The Turner Microphone Story

THE CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE's editorial cartoonist captured the irony of a unique business that closed in 1979. The Turner Company had once been the world's leading manufacturer of pressure embalming machines, as well as microphones used in amateur radio, recording and public address systems. The Cedar Rapids Gazette -- December 2, 1979

In 1925, David Turner's father was Cedar Rapids' leading mortician. His beautiful funeral parlor was often filled to overflow capacity with mourners, and it struck David that technology held the answer. He urged his father to install an electronic public address system to carry the minister's words to the farthest corners of the Turner Chapel. Six years later, after demonstrating the system at a mortician's convention, the Turners began producing PA systems in a spare closet of their mortuary.    The company as it was in 1952 was described in the the Cedar Rapids Gazette.    Turner entered its peak growth period as the citizens band radio craze began in the United States. The company's extensive line of communications and professional microphones was eclipsed by the demand for low-cost mass-produced handheld microphones to be used on CB sets.    The firm was sold again and absorbed into the Telex Corporation, and the Cedar Rapids manufacturing plant closed. With its passing, a chapter in mortuary and microphone history was closed; certainly one more interesting and unusual than many!    The Turner Company would not see 1980. It was picked clean by its new owners who kept the most profitable products and shut down all operations in Cedar Rapids.    Many Turner collectors have written me asking for help wiring their microphones. I have finally located a factory wiring guide. It is reproduced here. How much did microphones cost when the Turner Company was founded in the 1930's? Check out these pages from the 1938 Allied Radio Catalog. Turner Microphone's reached their peak in the early 1970's as the Citizens Band Radio craze boomed. Turner offer a full line of CD microphones, as well as professional models for recording and broadcasting. Click here to see the 1972 Turner Catalog, or various Turner Microphone Specification Sheets. In the years following World War II, Turner turned its production to peace time applications, particularly targeting the ham radio market, and public address system needs. Those interested in amateur radio will be interested in how Turner was OEM for many of the microphones sold by a fellow Cedar Rapids firm, The Collins Radio Company.    Turner Microphone Company was a family business that grew to employ almost 2,000 people at its peak in the early 1970's at this building on Oakland Road. Turner had been acquired by Conrac Corporation of Stamford, Connecticut, and was operated as a division of that firm through its most profitable years. As the 1970's ended, Turner fell on hard times. [ The Turner Funeral Chapel ] [ The Turner Company - Oakland Rd. Plant ] [ 1938 Microphones ] [ The Turner Microphone Story ] [ Turner Near Its Peak ] [ Turner Microphone Company Sold ] [ Turner Factory Closes 1979 ] [ Wiring Turner Microphones ]

Drop me a note, I'd like to hear from you, especially if you have Turner microphones or literature that I might purchase or swap for my collection. Original Images and Text Copyright 2002 by the Author; Editorial cartoon courtesy of The Cedar Rapids Gazette.