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The
years after the end of World War I found Victor at the peak of its production
and profits. Victrolas continued to sell in droves, eclipsing the efforts
of competitors. Johnson's risks and efforts had paid off, but decades
of non-stop competition had left him drained of energy and urgently needing
rest. As the 1920s dawned, he retreated from the day-to-day operations
of the company. Within a few years, he would turn over managerial control
of Victor to a committee which included his son, E. R. Fenimore Johnson.
By
that time, the first radios were hitting the market, but Johnson simply
could not believe that the new development would replace the Talking Machine
industry he had helped create, and he initially forbade Victor engineers,
and his son, from researching the development of a practical Victor radio.
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A
new age was dawning. In 1924, Victrola sales plummeted to their lowest
in a decade, due to stiff competition from the ever-improving radio. Victor
soon made arrangements to secure patents from Western Electric to a new,
electrical method of recording. Electric recordings were an instant hit.
By July 1925, Victor had abandoned the acoustic process altogether.
Victor
liquidated all remaining acoustic Victrolas, at reduced prices, then released
its new Orthophonic line on "Victor Day", November 2, 1925.
The Orthophonic machines were capable of reproducing the superior acoustic
tones of electric recordings. Again, Victor enchanted the public. A month
later, the company released the first "Electrolas", featuring
electrical amplification, and the first "Victrola Radiola" combinations,
using radio receivers from RCA.
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