Airzone radios made in Australia, 1920s-50s

Airzone was founded in Sydney, Australia in 1925 by Claude Plowman and Edgar Sydney Wolfenden. They began by making crystal radios but soon moved onto developing valve radios. The company quickly grew, and after the introduction of tariff protection by the Commonwealth Government in 1930, Airzone and other radio manufacturers boosted production to make up for the declining number of imports from the United States.

Airzone relocated to Camperdown in 1931 to allow for greater production output and became known as Airzone Limited after floating on the Sydney Stock Exchange. During World War II, Airzone produced instruments for testing radar and electrical communications, assembled grenades, and made asdic equipment.

In 1946, Airzone was purchased by the Electricity Meter Manufacturing Company (EMMCO), which continued to produce radios under the Airzone name until the 1950s when transistorised sets became more common. EMAIL Limited, the parent company of EMMCO, was privatised and eventually more... taken over by Southcorp. Radio production for Airzone ended in 1955, and the company's divisions were split up and sold off. less...