Kolster-Brandes Ltd was an American owned, British manufacturer of radio and television sets based in
Foots Cray
Foots Cray is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was in the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Sidcup.
History
It took its name from Godwin Fot, a ...
,
Sidcup
Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. Before ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
.
History
The company was a descendant of ''Brandes'', a Canadian company founded in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
in 1908. Brandes became part of
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
in 1922 and a British subsidiary ''Brandes Ltd.'' was established in
Slough
Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...
, in 1924, to manufacture headphones.
[The Setmakers by Keith Geddes and Gordon Bussey ()] The company rapidly expanded producing a range of loud speakers and in 1928 moved to a former silk mill at
Foots Cray
Foots Cray is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was in the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Sidcup.
History
It took its name from Godwin Fot, a ...
. The company was renamed ''Kolster-Brandes Ltd.'' after the American parent company merged with the
Kolster Radio Corporation. In 1930 the company supplied 40,000 of its ''Masterpiece'' two-valve, bakelite cabinet radios to the Godfrey Phillips tobacco company, who gave them away to customers in exchange for cigarette coupons.
[ K-B also began a long association with ]Cunard
Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermu ...
after they won a contract to provide communications equipment for the RMS Queen Mary
RMS ''Queen Mary'' is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. ''Queen Mary'', along with , ...
ocean liner. In 1938 K-B became part of ITT's British subsidiary STC.[ The Foots Cray site was also shared by Brimar, another STC company founded in 1933 to manufacture American pattern ]valves
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
for the British market.
In 1960/61 STC took over Ace, Argosy, Regentone and RGD, and then in 1968 the KB logo name changed to ITT KB, and between 1973 and 1974 the KB was dropped from the logo and sets were only made under the ITT label.
Products
Kolster-Brandes later went on to make mid-range electronics such as radios
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...
, radiograms, televisions
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...
, tape recorders, amplifiers
An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost the v ...
and gramophones.
KB made a large number of radios and radiograms, a few models of which were the 285, 422 Cavalcade, 666 and the CG20.
The company also made a popular selection of record players which include the Playtime, Gaytime, Dancetime, Tunetime and Rhythm, the last two of which are valve operated.
References
{{Authority control
Electronics companies of the United Kingdom
Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom
Radio manufacturers