A. Atwater Kent

Arthur Atwater Kent Sr. (December 3, 1873 – March 4, 1949) was an American inventor and prominent radio manufacturer based in Philadelphia. In 1905, he invented the Unisparker which combined ignition points, condenser, centrifugal advance mechanism, and distributor in one unit, the system used in virtually every automobile until the development of fully electronic systems in the 1970s and '80s. In 1921, Kent patented the modern form of the automobile ignition coil. An advertisement for Atwater Kent ignition systems for tractors, in Tractor and Gas Engine Review, December 1918.

In 1921, Kent produced his first radio components, selling the do-it-yourself kits consisting of "breadboards" that could be assembled by early radio enthusiasts. The same year, he introduced the Model 5, primarily as a promotional tool. In 1923, his firm started producing complete radio sets, using a facility on Stenton Avenue, introducing the Model 10 for Christmas that year. The plant itself was an architectural sensation and received hundreds of visitors annually. By 1931, the company boasted that it had produced over three million radios.

Atwater Kent radios were of high quality and many examples of working models exist today; they are highly prized by collectors and restorers. Their wooden cabinets were made for Atwater Kent by the Red Lion and Pooley furniture companies. Some models looked more like furniture than radios, and others had multiple functions, like the radio housed inside a grandfather clock.

The onset of the Great Depression led to greatly diminished demand for Atwater Kent's expensive radio sets. The company adjusted to consumer demands by building smaller, tabletop radio sets, but Kent was not one to compromise on quality. A drop in demand was compounded by the expiration of patents on the superheterodyne circuit—which led directly to the proliferation of inexpensive All American Five radio designs. New firms could now easily enter the radio manufacturing market without the same level of capital investment Kent had put into his production process, which relied on heavy metal presses for the relatively large Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) type radio chassis the firm produced. Kent dissolved his design engineering facility in 1931, and shuttered his radio factory in 1936. A major local competitor, Philco, acquired the closed plant and built its refrigerators there.

In 1937, Kent helped to organize and pay for the restoration of the Betsy Ross House in Center City Philadelphia. In 1938, Kent helped found the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia, Philadelphia's city history museum, by purchasing the original home of the Franklin Institute on South 7th Street and donating it to the City of Philadelphia.

Personal life His daughter, Virginia Tucker Kent (April 17, 1915 – April 29, 1966) married and divorced Cummins Catherwood, and inspired Patricia Highsmith, resulting in the novel The Price of Salt.

Atwater Kent died on March 4, 1949, in Hollywood, California. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.

Legacy He was awarded the John Scott Medal of The Franklin Institute in 1914.

Kent's son-in-law, William L. Van Alen, is the founder of the United States Court Tennis Association

Kent was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's Hall of Fame in 1992.

Patents – Induction coil structure – 1921 – Induction coil – 1923 – Induction coil – 1923 – Ignition coil – 1926 – Radio apparatus – (Filed November 29, 1922; Issued August 31, 1926.)