MARCHI

Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company was an American electrical company whose research and production placed it in the early history of radio valves. Its industrial collaboration with RCA took shape in 1921. For tubes of that period, Westinghouse denotes an actual manufacturer: RCA sold valves made by production partners under its Radiotron brand. An RCA package and a Westinghouse factory can therefore feature in the history of the same tube type without being the same entity.

The earliest documented deliveries make this relationship clear. RCA received WD-11 tubes from Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing in January 1922 and WR-21 tubes the following February. In April 1922 it also received UV-201 tubes from Westinghouse Lamp Company. The latter was an associated company, not another name for the plant that had supplied the WD-11: UV-201 versions made at different Westinghouse plants were not necessarily identical in appearance or characteristics. Such details matter when identifying an early example beyond the type printed on its glass.

The WD-11 remains associated with early Westinghouse receivers and their particular design requirements. The WR-21 and UV-201 show how growing demand for radio valves called for production spread across several plants and companies. Westinghouse also made panel and dial lamps for radio sets, a related activity but technically different from manufacturing thermionic valves. Archive records must therefore distinguish the physical manufacturer, the commercial brand, and the type of component.

The Westinghouse name also occurs in Canada and among European companies, including businesses involved in railway brakes and signals. Those names do not automatically make the companies sites of the American valve maker. This page concerns the United States Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing and its contribution to radio tubes; Canadian Westinghouse and other namesakes require separate identification and timelines.