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A classic of
Art Deco industrial design, FADA radios were the creation of
Frank A. D'Andrea (born 1888, Bronx, New
York) who began the company
in 1920 in Long Island City, New York. Originally known by the
makers name as the F. A. D'Andrea Co. and then the initials of the
founder, FADA at first made only a variety of radio components
such as coils, condensers, etc. which were in great demand as
the radio boom of the twenties began. |
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Fada logo |
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Moving beyond
component manufacturing, FADA began assembling complete radios
in 1923 to designs done by Mr. D'Andrea, later utilizing modern
plastics such as bakelite and catalin in a streamlined, Art Deco
design. FADA designs were extremely popular as an attractive Art
Deco everyday object affordable by the masses. Frank D'Andrea
was more of an inventor than a businessman, and he experienced a
great deal of labour strife with both his employees, totalling
about 500 of the 600 workers at the peak in 1926, and his fellow
executives. In 1927, his chief engineer,
Lewis Clement, left for a better offer with another company.
FADA was sold to a group of Boston
investors in 1932, and when demand and production continued to
stagnate, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1934
following the difficult years after the Great Depression. Frank
D'Andrea left the company and founded the Andrea Radio
Corporation which manufactured inexpensive radios both under its
own name and private labelling radios for others. A group of New
York investors brought FADA out of bankruptcy and operated it
until the 1940s, suspending production during World War II in
order to make electronic components for the U.S. military. After
the war, they continued to produce the original designs in the
modern plastics and the distinctive metal decoration before
permanently suspending operations in the 1950s. FADA radios were
of moderate quality and price but carried the distinctive design
in the use of industrial plastics in the Art Deco style - the
reason they are so highly collected today. FADA radios appeal to
collectors of Art Deco, plastic, radios, and industrial design
enthusiasts. |
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