Sylvania

Sylvania as was many of the early manufacturing industries, born and financed by the end of the lumbering era. The first building used by the company was owned and used by the C. B. Howard Lumber Company. It started out as a Novelty Incandescent Lamp Company (Nilco). Lumbermen C. B. Howard, Henry Auchu, and Robert Kaye purchased the St. Marys Company and moved it to Emporium. , By the early 1920's, radios were the latest rage and there was a huge demand for radio tubes. The technique for manufacturing tubes was very similar to making light bulbs, so a company separate from Nilco was formed; it was called Sylvania. The first case of tubes was shipped on Thanksgiving Day in 1924. By the early 1930's, quality Sylvania radio tubes were being sold world wide., The company grew during world war two. The war created a demand for radio tubes which were used in applications from walkie- talkies to radar units and with it a demand for laborers. Since most men were in the military, women from neighboring towns and states flocked to Emporium to take advantage of the well-paying jobs. Briefly during the 1940's women outnumbered Men 8-1; leading to one national magazine declaring Emporium, "Girl's Town"., After world war two technology advanced in television tubes and became the mainstay of production. In 1950 Sylvania began to manufacture televisions and by the early 1960s had made advances with the color TV Sylvania would dominate the local workforce until closing in the 1980's