Material Culture is located in what was once the largest radio manufacturing plant in the world!

What Would Arthur Atwater Kent Think of 4700 Wissahickon Today?

Founded by Arthur Atwater Kent (1873-1949), the Atwater Kent Manufacturing Company became, by 1925, the largest maker of radios in the world. At its peak, in 1929, the company employed over 12,000 workers here at 4700 Wissahickon Ave. manufacturing nearly one million radio sets annually. The 32 acre single-expanse building with serrated glass-roof was an architectural sensation and received thousands of international visitors. The company also sponsored the popular “Atwater Kent Hour”, a top-rated radio concert music program heard on NBC and CBS from 1926 to 1934. The show featured top entertainment and became one of the most popular and acclaimed regular radio programs of the era.

Since 1993, Material Culture has recycled a sizable portion of Atwater Kent’s factory in a number of inventive and ground-breaking ways:

• As a warehouse store that is equal parts Grand Bazaar and Post-Modern Industrial, a space filled with legendary values and surprises, where thousands of savvy shoppers, designers, collectors, and businesses around the country have taken resource and inspiration in Material Culture’s vast and constantly changing inventory of art, antiques, traditional crafts, and one-of-a-kind items from around the world.

• As an auction house, serving buyers and sellers around the globe, including estates, private individuals, businesses, museums, universities and non-profits. Material Culture’s auctions reach an international, knowledgeable, affluent market of competitive bidders, and regularly offer a broad and eclectic range of fine and folk art, antiques, decorative arts, collectibles, Asian arts, ethnographic arts, modern design, couture, jewelry, silver, and objets de vertu.

• As a spectacular stage to host and entertain parties and events, including art and cultural exhibitions, weddings, concerts, supper clubs, fund-raisers, photo-shoots…The towering ceilings, generous expanses of natural light, and galleries adorned with architectural elements and artwork from around the globe, provide a striking and memorable backdrop for any occasion. The “global home cooking” ethos and great taste of Baba Olga’s Cafe and Catering, which marries global flavor with the most locally-sourced, sustainably-harvested ingredients, are a natural extension and complement to the old world values that have always been at the core of Material Culture’s world view.