Packard Bell Corporation

Packard Bell Corporation

Company type	Public (from 1955)
Industry	Electronics manufacturing
Founded	1933
Founder	Herb Bell, Leon Packard
Defunct	1968
Fate	Acquired by Teledyne Technologies
Headquarters	Los Angeles , United States
Products	Radios, televisions, defense electronics, computers
Parent	Teledyne Technologies (from 1968)

Packard Bell Corporation—also referred to as Packard Bell Electronics or simply Packard Bell—was an American company specializing in electronics manufacturing, established in 1933 by Herb Bell and Leon Packard. The business initially focused on radio production before expanding into defense electronics during World War II, subsequently venturing into consumer electronics such as television sets. In 1957, the firm entered the field of scientific and military computer development. The industrial conglomerate Teledyne Technologies acquired Packard Bell in 1968. Later, in 1986, Israeli investors obtained the rights to the Packard Bell name for a new enterprise producing personal computers.

History

Herb Bell's involvement in radio electronics began in 1926, when he collaborated with engineer Neff. After their partnership ended, Bell teamed up with Edward Jackson in 1928 to create the Jackson Bell Radio Company. Due to Jackson’s concerns about financial risks, he departed, leaving the company vulnerable during the Great Depression, especially after RCA introduced the superheterodyne radio in 1931. Following liquidation, Bell joined forces with Leon Packard, whose uncle provided funding, leading to the formation of Packard Bell.

The company's inaugural radio model, the 35A—based on earlier Jackson Bell designs—was released in 1934. Herb Bell secured a license from RCA to manufacture superheterodyne radios. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Packard Bell rapidly became a prominent regional producer of consumer electronics alongside competitors like Hoffman Radio. In 1935, Leon Packard sold his stake to Herb Bell and exited the company.

Packard Bell operated as a family enterprise, with Herb and his brothers Arthur, Albert, Elmer, and Willard contributing across design, production, and marketing functions. The business was formally incorporated as Packard Bell Corporation in 1946.

Throughout World War II and into the 1960s, Packard Bell capitalized on defense electronics contracts, manufacturing components such as identification friend or foe (IFF) transponders—including the AN/APX-92 model used by military aircraft. The company went public in 1955 and adopted the name Packard-Bell Electronics Corp. in 1956. It launched a computer division in 1957, which was subsequently acquired by Raytheon in 1964.

In 1968, Teledyne purchased Packard Bell to broaden its consumer electronics offerings. Shareholders exchanged their Packard Bell common stock for Teledyne shares at a rate of one Teledyne share per seven and a half Packard Bell shares. The brand continued under the name "Teledyne Packard Bell." By 1974, due to industry consolidation and outsourcing trends, the company ceased television manufacturing operations.

While little is known about Leon Packard’s contributions, the company’s expansion chiefly resulted from Herb Bell and his brothers’ efforts. Born Herbert Anthony Zwiebel in 1890, he adopted the surname Bell to present a more Americanized identity. An enthusiastic yachtsman, Herb donated his 98-foot yacht to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His vessels were moored at Newport Harbor and frequently sailed to Catalina Island; one yacht was named "Five Bells" in honor of himself and his siblings.

Radios

Packard Bell radios were notable for their unique "stationized" tuning dials that displayed call letters of major radio stations across the US West Coast and Canada. Between 1926 and 1950, marketing efforts targeted states including Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, reflecting both their West Coast base and primary market focus. These dials also featured stations such as KSL 1160 in Salt Lake City and KOA 850 in Denver. This distinctive dial design was inspired by founder Herb Bell’s mother’s difficulty reading traditional dials and aimed at improving user convenience. Post-1950, as Packard Bell expanded its reach across North America into broader radio and television sales, it discontinued stationized dials.

A notable cultural reference includes a Packard Bell eight-transistor AR-851 radio prominently featured as a prop on the popular 1960s television series Gilligan's Island, highlighting the brand’s prominence during that period.

Other business

In 1957, under the direction of Max Palevsky, Packard Bell Electronics established the Packard Bell Computer Corporation, dedicating efforts to providing specialized computing systems tailored for industrial process control, military applications, and scientific research. A key innovation included a digital computer mounted on trucks designed specifically for seismic data processing in oil exploration, illustrating a deliberate expansion of their product range.

The introduction of the PB 250 in 1960 stood out due to its use of magnetostrictive delay lines for memory storage and its design influences drawn from Alan Turing’s NPL ACE computer. Alongside this, they developed the Transistorized Realtime Incremental Computer Expandable (TRICE), a digital differential analyzer capable of interfacing with the PB 250 to create a combined computing platform. The Hycomp 250 further exemplified their pioneering approach by integrating the PB 250 with analog computing systems such as the EAI TR10 or TR48, highlighting advancements in hybrid computing technologies.

In 1964, Raytheon acquired Packard Bell’s computer division, representing a major corporate acquisition that incorporated their specialized computing operations into a broader defense electronics organization.

Notes and references

This article was split from the article Packard Bell.