Powel Crosley

Powel Crosley was a pioneering inventor and Midwest businessman who founded the company named after him. Crosley Radio became a major radio broadcasting company and mass-manufacturer of contemporary radios. As the story goes, in 1920 Powel Crosley promised to give his son a radio receiver for his birthday but was displeased with the very high price of the radios then available. Characteristically, he decided to make his own and proceeded to build one for a fraction of the cost. Ever the entrepreneur, Crosley saw a marketing opportunity in front of him and went into business manufacturing and selling the now famous Crosley Radios.

Crosley later established the Cincinnati radio station WLW, a major-media radio station with a 500,000 watt tower whose broadcasts were sometimes heard as far away as Australia. The historic station broadcast FDR's Fireside Chats and hosted famous stars including Rosemary Clooney, Red Skelton, and Jack Benny- Crosley's WLW radio station was a major player in the heyday of radio entertainment. Crosley's other businesses and cutting-edge inventions included a production small-size automobile, a refrigerator with move-able shelves, an airplane, the first car radio, a chemical-powered icebox, an anti-baldness treatment, a wireless facsimile machine and a bed cooling system.

Second only to his fame in the world of radio, Crosley is nearly as well known for acquiring the Cincinnati Redskins baseball team and in 1930 building the Crosley Field baseball stadium to house the team. Ever the innovator, Crosley is credited with producing the first electrically-lit night time baseball game, literally transforming the nature of the game of baseball, making more games available to the working people that could not get off work in time to see day-games during short daylight seasons. Naturally, in later years Crosley was the first to broadcast live baseball games on his WLW-TV station.
Presently, the Crosley Radio company produces detailed replicas of original vintage radios and turntables that feature modern technology, including AM/FM radios, turntables and record changers, multi-functional Audio cassette and CD players. Crosley also manufactures jukeboxes, vintage replica telephones and a full range of products that are styled after old favorites and vintage classics.

Presently, the Crosley Radio company produces detailed replicas of original vintage radios and turntables that feature modern technology, including AM/FM radios, turntables and record changers, multi-functional Audio cassette and CD players. Crosley also manufactures jukeboxes, vintage replica telephones and a full range of products that are styled after old favorites and vintage classics.