Eugene Polley, a mechanical engineer from Chicago, invented the first TV remote in 1955, one of the world’s most widely used gadgets.
Polly was a self-taught Chicago engineer who invented the TV remote in 1955.
He envisions a future where we never have to get up off the couch or twitch any muscles (except our fingers).
Polly spent 47 years at Zenith Electronics, going from warehouse clerk to innovative inventor. He has developed 18 different patents.
Eugene Polley invented the first wireless remote control for the Zenith Flash-Matic TV in 1955. He controls the tube with a beam of light. (Zenith Electronics)
His most important innovation was the first wireless TV remote control, known as the Flash-Matic. Some previous control devices were hardwired to the TV.
Polly’s Flash-Matic replaced the only TV remote control technology known at the time, an 8-year-old one.
Since the dawn of television, this primitive and often unreliable form of human labor has had to reluctantly move back and forth, changing channels at the behest of adults and older siblings.
Flash-Matic looks like a sci-fi ray gun. He controls the tube with a beam of light.
“When kids change channels, they usually have to adjust their rabbit ears as well,” jokes Zenith senior vice president and company historian John Taylor.
Like millions of Americans over the age of 50, Taylor spent his youth pushing the buttons on the family TV for nothing.
In a press release dated June 13, 1955, Zenith announced that Flash-Matic was offering “a remarkable new type of television”.
According to Zenith, the new product “uses a flash of light from a small gun-shaped device to turn the TV on and off, change channels, or mute long commercials.”
The Zenith announcement continues: “The magic ray (harmless to humans) does all the work. No dangling wires or connecting wires are required.”
The Zenith Flash-Matic was the first wireless TV remote control, introduced in 1955 and designed to look like a space age ray gun. (Jean Pauly Jr.)
”For many people, it’s the most used item in everyday life,” the long-retired inventor told Sports Illustrated in 1999.
Today, his innovations can be seen everywhere. Most people have several TV remotes at home, more in the office or workplace, and maybe one in an SUV.
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But who influences our lives more every day? Eugene Polley’s credit for inventing the TV remote first went to a competitor engineer, so he had to fight for his legacy.
Both are of Polish origin. The inventor’s son, Gene Polley Jr., told Fox Digital News that Veronica came from a wealthy family but married a black sheep.
Television remote control inventor Eugene Polley with his wife Blanche (Willy) (left) and mother Veronica. (Courtesy of Gene Polly Jr.)
“He ended up running for governor of Illinois.” He even boasted about his ties to the White House. “My dad met the president when he was a kid,” Jin Jr. added.
”My father wore old clothes. No one helped him with his education” – Gene Polley Jr.
Despite his father’s ambitions and connections, Polly’s family’s financial resources were limited.
“My father wore old clothes,” said little Polly. “No one wanted to help him with his education.”
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Founded in Chicago in 1921 by a team of partners including Eugene F. McDonald, a World War I US Navy veteran, Zenith is now a division of LG Electronics.
Diligence, organizational skills and innate mechanical abilities of Polly attracted the attention of the commander.
When the United States entered World War II in the 1940s, Polly was part of the Zenith engineering team developing a major weapons program for Uncle Sam.
Polly helped develop radar, night vision goggles, and proximity fuses, which use radio waves to detonate munitions at a given distance from a target.
During World War II, Polly helped develop radar, night vision goggles, and proximity fuses, devices that use radio waves to ignite ammunition.
The post-war consumer culture in America exploded, and Zenith was at the forefront of the fast-growing television market.
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Admiral MacDonald, however, is one of those irritated by the scourge of broadcast television: commercial disruption. He ordered a remote to be made so that he could mute the sound between programs. Of course, the commanders also saw the potential for profit.
Polly designed a system with a television that contained four photocells, one in each corner of the console. Users can change the picture and sound by pointing the Flash-Matic at the corresponding photocell built into the TV.
Eugene Polley invented the remote control television in 1955 for Zenith. In the same year, he applied for a patent on behalf of the company, which was granted in 1959. It includes a system of photocells for receiving signals inside the console. (USPTO)
“A week later, the commander said he wanted to put it into production. It sold hot – they couldn’t keep up with the demand.”
“Commander McDonald really enjoyed Polly’s Flash-Matic proof of concept,” Zenith says in a company story. But he soon “instructed engineers to explore other technologies for the next generation.”
Polly’s remote has its limitations. In particular, the use of light rays means that ambient light, such as sunlight coming through a house, can destroy the TV.
A year after the Flash-Matic hit the market, Zenith introduced the new Space Command product, designed by engineer and prolific inventor Dr. Robert Adler. This is a radical departure from technology, using ultrasound instead of light to drive the tubes.
In 1956, Zenith introduced a new generation of TV remotes called the Space Command. It was designed by Dr. Robert Adler. It was the first “clicker” style remote control, replacing the remote control technology created by Zenith engineer Eugene Polley. (Zenith Electronics)
Space Command is “built around lightweight aluminum rods that produce a distinctive high frequency sound when struck at one end … they are very carefully cut to length and produce four slightly different frequencies.”
This is the first “clicker” remote control – a clicking sound when a small hammer hits the end of an aluminum rod.
Dr. Robert Adler soon replaced Eugene Polley in the eyes of the industry as the inventor of the TV remote control.
The National Inventors Hall of Fame actually credits Adler as the inventor of the first “practical” TV remote. Polly is not a member of the Inventors Club.
“Adler had a reputation for anticipating collaborative work with other Zenith engineers,” says Polly Jr., adding, “It really annoyed my father.”
December, today in history. On December 28, 1958, the Colts defeated the Giants in the “Greatest Game of All Time” for the NFL Championship.
Polly, a self-taught mechanical engineer without a college degree, rose from the pantry.
“I hate to call him a blue collar,” says historian Zenith Taylor. “But he was a badass mechanical engineer, a badass Chicagoan.”
Post time: Jul-25-2023
