Clapp-Eastham Company
1906 - 1929
The Clapp-Eastham company had its origin in the Clapp, Eddy and Eastham Company, founded in Boston on Boylston Street in 1906. It manufactured x-ray machines. A year later, in 1907, Mr. W. O. Eddy left the company, leading to the shorter company name. The two principals remaining were Melville Eastham and J. Emory Clapp.
In addition to x-ray equipment, Clapp-Eastham started to manufacture parts for the nascent professional and amateur radio communities, such as tuning coils, spark gaps, crystal detectors, and heavy-current keys. It soon outgrew is original product line.
In 1910, Clapp sold his portion of the business to Kerro Luscomb, and the company moved across the river to Cambridge. The business grew to become a highly regarded provider of radio equipment. Customers included E. H. Armstrong, K. A. Fessenden, John Hays Hammond Jr., G. W. Pickard, G. W. Pierce, and John Stone.
In 1915, Eastham started a new venture called the General Radio Company, but still collaborated with Luscomb, who now led Clapp-Eastham. The firm remained in business until 1929.