~ 
From left: Dancing Bear, Bunny Rabbit,
However, he invented the tube in his laboratory at the foot of Telegraph Hill (link below), right here in San Francisco, California. 
Plaque at the location of Farnsworth's 
In his later life, Farnsworth invented a small nuclear fusion device, the Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor, employing inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC). The design of this device has been the inspiration for other fusion approaches, including the Polywell reactor concept. Farnsworth held 300 patents, mostly in radio and television.
log cabin
Farnsworth Steps, San Francisco - 2021
Styrous® ~ Thrusday, August 19. 2021
Philo T. Farnsworth with TV statue
Today is the birthday of Philo Taylor Farnsworth. I can just hear you say, “Who the hell is Philo Farnsworth?” Ok, I’ll tell you. He is the father of what we now call The Television! His invention ushered in a new way of living as well as many characters that everyone came to love, the loveable Howdy Doody . . .
Howdy Doody -1947 - 1960
. . . Ed Sullivan . . .
Ed Sullivan Show - 1948 - 1971
, , , Desi and Lucy, . . .
I Love Lucy - 1951 -1957
. . . Ralph Kramden and his wife Alice . . .
. . . and, of course, Captain Kangaroo.
Grandfather Clock, Mister Moose
and Mister Green Jeans.
Farnsworth
is best known for his 1927 invention of the first fully functional and
complete all-electronic television system complete with receiver and
camera—which he produced commercially
through the Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation from 1938 to
1951, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
However, he invented the tube in his laboratory at the foot of Telegraph Hill (link below), right here in San Francisco, California.
San Francisco laboratory on Green Street
photo by Adam Kliczek
I
almost met him but we missed each other by 35 years; he was in his
studio in the late twenties and I got there in the early sixties (Wilder link below). Timing is everything!
Farnsworth’s 202 Green Street lab - San Francisco
Philo T. Farnsworth Archives
In his later life, Farnsworth invented a small nuclear fusion device, the Farnsworth–Hirsch fusor, employing inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC). The design of this device has been the inspiration for other fusion approaches, including the Polywell reactor concept. Farnsworth held 300 patents, mostly in radio and television.
Farnsworth was born in a small log cabin that was built by his granfather in Indian Springs near Beaver, Utah.
Indian Springs ~ Beaver, Utah.
When he was a kid he began tinkering with machines and developed an
early interest in electronics after his first telephone conversation
with a relative and after he discovered a large cache of technology
magazines in the attic of a house they moved into. He won $25 in a
pulp-magazine contest for inventing a magnetized car lock.
Farnsworth
conceived of the idea for electronic television at the age of 14 while
working on a farm. He observed the straight rows created by the horses
as he plowed, and thought “he could build the image like a page of print
and paint the image line after line . . . with the speed of the
electron, this could be done so rapidly the eye would view it as a solid
picture.”
According to his wife Pem, Farnsworth reasoned that by using an image dissector tube, he could manipulate electrons to “change a visual image into a stream of electrical current, transmit that to another vacuum tube at the receiver, and on a fluorescent screen turn the current back into the visual image again.” Farnsworth sketched his idea on the blackboard of his high school chemistry teacher, Justin Tolman, and presented him with a drawing of it, which would prove invaluable years later during a 1935 patent suit ruling.
According to his wife Pem, Farnsworth reasoned that by using an image dissector tube, he could manipulate electrons to “change a visual image into a stream of electrical current, transmit that to another vacuum tube at the receiver, and on a fluorescent screen turn the current back into the visual image again.” Farnsworth sketched his idea on the blackboard of his high school chemistry teacher, Justin Tolman, and presented him with a drawing of it, which would prove invaluable years later during a 1935 patent suit ruling.
Farnsworth’s sketch for Justin Tolman
When his family moved to Salt Lake City he became acquainted with
Leslie Gorrell and George
Everson, a pair of San Francisco philanthropists, They agreed to fund
his early television research with an initial $6,000 in backing, and
set up a laboratory in Los Angeles for Farnsworth to carry out his
experiments. In 1974, Everson wrote a book, The Story of Television; The Life of Philo T. Farnsworth.
In 1926 he and his wife, Elma "Pem" Gardner, rented a house at 2910 Derby Street in Berkeley. He applied for his first
television patent, which was granted on August 26, 1930. By that time they had moved across the bay to San Francisco, where Farnsworth set up his new lab at 202 Green Street.
Many inventors had built electromechanical television systems before his seminal contribution, but Farnsworth designed and built the world's first working all-electronic television
system, employing electronic scanning in both the pickup and display
devices. He first demonstrated his system to the press on September 3,
1928, and to the public at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on August 25, 1934.
From the 1950s until his death, his major interest was nuclear fusion. In 1965 he patented an array of tubes, called "fusors," that produced a 30-second fusion reaction.
Philo T. Farnsworth died in Salt Lake City, Utah, of pneumonia on March 11, 1971, before he could complete his fusion work. He was 64 years old.
Farnsworth's wife, Pem, fought for decades after his death to assure his place in history. Farnsworth always gave her equal credit for creating television, saying, "my wife and I started this TV." She died on April 27, 2006, at age 98.
Philo T. Farnsworth died in Salt Lake City, Utah, of pneumonia on March 11, 1971, before he could complete his fusion work. He was 64 years old.
Farnsworth's wife, Pem, fought for decades after his death to assure his place in history. Farnsworth always gave her equal credit for creating television, saying, "my wife and I started this TV." She died on April 27, 2006, at age 98.
Farnsworth Television Model - 1936
The "Farnsworth Steps" in San Francisco are named after him; they lead from Willard Street (just above Parnassus) up to Edgewood Avenue.
photo by Styrous®
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Arizona Archives ~ Farnsworth and Everson Papers - 1914 -1999
Indiana History ~
Sound & Communications ~ Farnsworth, The Father Of TV
