The Rise and Fall of the Zenith Radio Corporation, Chicago IL.

[JamesofOklahoma]

Very moving.. I collect antique radios and have many Zenith radios. The oldest from 1924, the newest from 1951. We had a Zenith color TV (bought 1970) whe I was growing up. Zenith quality was always great. I remember the "Quality goes in before the name goes on" ads on TV back then. How sad it is to see this factory in ruins, like so many others like it.

[mercedes560sel]

I was born in 1963 . . I have seen so many changes in my 48 years. I wish that our country was what I remembered growing up. I remember many RCA and Zenith products in our home growing up. In fact everything we had from appliances to cars was made in the USA. I don't remember any foreign made products at all in fact before the 1980's. I was layed off my job in July 2009 and as of Feb 2012 still have not found good work. I never thought I would see days like this in the once mighty USA.

[oldbob1951]

Very nice tribute to a great company. Not only have the US consumer electronics manufacturers left the scene; but the network of people that were employed as a result have almost vanished as well. I am referring to parts distributors and the independent sales and service dealers. There are some left, but most are gone now. Zenith itself made mistakes when they broke away from "handcrafted" chassis designs and put out some poor quality products which destroyed it's reputation.

[llanamejia]

You made me cry but not for the Zenith Corporation but for the United States of America (and I am not an American)

[whiskeyify]

I wonder what's happened to America? This video reminds me of working for Ma Bell (AT&T) back in the old days, I hired on in 1973. We had excellent training and everyone took pride in their work.

[wb5oxq]

So sad to see things like this. Zenith made some of the best radios ever built in the 30s -60s then you would see imports with their name on them and now nothing. Too bad.

[indystang]

My Zenith b/w portable 13" I got for my 13th birthday (in 69) was still working 20 years later when I sold it in a garage sale. Wish I had that good little TV back.

[AgentPepsi1]

Another wonderful American company destroyed by Obama's beloved Union thugs!

[wb5oxq]

So sad! My parents and I owned many a good Zenith product back then. My last Zenith is a 1977 Console stereo with color tv. Rea lsolid pecan wood cabinet. Stereo still works beautifully, TV has no color any more. Anyone ever watch the show Tucker, a man and his dream? If not you should.

[rEdf196]

As a teenager in the 70s and 80s I and many people of my generation considered American electronic products as second rate compared to Japanese products that were more affordable and better quality. kinda like comparing Toyota/Datsun cars to the Chevy chevette or Vega Even back then the writing was already on the wall.

[force311999]

you should have grabbed the speaker that was over the doors @ 2:36 looks like it was made from a radio cab. like one I got at a estate sale

[force311999]

@force311999 I posted a video of a philco radio I found and the zenith that matches the speaker box over the doors but mis referenced to banderson in the vid - sorry

did you go in the blg. or just have pictures of it ????

I would buy the speaker if you can go steel it, it will be destroyed anyway

[tubewinkle]

No, we weren't sold out.

We grew up in a time when the whole world bought from the US. The war left much of the world in ruins, while America was largely untouched (and even benefited from wartime industrial expansion). The result: Everything was made in the US. Things couldn't be made anywhere else.

Skip forward 6 decades. The rest of the world recovered. China entered the 21st century in much the same way that America entered the 20th. They're not doing anything we didn't used to do.

[dave4708]

This is the effect of free trade.Our government sold us out and we let them do it.

[bradhig]

sad that people being thrifty killed Zenith. Sadly we never had one that I could remember. 

[blabblab1212]

It was the American consumer who killed Zenith and its competitors. Americans wanted cheaper goods and were willing to settle for lesser quality to save a buck. Nothing better than getting a DVD player for $29.95 even if it only lasts 10 months. Americans wanted stuff RIGHT NOW and didn't have the maturity to save for something of quality like a Zenith. Look where we are now! In a financial shithole. Buckle your seatbelts America, the ride is about to get bumpy.

[minutegongcoughs]

I have a 1963 Zenith Radios & Phonographs sales catalogue that has some incredible illustrations inside all in glorious colour. It has section dividers for radios, the record player, and the record playing cabinets. An absolute corker of a sales catalogue. There's a UK price supplement snuck in the rear.

[Killzor420]

@minutegongcoughs I have a Zenith Tran-oceanic Tube-type radio Model G500. Prolly one of the only ones left. Imt ryin to get it to work. I wish they still did repairs

[paulj0557]

As a repairman I am very aware of the level of pride that shows through when examining a product. The three manufactures I have always recommended to my family and customers has been Hoover, Whirlpool, and Zenith. Now I have to suggest a different group because these three have restructured and or sold out to inferior Chinese manufacturing facilities. In the Case of Hoover they sold to Maytag, but then they sold them to Dirt Devil. Now I recommend Panasonic, Toshiba.

[storrs19]

Hand assembled in the USA with real live people actually checking the quality and construction of the finished product. Now everything is stamped out in China with virtually no QC and it is disposable. What a shame. Thanks much for sharing with us.

[randoloph1]

@storrs19 Think of all the jobs people could have if if we didnt ship work to other countries...Greed..Greed... Greed.. thats all it is...needs to be stopped!!! Alot of people would be happy just to have a job even if it was just minimum wage....Build it in North America..We don't need to send our work elsewhere...This is why our country is going to hell in a handbasket ...Greed...Thats all it is

[kelboswell]

Thank you WAL-MART! They stopped selling Zenith because Zenith refused to sell their sets to them for what they were paying for those 4-yr Emerson sets made in Taiwan.

[ShitFromShinolla]

Yup, it's a real shame. Soon this will be the fate of all American industry except that which is deemed worthy to survive by the new mammoth US government. They'll receive bail-outs and then will be owned & controlled by the government. I mourn the death of the late great USA. We're all socialists now.

[Shanawolfo1]

Fantastic photography. Thank you. What a poignant message.

My grandfather, aunt and step father all worked at the old CBS record pressing plant in Santa Maria Calif. at one time or another. My grandfather retired from them shortly before the closure.

The plant was gutted and turned into a Costco in the 80's.. true signs of the times.

Where we are today shows we have learned nothing form the debacle that was the 70's.

[nckeller]

How do you compete with overseas competitors who don't have to pay workman's comp, social security or medicare nor comply with safety or environmental laws. What if our government supported business and said China you can sell here IF you would abide by simple environmental protections and human rights, that may have given our manufacturing a fighting chance. Elections have consequences and perhaps we now are starting to realize the true cost of cheap products.

[HD7100]

Beautifully done and blended with the right contrasts in music. This is the same thing that happened to the Hammond Organ (clock) Company. I had factory training at the Hammond plant in the late 60s right after I was discharged from the army. It's all gone now. The Hammonds of today are made in Japan by Susuki. In the 60s you could be an unemployed person in the morning, go out looking and applying for work and be employed that afternoon. Today? Where is the pride? Gary

[Zenithguy1]

I am researching the Zenith Radio Corporation. It is a shame to see what happened to the old plants, such as 6001 Dickens Avenue. I went there in 1996 through the Royal Pars distributor and saw where I believe Commander McDonald's office was. It still had the walnut keystoned-framed doors. Royal Pars' owner would not let me take any photos inside the building, which is the northeast corner. Some of the signs in this building appear to be as they were in the 1950s.

Martin Blankinship

[maplewoodsp]

Indianapolis is home to closed RCA plants where my mother once worked on the assembly line. She carried her important tools in her purse (needle-nose pliers and side-cutters) although that was a company policy violation. The RCA buildings are derelict shells now. There used to be a TV repair shop on every corner, and most purchased Sams Photofact for service info. I worked for Sams at one time, but it is mostly gone.

[dmine45]

This is so sad. I always liked Zenith TVs. My parents owned one from about 1990 to 2003 (before that they had a Sylvania that lasted a long time too). How did you get inside the old factory? All this outsourcing has got to stop. Americans need to start making their own stuff again, depend less on China. Such a shame.

[windsors03cobra]

Who said they ONLY use vintage appliances ?

[19Spencer80]

Damn fine job.

[Vinylrecordsneverdie]

Very nice tribute!

Thanks to greedy retailers, all factories turned into warehouse that store Chinese Junk!

[JerryMopar]

Greedy retailers??? I dunno, the Consumer is the one who decides whether to buy a product or not. It is due to the Greedy modern Union Worker and his Huge Wage that is making American products uncompetitive. Not to mention the Union worker's non-existant drive to be a good employee, because his Huge Wage is guranteed whether he actually does a good job at his work, or NOT.

[Hamilton940]

@JerryMopar What would the U.S. manufacturers have paid without unions? Plenty more than the Chinese or Mexican manufacturing plants. Even if the unions didn't exist, The jobs would have went where slave like labor is commonplace.

One more thing to think about. Ontario Canada built more cars last year than Michigan. How is that possible? The workers have the same standard of living. The move to Canada is due to gov't run healthcare and the savings it provides to businesses.

[eskiewolf76]

Now I'm appreciating my old Zeniths even more! I might even do a show and tell!

Thanks for sharing.

[windsors03cobra]

Thanks for producing this.Great music and pictures. I think I might go check out this spot next Friday, it appears to still be standing according to google maps.

I hear Vizio advertisements saying that Vizio is made in America in CA. I'm guessing from "quality" chinesse parts ?

Thanks for all the videos.

[GONZARoller]

RCA Victor & Zenith were both very trusted names in television & radio.

Some good manufacturers that exist today are:

Sony. (but my PS3 overheated & fried)

Toshiba.

LG.

Sharp.

Vizio.

HP (Hewlett Packard)

And RCA still makes pretty good products in my opinion.

The only problems is that a lot of other manufacturers in the US & Canada are resorting to Chinese sweatshops for assembly of Products. And of course the Chinese sweatshops don't always have concern for "quality control".

[drh4683]

There really is no domestic electronics manufacturers of TV/radio equipment, unless you are considering computers. The only consumer make thats left that comes to mind is Motorola. RCA and Zenith are just names owned by foreign entities, the companies that were once strong and great are long dead and gone now.

[mukatuna]

FYI Motorola is still a large American corporation. Although they probably don't do any actual manufacturing in the USA at all. Mostly in China like everyone else.

RCA is a brand name of the Chinese corporation TCL, for products sold in the USA.

What's left of Zenith is now LG.

US corporations with defence contract are still going strong though. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon and General Electric, to name a few.

[Watcher3223]

@drh4683

"There really is no domestic electronics manufacturers of TV/radio equipment, unless you are considering computers"

And even then, the same problem exists. Companies like Apple, Dell, HP, and so on usually have their products made by an overseas contractor; it's the design and engineering and possibly some of the component parts may be produced locally.

Motorola even outsources.

[mukatuna]

Oh well. Most those manufacturers you listed are Japanese or Korean. HP makes most of it's product in China, along with the other names you mentioned.

Good ol' RCA is now just a brand name of TCL Corporation from Guangdong, China. So those RCA TVs are also made in Chinese sweatshops, along with just about most other consumer electronics.

Zenith the subject of the video. What's left of it is just a subsidiary of LG. So if it says Zenith on the front, it's actually an LG. Made in China probably

[Watcher3223]

@mukatuna

"Good ol' RCA is now just a brand name of TCL Corporation from Guangdong, China."

Actually, RCA is a brand owned by Thomson, which is based in France.

But, this does not mean that the RCA brand wasn't used to grace products made by TCL under an OEM basis.

Zenith to LG is very much like Quasar was to Panasonic.

[force311999]

@Watcher3223 Quasar was Motorola

[Watcher3223]

@force311999

I am aware that Quasar was originally a subsidiary to Motorola. However my comparison is valid.

Zenith was its own company that was 100% American until financial troubles caused it to be acquired by a foreign corporation. The name is well-recognized as an American brand, but is effectively South Korean.

Quasar was also a fully American brand, but Motorola sold Quasar to Matsushita Electric, making Quasar an American brand by name only, wholly owned by a Japanese corporation.

[Watcher3223]

@force311999

Actually, Eagle was Chrysler's renaming of AMC after they bought them out.

[force311999]

@Watcher3223 AMC had a car called eagle back in the 70s

Plymouth had a car called Lancer Mitsubishi now has the lancer LOL

my sister had a lancer in the 80s

my dad had a eagle in the 70s

and a matador

[Watcher3223]

@force311999

Now the conversation has digressed.

Good bye.

[force311999]

@Watcher3223 thanks for the thread and and for the good time wish you the best.

[force311999]

@GONZARoller RCA don't make anything anymore RCA was bought by Thomson and Thomson was killed by wal-mart.

you can see that in the wal-mart Good for America movie part 5

[rhblakeman]

@GONZARoller HP is junk since the merger with Compaq. RCA has been owned by Thompson for a long time now and really crap. Vizio and Polaroid are Chinese garbage, I've had my share of doing contract repair on them. I doubt there is one TV or radio not made in China (who is still a communist country but we buy their cheap crap like little lemmings). My aunt worked in Bldg 5 for a number of years in the early 60s, pride in product quality was real then.

[me748]

its sickening to think that good old america is all gone to damn CHINA!!. yes imports should be outlawed or taxed out of existence. thats why i buy vintage appliances and electronics, quality goes in before the name goes on. USA

[mukatuna]

'i buy vintage appliances and electronics'..Mind me asking how you manage for a computer to watch YouTube with? If you only buy vintage made in USA electronics.

Most computers are made in the far east, mainly China, and have been so for a long time now.

[me748]

well sometimes you have to surrender to modern foreign made stuff. computers are some of the few things foreign countries make that actually last more than a year. they know how to build computers, thats about all they build with quality.

[mukatuna]

I can see where you're coming from.

I take the same attitude with clothing, and try and buy vintage quality garments when I can. Looks and lasts so much better, and is NOT made in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia or whatever.

[JerryMopar]

the real problem is the greediness of the modern Union worker in regards to wages, how in the heck can we expect to make a inexpensive product if we are paying a Union worker $25/hr? All that, and the minimum wage law, does is further inflate our currency.

[BarronVonHopper]

@JerryMopar It doesnt make a diff if your makin union money or minimum wage shit they left mexico high and dry because they can do it even cheaper in mallasia,its the corperations they have fucked themselves with there greed

[me748]

Damn Right! , everyones too greedy nowadays.

[TheOldCrankyWorkshop]

Does anyone else think that imports should be outlawed?

Seems like everyone says that sort of thing, but no-one ever acts on it.

I've never bought anything foreign-made in my life (not new, anyway.) It goes without saying that everything electronic came from either Goodwill or the landfill.

[OlegKostoglatov]

The trouble with outlawing imports is that other countries will outlaw your country's exports from being imported in retaliation, then no one wins. There are two answers, and neither is simple. A company has to be able to produce a good product at a competitive price, lack of engineering talent and manufacturing overhead, taxes, etc. get in the way of this. The consumer has to want and to have a reason to buy that product, patriotism isn't good enough.

[tramplemegood]

LG swalled up what was left of Zenith

[MaxxBigg]

Excellent video, Doug. Your music choices really tell the story, too. Is that piano piece by Satie? Very poignant.

[123demaio]

Zenith self distructed under the systems 3 line. that set cost them so much to service .

[68lincoln]

Great tribute video to Zenith and the good old days of American manufacturing. Looks like the factory is going to be demolished (?) as I noticed a baited sign posted on the wall in this video. That's a damn shame. Zenith made high quality products for many years, especially 1950s to 1970s.

On a lighter note and as a Zenith collector, I recently bought a near perfect Zenith clock radio model S-62675 with the 5L02 chassis. Both the clock and the radio work well. I think it's from 1962, not sure.

[1rossman2000]

Great Vid,Factorys are a thing of the past,If you haven't noticed even our food is starting to come from China.Whats in the future.?Will the politicians and bankers save us.Think not.I believe good old Americans will.With Gods help.

[locohog91]

they sure did make some good product, we have had many good oen sform them

[oiromaha]

This made me cry! Once a great company making quality products, now it's all gone.

[lawnking168]

wow what a vid!! i have several zenith radios and my 1990 zenith floor model tv that works just great!! i have some of the trans-oceanics that was in the vid as well. why can't usa bring back the work ethic ??? it is so sad that a great corp. like zenith went under. i had a uncle who worked for hallicrafters radio inthe late 50's and he told me of the careing of the company for their workers. it was a team efort cause every body relied on eachother. not like backstabbing today!! tnx 4 posting!!

[umajunkcollector]

Back when Zenith was made in the USA, minimum wage was around 1$/hour. A 25" color set was over 500$! Many folks saved up and paid CASH for their TV sets. The B&W moved to the rec room which was a bar in the basement. IF you made 25$/day, you were middle class. Our family got our first Zenith 25" color set in 67. I wonder how much Zenith factory workers were paid?

[JeffN727]

Great video, fitting music! Sad!

[Maxxarcade]

This is sad. The days of thriving and innovative manufacturing in the U.S. are gone. Once 100% of it is overseas and nobody has jobs, maybe then they will realize that bringing back jobs also brings back the rest of the economy.

[papadishes67]

Good job Douglas!!! I tend to keep returning to your TV repair videos. Myself have had a Zenith console from 1973. Funny story, one night at 3:30AM back in 1988. The old Zenith TV'picture tube imploded and sounded like a bomb went off. I never could get an explaination on why this happened. Maybe you might have an idea???? Dave from Massachusetts.

[pskittle488]

Very touching tribute to an era long gone and all but forgotten. Thank you.

[tb40ford]

A job well done,  Sir.

This video shows a prime example why the USA is in the shape it is today.

This is sad but very true.

Many thanks to you for posting this video.

Travis

[JerryMopar]

It dosn't show the "why", but it shows the Result.

[jefferyb304]

5 stars.

[GHWTVideos]

my grandmother had through her life (R.I.P) 3 Zenith TVs all floor models. 2 were 21 inches and one Massive 27 inch;p i couldn't give you the model number due to the fact there all gone. But my other grandma has an RCA 1991 Floor model and a 1987 Magnavox floor model both working.

[maverick1976stallion]

This should be shown on every news channel in every city in the USA. We need to build goods, and buy the goods we build. Thanks for posting, awesome.

[MRjohnRc]

That's sad! I think a lot of places look like that today!

[TheTarrMan]

Really sad what happened to the company, and the people that worked there.

[seaninlou68]

This is what happends when people buy cheep chineese  S - - T from Wal-Mart instead of quailty . very very sad.

[danielwaxmonski]

RIP Zenith Radio Corporation

[burtoncharlessmith]

That's sad. I have one of those radios shown on the assembly line.