Tung-Sol

Tung-Sol was an American manufacturer of electronics, mainly lamps and vacuum tubes.

History

Tung-Sol was founded as Tung-Sol Lamp Works Inc. in Newark, New Jersey in 1907. Their early products were mainly geared towards the automotive market and included headlamps, pilot lights, and flashlight bulbs.

The company entered the electronics field in the 1920s. In time they established themselves as leaders in the development and production of vacuum tubes, with their main competition including RCA and Sylvania. By 1951, they began doing business as Tung-Sol Electric Inc. Soon after, they were acquired by Wagner Electric, which itself merged into Studebaker-Worthington in 1967. Tung-Sol was also active in the semiconductor industry, with its transistors being easily recognizable by their sky blue color.

Tung-Sol was privately held and run like a laboratory. This gave Tung-Sol vacuum tubes a reputation of having some of the best metallurgy and chemistry that has ever been pulled off in actual production. The Tung-Sol brand name is now owned by the New Sensor Corporation, the same company that owns the brands Sovtek and Electro-Harmonix.