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 KGH
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 Return to top of page · Post #: 1 · Written at 10:06:59 PM on 15 January 2017.
Vince Graham's Gravatar
 Location: Goulburn, NSW
 Member since 28 December 2016
 Member #: 2026
 Postcount: 9

Does anyone have any knowledge of KGH. They were the company that made H.G. Palmer television sets. Palmers also sold both valve and transistor radios, were these made by KGH? Did they also market TVs under their own or another brand name? Possibly Titan? I have a vague recollection they were based in South Australia but there is no info on the net.

Thanks.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 2 · Written at 11:42:52 PM on 15 January 2017.
GTC's avatar
 GTC
 Location: Sydney, NSW
 Member since 28 January 2011
 Member #: 823
 Postcount: 6678

K.G.H. Pty Ltd (Keith Graham Harris) of Bondi Junction, NSW supplied Titan and KGH brand radios, radiograms and television receivers.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 3 · Written at 5:34:38 PM on 16 January 2017.
Vince Graham's Gravatar
 Location: Goulburn, NSW
 Member since 28 December 2016
 Member #: 2026
 Postcount: 9

Thanks GTC, I worked on many Palmer's TVL1 & 2 sets, cheap but not bad sets.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 4 · Written at 5:42:14 PM on 16 January 2017.
Ian Robertson's Gravatar
 Location: Belrose, NSW
 Member since 31 December 2015
 Member #: 1844
 Postcount: 2363

KGH moved to West Ryde by the time they were making TVs.
I could find out exactly where if you are interested.Wharf Rd? I'll have to check.

KGH and Stromberg Carlson both made products for HG Palmer.
Stromberg were killed off by the 1960 credit squeeze.
KGH survived for some years - until 1970 from memory,

HGP went belly-up in early 60's owing their suppliers a lot of money. Henry Gordon Palmer spent time as a guest of Her Majesty at the Malabar Mansions - not sure if he managed to hang onto his own waterfront mansion..

KGH made TVs under their own brands - Titan and Calstan. State govt supply contracts for radios kept them going for a while. They also made TVs and radiograms with house brands for other retailers.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 5 · Written at 8:34:54 PM on 16 January 2017.
GTC's avatar
 GTC
 Location: Sydney, NSW
 Member since 28 January 2011
 Member #: 823
 Postcount: 6678

KGH moved to West Ryde by the time they were making TVs.

Are you perhaps thinking of Zenith at West Ryde?


KGH/Titan, Harris House, Newland St, Bondi Junction (phone FW 4844 in 1956)

Regarding the Calstan brand name, from Radiomuseum:

"The Zenith Radio Co. Ltd was originally at 37 Oxford St, Sydney. By 1939 their address was 28 Mountain St, Sydney. In Feb, 1943 they took over the production of "Calstan" brand radios and test equipment from Slade Radio Pty Ltd. [61a Lang St, Croydon]

After the war their address was 121-123 Palmer St, Sydney by which time they had become Zenith Radio Co. Pty Ltd. By the late 1950s they were manufacturing televisions and their address was 7-11 Rhodes St, West Ryde, Sydney. Production ceased sometime in the 1960s."

That Croydon house still stands. The Rhodes St factory address has been redeveloped.

It would be interesting to know exactly where Harris House actually stood in Newland St.

Update: According to various articles in Trove, Harris House stood at the corner of Newland and Oxford streets, Bondi Junction, and was owned by a Mr Harris. Evidently there was a dance hall within it among other facilities. In September 1921 it is described as "Harris' large new magnificent hall". There's also reference in 1926 to a salacious criminal trial featuring Neville Harris the 19 year old son of the owner of Harris House, who resided in Bellevue Hill. It appears that Harris Snr was operating a boot store from the premises at the time. There's a 1917 SMH reference to Harris Bros Boot Shop at that site. Apparently the tram stopped outside it.

All four corners of that intersection have been redeveloped since those days, so I am left wondering which corner it was on.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 6 · Written at 8:23:46 AM on 17 January 2017.
Ian Robertson's Gravatar
 Location: Belrose, NSW
 Member since 31 December 2015
 Member #: 1844
 Postcount: 2363

I think you'll find KGH and Zenith merged sometime in the late 50s. Hartland cables, Peaston and Ferguson transformers used to sell to them at West Ryde - they were all fairly local.

I'm at the office, I'll check it out when I get home.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 7 · Written at 11:26:24 AM on 17 January 2017.
MonochromeTV's avatar
 Location: Melbourne, VIC
 Member since 20 September 2011
 Member #: 1009
 Postcount: 1179

. GTC:

Harris House had a Newland St frontage situated on the west side of said street & the south side of Oxford St.

I like the metal strips along Oxford St showing where the trams tracks once were. Sydney must sorely miss its trams!!Sad


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 8 · Written at 11:53:06 AM on 17 January 2017.
Vintage Pete's avatar
 Location: Albury, NSW
 Member since 1 May 2016
 Member #: 1919
 Postcount: 2048

TRAMS 😊 who ever came up with the idea of removing the Trams from Sydney was a complete Twit,, if you look at the old photos of sydney with Trams it had so much more character and charm.
Its a wonder he did not get rid of the ferry too.
This topic reminds me of that great movie Malcom and the Trams in Melbourne.
There was an old Tram in itne bushes of the back block in my school grounds''oak Hill'' years later I went back to look through it,but it was gone. We would skip class and sit in it smoking our heads off. Then fish face brother Michael would turn up and take all our cigs
Yeah I like trams!,
Pete


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 9 · Written at 7:59:40 PM on 17 January 2017.
Brad's avatar
 Administrator
 Location: Naremburn, NSW
 Member since 15 November 2005
 Member #: 1
 Postcount: 7290

who ever came up with the idea of removing the Trams from Sydney was a complete Twit...

There were quite a few twits back in the 1950s, doing a lot of stupid things all in the name of progress. Former Premier of NSW, Joseph Cahill was the one that oversaw the final demise of Sydney's old tram network, which was the third largest in the world at its peak. To rub salt into the wounds, the idiots at the Department of Main Roads removed the tracks from the harbour bridge and replaced them with two extra traffic lanes that are an approach to the world's ugliest freeway which was named after the vandal who closed down the last tram services.

Since 1997, slowly but surely, trams have been back on the streets of Sydney but it's nothing compared to what will happen over the next twenty years. 25 trams service the current Central Railway - Dulwich Hill line. It's been reported that 65 trams have been ordered for the CBD - Randwick/CBD - Kingsford lines and these will be the world's longest trams at 68 metres each. Future lines are planned for Parramatta, Olympic Park, Carlingford, Strathfield and Newcastle. All these services have platforms which allow wheelchair access, hence the reference to light rail.

In finishing, about four years ago I saw footage on YouTube (it's still there) of a day at Royal Randwick in the 1920s. 400 trams would be on layover waiting to take punters home at the conclusion of Race 8 - yes 400! The trams did not stop once underway but jogged alongside the timber platforms and you either got on or waited for the next and tried your luck again. Imagine the cries from the cotton wool brigade if the government was still running public transport like that, not to mention the insurance companies moaning about the dangers involved. Back then they just wanted to get people home and they did it pretty well.

Photo of the tram terminus at Royal Randwick in the 1920s
Video of people trying to jump on a tram at Royal Randwick - fast forward to the 8th minute for the action

Back to the topic, I think the most common KGH radio was a Tasma lookalike in the same cabinet as the Model 1001. The cabinets for these were often coloured. A photo pf this model is in this thread.


‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾
A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 10 · Written at 8:53:24 PM on 17 January 2017.
MonochromeTV's avatar
 Location: Melbourne, VIC
 Member since 20 September 2011
 Member #: 1009
 Postcount: 1179

Some of the scenes of Malcolm was filmed at the South Melbourne (formerly Hanna Street) tram depot where I once worked as a tram driver a million years ago. The little car that split into two was in fact a motorbike inside each half. I used to live across the road from the bloke who owned it and sometimes he would bring it out on to the street to show it off.

I reckon the best tram systems in the English speaking world was in Sydney & Los Angeles.

Back to the Harris' of Bondi Junction. The Harris Bros shoe shop, 95-97 Oxford St was in a row shops built about 1901-02. No. 97 is on the south west corner of Oxford Street & Newland St. Harris Hall/House (built 1921) was directly behind 95-97 Oxford St on the west side of Newland St. By 1925 95-97 Oxford St was Harris Shoe Store (Mark Harris) For Reliable Footwear. Phone: Waverley 353. I'm guessing whatever was happening on the corner of Oxford & Newland St's was a Harris family concern and may have spanned a couple of generations.

I have not yet linked KGH/Titan to Zenith/Calstan. Will need some further investigation.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 11 · Written at 9:47:24 PM on 17 January 2017.
GTC's avatar
 GTC
 Location: Sydney, NSW
 Member since 28 January 2011
 Member #: 823
 Postcount: 6678

.Mono: thanks for those address details. What is your source?

Of the four corners, the buildings on the south west corner are the only ones not to have been demolished and replaced by a modern tall building. That corner looks to have been only slightly remodeled, so I guess we have an idea of how it looked back in the day.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 12 · Written at 10:30:02 PM on 17 January 2017.
Vintage Pete's avatar
 Location: Albury, NSW
 Member since 1 May 2016
 Member #: 1919
 Postcount: 2048

Brad and mono,
I am not old enough to remember the trams, I'm 48,I can remember double decker buses just,
But I've been too many countries with trams ,,they're a wonderful fun way to get around ,
This clip shows the Sydney trams ,I was shocked to learn they burnt the trams.

https://youtu.be/mpewvmlsWco


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 13 · Written at 9:15:05 PM on 18 January 2017.
MonochromeTV's avatar
 Location: Melbourne, VIC
 Member since 20 September 2011
 Member #: 1009
 Postcount: 1179

. GTC,

My source of information comes from various places including Sands Sydney Directories, telephone books, old Gregory's & Google.

KGH were at Harris House until 1960. At the time their factory was at 12 Norman St, Peakhurst. In 1961 KGH moved both office & factory to 2 Coulson St, Erskineville & were there until they fizzled out around 1967.

The older corner building on the Oxford & Newland St's intersection is on the north west side.

. Ian Robertson,

You might be right about some connection with KGH & Zenith. In Brads post he has a link to a thread about a KGH in a Tasma Bakelite cabinet. The chassis of this KGH is almost certainly made by Zenith. It has the tell-tale Zenith style serial number inked on the chassis.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 14 · Written at 9:59:43 PM on 18 January 2017.
GTC's avatar
 GTC
 Location: Sydney, NSW
 Member since 28 January 2011
 Member #: 823
 Postcount: 6678

I was thinking Sands with the Waverley 353 phone number.

Today 95-97 Oxford is quite a distance from the corner of Newland Rd, so for Harris House to be at the rear of 95-97 and still have an address given as corner of Oxford and Newlands then either it was huge or the blocks have since been renumbered.

Next time I'm in the Waverley area I'll check if the library's local history section has period photos of that corner.


 
 Return to top of page · Post #: 15 · Written at 4:25:21 PM on 20 January 2017.
Sue's avatar
 Sue
 Location: Daylesford, VIC
 Member since 13 January 2011
 Member #: 809
 Postcount: 326

H G Palmer went under in 1965. Although their annual reports stated otherwise, they hadn't made a profit in their fifteen years of existence, and they'd kept expanding on money borrowed on the strength of their supposedly booming business. Palmer got four years for the fraud, and his accountant got three.


 
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