Vacuum Tube Products Co. Inc. (VTP Co.)
506 South Cleveland Street, Oceanside, CA
2020 Short Street, Oceanside, CA

Hughes Aircraft Company - Vacuum Tube Products Division (VTP)
Oceanside, CA (1962)

In 1936 Mr. Harold W. Ulmer established Vacuum Tube Products (VTP). They manufactured vacuum tubes of all types, gaseous tubes, vacuum gauge tubes and related products such as spot welders and other vacuum tube manufacturing equipment. Vacuum Tube Products was wholly owned and managed by Mr. Harold W. Ulmer.

Mid to end 1950s the company was bought by Hughes Aircraft Co. and continued to operate as a division, keeping the name (and the VTP logo in a modernized form).

Vacuum Tube Products, in 1936, consisted of the design, development and production of various types of vacuum tubes and special electronic apparatus, including special types of medical tubes, special purpose lamps and power type transmitting tubes. In addition, water-cooled tubes of the type used in high-powered broadcast stations were repaired. Mr. Ulmer also served as a consulting engineer on vacuum tube problems to a number of commercial firms during this period. These operations were continued by Mr. Ulmer until early 1942, when he suspended all activities of Vacuum Tube Products for the duration of World War II. 

It was at this time that Mr. Ulmer joined the engineering staff of the Federal Telegraph Company in Newark, N.J., as a senior engineer and was assigned as project engineer on the design and production of the Federal 450T tube and later on the 250T and 1E5 tubes. 

In December 1942, Mr. Ulmer joined the engineering staff of the Raytheon Mfg. Co. His initial assignment was project engineer on the RK20A, RK47, RK28A and RK48A tubes. He then became head of all thoriated tungsten filament type tubes, high voltage rectifiers and clippers, mercury vapor tubes, hydrogen and Xenon thyratrons, and special purpose types such as microwave triodes, external anode tubes, etc.

In early 1946 Mr. Ulmer returned to Oceanside, California and re-established Vacuum Tube Products, entering the field of speciality vacuum tube manufacture. Various types of tubes were produced, including Geiger counter tubes, external anode tubes, special purpose diodes, power tubes etc.

In 1948, Vacuum Tube Products accepted a contract with the U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory for vacuum tube development of a classified nature.

Since 1948, Vacuum Tube Products was active in the development and production of tubes for entities such as the, U.S. Navy Electronics Laboratory, Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, Sandia Corporation, plus many others. 

A 1957 general catalog shows and lists the design, development and production on the following tubes and equipment:

- Storage Tubes
- Electromagnetic Cathode Ray Tubes
- Electrostatic Cathode Ray Tubes
- Phosphor Characteristics
- Gas Rectifiers and Xenon Thyratrons
- Mercury Rectifiers and Thyratrons
- High Vacuum Diodes
- Miscellaneous Types
- Vacuum Gauges and Controls
- Electronic Timers
- Welding Equipment

References:
[1] Information Brochure
[2] Harold W. Ulmer
[3] Vacuum Tube Products Co. catalog