Webcor

As mentioned back in May, our building has an interesting history. I’ve been hoarding records my whole life, and Midwest Ephemera started out as a result of my interest in jukeboxes, so imagine my delight after I signed my lease at 5610 West Bloomingdale and learned it was once a record player factory!

The Webster Company (at first known as the Webster Novelty Co.) was founded by Austrian immigrant and tool-and-die maker Rudolph F. Blash in 1914. Within several years, Webster had become a pioneer in sound for film, and was manufacturing amplifiers, intercoms, batteries, and other electronic components.

By the late 1930s, they were producing pretty much any audio-related electronics you could name; both aftermarket parts for manufacturers and hobbyists and their own branded products. The company moved around Chicago a few times, though it was never on Webster Street; it’s unclear why Blash chose the name “Webster.”

By 1939, they’d grown into a huge new building at 5622-5708 W. Bloomingdale. Around the same time, “The Webster Company” changed their name to “Webster-Chicago” to avoid confusion with similarly-named competitor “Webster Electric” in Racine, Wisconsin,

Like most American companies, Webster-Chicago focused on military contracts during World War II, manufacturing electronics for aircraft and Armour Research wire recorders for the US Navy. These machines recorded primitive lo-fi sound onto stainless steel wire. After the war, with some improvements and price cuts, Webster’s “Electronic Memory” recorders became popular with consumers.

By 1949, the company had added a new four-story building (5610 West Bloomingdale), to the east of their original building — occupying a full city block. The newer building (above, as it looks today) is now the home of Midwest Ephemera.

Magnetic tape replaced wire recorders in the early 1950s, but Webster-Chicago was ready, with a line of quality “Webcor”-branded reel-to-reel tape recorders, along with many “Fonograf” portable record players and mid-century-modern-styled consoles featuring Webster-Chicago record changers.

In 1953, a widely-reported merger with Emerson Radio and Phonograph fell through at the last minute. Millionaire ex-alderman/ex-mobster Titus Haffa bought up a majority share in the company, forced out some executives, and took control of the company in early 1955. Haffa officially changed the company’s name to Webcor.

For decades, Webster-Chicago/Webcor had been a huge player in the American consumer electronics industry. Rudolph Blash’s obituary in the New York Times described the Webster Chicago Corporation as the “world’s largest manufacturer of phonographs, automatic record changers and tape recorders with sales of nearly $35,000,000 annually.” But like Zenith — their neighbors a few blocks west — they didn’t survive the competition, consolidation, and innovation of the late 20th century. Despite a strong decade, Blash’s death in 1956 and Haffa’s shenanigans (including another failed Emerson deal in 1959) forecast the beginning of the end.

By the 1960s, consumers wanted higher fidelity and lower prices, and Japan and Europe were happy to oblige. Webcor moved out of their Bloomingdale headquarters in 1965. They filed for bankruptcy in 1967, then changed hands. The Webcor name had pretty much disappeared by 1969, aside from some cheap imported equipment.

If anyone today recognizes the “Webster-Chicago” name, it’s probably a record collector who’s come across their famously hard-to-remove metal spindle adaptors for 45rpm records (we have one on display in the shop!) But Webcor products were well-made—and very nicely-designed. We’ve been scouring eBay for an affordable, working Webcor record player for the shop, but haven’t found the right one yet.

It’s fair to say our building has certainly “seen better days,” but it’s exciting to imagine Webcor at its peak while we walk around the building as it is now. We’d sure appreciate any more information on Webcor’s time here at 5610 West Bloomingdale… and we’d especially love to know what was going on in the northeast corner of the third floor back in the 1950s!

More info (and sources):
Made in Chicago Museum
1939 Webster Catalog
Notes on Webcor Products