EDISON THOMAS A Brief Autograph Letter Signed E to his son C

Sale 2584 - Lot 21

Price Realized: $ 1,125

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

THE END OF THE EDISON RADIO: "GET OUT OF THE RADIO BUSINESS" EDISON, THOMAS A. Brief Autograph Letter Signed, "E," to his son Charles, in pencil, recommending that he liquidate the radio business. 1/2 page, 8vo, ruled paper; slight even toning, vertical fold. Np, 17 October 1930

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"OK. get out of the Radio business by making no more and liquidate without sacrificing too much. Let me see your plan of doing it."
In 1926, Edison believed radio was a commercial failure. Despite this, Thomas A. Edison, Inc. continued to produce radio-phonographs and, in 1929, radio became successful enough that the company discontinued production of phonograph records and converted their Radio-Phonograph Division into the Radio Division. The arrival of the Great Depression, however, brought an end to the success of the Edison radio. In his letter of October 16, 1930, Edison's son, Charles, president of Thomas A. Edison, Inc, wrote a letter to his father: ". . . [T]he business depression has deepened and the odds against us have multiplied. For a long time we have been preparing for the funeral that appears inevitable. . . . Say the word and we will do the best we can to give a decent funeral to the remains.
"Radio is the last of our products to carry the name Edison into the home. Altho we have lost a pile of money there is at last the solace of knowing that it was a good product worthy of the name . . . ."