In 1927, rural America was without electricity. Rural homes were being lighted using oil or Kerosene lamps. The radio, powered by storage batteries was the only electrical convenience available to most people who did not live in town. The radio was the only window to the world for the people, but the batteries kept going dead. It was a real inconvenience to get the batteries recharged.

In Cherokee, Iowa, two brothers, John and Gerhard Albers, developed a wind generator to recharge a six-volt storage battery. They called their invention “The Wincharger.” It worked so well that friends and neighbors were soon asking the Albers brothers to build Winchargers for them. Their business grew and in 1935, Wincharger was incorporated as a business and manufacturing was moved to Sioux City, Iowa.

Zenith Corporation purchased a controlling interest in Wincharger in late 1935. The six-volt Wincharger sold for $10 to purchasers of Zenith radios who wanted the power unit.

In 1937, Zenith Radio Corporation purchased the remaining shares of Wincharger stock. To provide additional lighting capacity, 12-volt, 32-volt, and 110-volt generators were developed. Soon the company was known all over the world for the unfailing dependability of the Wincharger.