passed to a private company in Rossville, Georgia, which revived the 300B; Wikipedia's article on the 300B says production of the original design resumed there in 2018.
The original site also filed a pair of US military tube amplifiers by Consolidated Electrodynamics under Western Electric.
| Founded | 1869, Chicago |
|---|---|
| Bell System | Manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 |
| Sound film | Vitaphone, 1926; theatre systems from 1929 |
| 300B tube | Introduced 1938 |
| Name and tube licence | Western Electric Export Corporation, Rossville, Georgia, 1995 |
Questions collectors ask
How efficient were Western Electric's cinema horns?
Wikipedia estimates about 25% for the 1929 wide-range horn, enough to fill a cinema from a 3-watt amplifier. The original page's 50% figure is higher than current sources give.
Does Western Electric still make tubes?
The Western Electric name and tube licence passed in 1995 to a private company in Rossville, Georgia, which revived the 300B.
Sources: Wikipedia: Western Electric; Wikipedia: 300B.
