H. Leslie Hoffman (1906 – June 24, 1971) was an American businessman. He was the founder and CEO of Hoffman Radio from 1941 to 1971, which changed its name to Hoffman Radio and Television in 1948. In the 1950s, he formed Hoffman Electronics Corporation, based in El Monte, California, consisting of several electronic divisions involved with consumer, industrial and military products. He was married to Elaine Stevely Hoffman (1906–1989). Together in 1954, they formed the H. Leslie Hoffman and Elaine S. Hoffman Foundation, Pasadena, a philanthropic organization. He and his wife Elaine were large donors and supporters of the University of Southern California (USC) and were directly involved with its growth, academic growth and stature. Hoffman served on the Board of Trustees at USC for 17 years.
Period before Hoffman Radio Between 1929 and 1931, a company called Mission Bell Radio Manufacturing Company was formed. They were based in Los Angeles and specialized in low-cost midget radio receivers. To keep cost down Mission Bell would buy as many prefabricated parts as possible and made a few design changes to established radio chassis to avoid legal action. It was a company that was always in financial problems throughout the 1930s. By 1941 the company filed for bankruptcy. In 1941, Les Hoffman, then a fluorescent lamp salesman, came to the Mission Bell Radio Office to collect an overdue debt. The doors were locked and they were closed for good. Finding out the company went bankrupt, he decided to buy Mission Bell Radio and continue to make radios under the name Hoffman Radio. The company would remain in Los Angeles.
Hoffman Radio and Television
For a short while Hoffman would continue the Mission Bell Radio name and designs. By 1947, Hoffman started designing their own models. About 1948–1949, Hoffman began manufacturing television receivers, since RCA made their television patents royalty-free. He aggressively marketed his product regionally, trying to maintain a good regional reputation and recognizable brand name. By 1950 Time magazine writes about Les Hoffman's achievements in making Hoffman Radio and Television the largest west coast producer of televisions. In two years (1948–1950) Hoffman Radio and Television sales went from $3.5 million to almost $12 million. One of the reason for Les Hoffman's success was in the quality of his products. Hoffman radios and televisions were built well, using proven engineering practices and sometimes applying practices used in military electronics. Hoffman moved into color television slowly and by the late 1960s had a full line of consumer products. Hoffman would continue making televisions until 1977.
Hoffman Easy Vision television When Les Hoffman entered the television manufacturing business, he was a newcomer. He needed to keep his costs down and did not have the resources like the established companies such as Zenith or Philco. After World War II ended, there was considerable surplus materials that needed to be cleared out of company and government stores. Television picture tubes require a protective safety glass in front of it to prevent injury if the picture tube imploded. Hoffman found large quantities of yellow Plexiglas used in aircraft. Since it was low price he bought large quantities. However, the television viewing area had a yellow-green tint to it. During the early years of television there was considerable concerns that long term viewing television could damage one's eyesight due to eye strain. Hoffman took advantage of this scare by advertising that the yellow-green tinted screen reduced eye strain. He marketed his televisions as "Easy Vision". Les Hoffman definitely was a shrewd and market-savvy businessman.
Hoffman Electronics Corporation
From 1950 to 1960 Hoffman became diversified, through startups and acquisitions of consumer, industrial and military electronics firms. The company reorganized into Hoffman Electronics Corporation, based in El Monte, California, about 15 miles (24 km) east of Los Angeles. Several divisions were formed, of which the most prominent were:
Consumer products (Hoffman Radio and Television) Semiconductor products Military products Since the early days of World War II Hoffman produced for the military various items, such as radar, communications, countermeasures, navigation and ASW equipment.
Solar cells The invention of the transistor in 1948 must have had an effect on Leslie Hoffman. In the early 1950s, he took a major interest in solar cells, also called photovoltaic cells. When Bell Labs introduced the solar cell to the world in 1951 it was only a curiosity. It had a very poor light-to-electricity conversion efficiency of 2 percent, and was very fragile and expensive to fabricate. Several manufacturers, including Hoffman, managed to improve the efficiency to 4.5 percent by 1954, but photovoltaic cells were still impractical.
Hoffman made great strides in making the solar cell a practical and useful source of renewable energy. From 1957 to 1960, he improved its efficiency from 4.5 to 14 percent and lowered the production cost to make it a marketable item. One of Hoffman's great achievements was the first satellite to be powered by solar cells, the Vanguard 1, launched in 1958. The solar arrays or panels are Hoffman photovoltaic cells. In 1959 H. Leslie Hoffman received the David Packard Medal of Achievement for innovation. In 1959 he was one of the board of directors for the Electronic Industries Association (EIA). The success of Vanguard 1 led Hoffman to broaden the use of his solar cells into other products and applications. In 1959, the launch of the U.S. satellite Explorer 6 had solar arrays using 9,600 Hoffman solar cells. Hoffman's Consumer Products Division introduced a transistor radio line that operated with solar cells or batteries. The four models they produced were the P-411 Solaradio (1956), the P-706 Trans Solar radio (1959), the P-709X (1961), and the 719 (1965).
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