Eight Decades of Products and Innovations

Edited by David Dritsas

1920s

The roaring twenties roared through the radio, as the technological developments in radio waves and electrical engineering of the late 19th and early 20th centuries came to fruition for the mass market. As the stock market soared, so did the number of radio stations broadcasting commercial programs. Crosley was the first to introduce a crystal radio set, which became the standard until companies such as RCA, Westinghouse and Zenith quickly followed with models of their own. As radio made its debut, appliances also found their way into homes. General Electric (GE) introduced some of the first electrical stoves, while Frigidaire developed freon-based refrigerators, as well as one of the decade's greatest advances, residential air conditioning. Meanwhile, technology that would eventually inspire television was already brewing in the labs.