The Last American TV Maker And How It Died

In 1960, 27 American companies built televisions on American soil. By 1992, that number was zero — and the last one standing was Zenith, the Chicago company whose slogan promised "The Quality Goes In Before The Name Goes On." This is the autopsy of an entire American industry, told through one company. From a kitchen table in 1918 to the invention of the TV remote control, from seven Chicago plants to a twelve-year courtroom war against Japanese dumping that ended in defeat at the Supreme Court, from the Springfield, Missouri shutdown in 1992 to the 1999 bankruptcy that handed the name to South Korea's LG — Zenith's rise and fall explains why America stopped making televisions. Today, Plant Number 1 rots on Chicago's West Dickens Avenue while the Zenith name survives as a research lab working for the company that bought it. The quality went in before the name went on. In the end, the name was the only thing left. Subscribe to Smokestack Republic for more autopsies of American industry. #zenith #rustbelt #americanmanufacturing #industrialhistory #televisionhistory #chicago #madeinamerica #documentary #abandonedfactory #economichistory #smokestackrepublic #lostindustry