Packard Bell (1926)

Packard Bell was an American regional radio manufacturer founded in 1933 by Herbert A. Bell and Leon Packard. Packard Bell expanded into defense electronics during World War II. After the war ended, they started manufacturing other consumer electronics, such as television sets. Teledyne acquired the business in 1968. In 1986, Israeli investors bought the name for a newly formed personal computer manufacturer, Packard Bell.

There is very little information on Leon S. Packard. The growth of Packard Bell was mainly from Herbert and his brothers, Arthur, Albert, Elmer and Willard. Born Herbert Anthony Zwiebel in 1890, his parents were Anthony Zwiebel Jr and Anna Mary Brehm. Like many descendants of immigrants, there was the desire to acquire Americansounding names, so Herbert changed his last name to Bell. In his leisure time, Herb Bell was an avid boater and owned several pleasure crafts and yachts. He had a 98foot yacht which he later donated to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He had them docked at Newport Harbor and often sailed from Newport Harbor to Catalina Island. He named his boats the Five Bells referring to him and his brothers.

Source: Wikipedia