Powel Crosley Junior, Tiny Cars, Radio et Baseball (Partie III)

We resume our coverage of the life and times of Powel Crosley Jr. in 1916. At age 30, Crosley had a spouse of six children and two young children. He had given up the car sales business in Indiana for a permanent return to his native Cincinnati.

His experiences selling cars and hype in Indiana turned the inventor into a marketing man, and Crosley’s main source of income was advertising copy. He did this between short-lived side jobs at small local car companies (all of which went bankrupt). All the while, Crosley kept an eye on the automobile market and noticed how common and numerous the automobile had become on American roads. It was almost time for a new automotive adventure.

The American sidewalk opened up to consumers in the first two decades of the 20th century. By 1916, there were nearly a million Model T Fords on the road, and the Lincoln Highway stretched across the country. Americans were suddenly getting more miles in their cars and driving farther than before. The increase in distance traveled showed a major flaw in the design of car tires of the time: their fragility. Enter a familiar tire name, Cooper.

One of Crosley’s regular advertising clients was the Cooper Tire Company. The main function of the company at the time was not the manufacture of new tires, but the retreading of used tires. Lightly worn treads were added to worn tires, and boy it seems safe. These tires could only have a limited number of tread changes before they were useless. And that meant many thousands of tires were piling up across the country.

That wasn’t the only problem with the tyres. Durability was a big issue, as a new tire usually lasted less than 1,000 miles given the road conditions. Back then, tires had two base layers: the outer compound and the inner tube. Without much insulation between the tire and tube (and given that they had often been retreaded), road imperfections and debris meant that blowouts were common. The flat tires were thrown in the heap along with the used tires.

Ira J. Cooper (1874-1941), a native of Ohio and founder of Cooper Tire, had some ideas on how to improve the tire and recycle old rubber into a usable product. His idea was a liner that would surround the inner tube with a protective layer of rubber. But he needed an inventor to work out the technical details! Turns out he already knew one and called Crosley. Crosley developed the claimed invention and called it Inside Tire.

Insyde tires promised to double the mileage of any tire and prevent flats and flats. It was a simple job to add the liner to the tire a customer already had and required no tools. The new product needed marketing and distribution, so Crosley personally set up the franchise system for the product. It was an immediate success. Crosley felt that a new company was able to properly push Insyde Tire.

With the growth in automobile use, the number of different types of cars on the road, and the generally harsh conditions in which cars were driven in the early 20th century, the market for auto parts and accessories grew. . quickly warmed up. With the Insyde tire as his flagship product, Crosley teamed up with Ira Cooper and founded the American Automobile Accessories Company in 1916.

When marketing the company’s location in Cincinnati, Ohio, it was highlighted and the company name was shortened to Americo Automobile Accessories. Naturally, Crosley served as a writer and distributor for Americo in addition to his inventorship responsibilities. The advertisements stated that Insyde Tire dealers and agents were urgently needed.

Crosley quickly expanded the company’s product portfolio, and Americo expanded to sell various other automotive accessories and parts. Crosley invented some of the parts himself, although the Insyde tire remained the best seller. Cooper was not at all interested in parts other than tires and allowed Crosley to buy him back from Americo on short notice.

Although he excelled at invention and marketing, Crosley was not the business and accounting type and needed a new partner. He brought in his younger brother Lewis to run the office side of Americo. The company grew rapidly and became one of the very first major aftermarket automotive accessory companies. Powel invented the auto parts consumers wanted and brought them to market, and Lewis made sure they were built to high standards at the best price.

One of his earliest inventions was a flag bearer that allowed Americans to show their patriotism during World War I. The flag holder was attached to a radiator cap and could display up to five flags. (Here’s a photo of one.)

Other inventions were functional rather than decorative, such as a fuel additive called Kick. He also created a tire patch that self-vulcanized and called it Treadkote. There was also a waterless car wash product. Perhaps most interesting was the “Lil Shofur,” who attached himself to the steering (somehow) and helped bring it back to center.

Crosley had his eye on what the average consumer wanted to screw, tighten, glue or add to their car. Three years in (1919), Americo had sold over a million dollars (adj. $17,125,780) worth of products. The two brothers felt the company was ready to branch out into products outside of the automotive realm, and they did just that.

It turned out to be the perfect time to develop the home sound system of the time, the phonograph. RCA had a patent on the Victrola phonograph, but it recently expired. The Victrola cost around $100 (adj. $1,712) in 1919, and totally out of reach for most consumers. Crosley knew he could boost RCA for less money and relied on his experience with radios and sound since childhood.

A year later, in 1920, American Automobile Accessories launched the Amerinola. It was similar to the Victrola but sold at half price. Commonly marketed as “talking machines”, the Amerinola was manufactured by the Amerinola Co. in Cincinnati, a division of American Automobile Accessories. His name was very similar to that Amberola from the Thomas Edison company, which was also $100 like the RCA.

With success in home audio almost instantly assured, there was another audio segment where Crosley also saw potential for growth: radio. Just as his father had, Powel Jr. taught radio to a young Powel Crosley III.

Commercial radio had just made its debut in America, with companies like Westinghouse, RCA, GE, and AT&T operating their own broadcast stations. Around the age of eight at the time, Powel III asked his father to go buy a radio at an electronics store. Crosley walked in and asked for the price, a shocking $130 ($1,925 adj.)!

Surely, if his company could build a quality phonograph at an affordable price for the average consumer, it could do the same in the radio market. Crosley purchased a booklet from the store titled The ABC of the radio, and came away with ideas for Amerinola Co.’s next new product. Crosley was about to enter the radio world and start another new company to sell the “Crosley Radio Apparatus”. See you in Part IV.

[Images: Americo, ABC, Edison Co.]

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