A.G. Healing Ltd.
167-173 Franklin Street Melbourne, VIC
164-170 Goulburn Street Sydney, NSW
Corner Pirie & Pultney Streets, Adelaide, SA

A.G. Healing Ltd. was founded in 1896 by Alfred George Healing (1868-1945) importing and manufacturing bicycles & motorcycles.

The company diversified into importing radio receivers in 1927, but with the introduction of tariffs on imported goods, it moved to produce its own radios in 1930. They manufactured television sets, refrigerators, and washing machines.
They were liquidated in 1975.

Alfred George Healing established a business in Bridge Road Richmond in 1896, initially as an agency for the London-based Haddon Cycle Company. [1]
Over the next 10 years, he developed a large wholesale business in motorcycle and car accessories.
In 1903 they imported FN motorcycles and began making motorcycles with imported engines and by the end of WW1 had become the largest motorcycle business in Australia. [2]

Shortly before WW1 the business expanded to Sydney and Adelaide followed soon after. Many of the lines the company sold were produced in its factory in Melbourne and the rest were imported.

Around 1925 the business outgrew its premises and to finance its expansion the company went public to raise funds. A seven-story building was built in Franklin Street, Melbourne. This enabled the two factories, one in North Melbourne and the other at Carlton to operate under one roof. Also, a three-story building was erected on a 28½ year building lease in Adelaide at a cost of £22,000.[3]

The company added the Atwater Kent radio wholesale agency to its business in August 1927. [4]

By the 1930s the company had diversified into domestic goods, especially household radios.

Due to radio import tariffs, the sale of imported radios ceased and they began manufacturing their own radios. The very first Healing radios used a large low-profile chassis very similar to the Atwater Kent radios.

In April 1931 they commenced advertising with the slogan “radio with the golden voice”. [5]

The radio business continued at full strength and by the advent of WW2 they had expanded into manufacturing, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, bicycles, batteries, and gas producers.

The war gave new importance to the companies engineering plants, electrical workshops, and plating machinery. A large switchover was made to the making of lathes, precision tools, and radar equipment and by 1942 the bulk of output was for defence. Production of radios and refrigerators ceased, radio and cycles were severely limited, and the motor business suffered from petrol-rationing, but was compensated later by the demand for overhaul of aging vehicles. [6][7]

Sadly A. G. Healing died on 18 February 1945, aged 77 but business continued in full strength with sales up and in 1949 showed a profit of £124,300.

Its manufacturing, importing, and merchandising activities cover a wide range of goods. Manufacture, centred chiefly in Melbourne, includes bicycles, radios, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, batteries, tubular shock-absorbers, machine tools, wrenches, electroplating plants, etc. In addition, distribution covers motor, cycle, wireless, refrigeration and air-conditioning components, garage equipment, and brake-linings, as well washing machines, electrical appliances, and fittings, B.T.M. steel-tubing, Sparta lacquers and paints, and industrial chemicals. Except for a retail subsidiary in Melbourne (Healings Pty), the company traded on a wholesale basis, and another offshoot, R. and G. Finances Pty., looks after time-payment sales. [8]

In the 1950 Empire games in Auckland, New Zealand, Australian Road and Track Champion Russell Mockridge rode a Healing cycle which gave the Healing name a lift. [9]

In 1955 they formed an alliance with the US Dumont Labs, Allan B., Inc. for the manufacture of televisions and commenced building a factory in the Melbourne suburb of Preston.[10]

With the new factory expanding its engineering department to manufacture televisions they also added washing machines under the brand name “Thor” and refrigerators under the name “Crosley”.
There were now five manufacturing plants in production.

As cycles had slowed down, the sales of appliances were more dominant and on the 14th of August 1959 the Healing Bicycle Division of the company in all Australian states was sold off to the English company of General Accessories Pty. Ltd. [11]

In December 1960 the company made an offer to acquire the entire shareholding of the heavy engineering firm A. E. Goodwin with Healing Sales (Sales) Pty. Ltd. formed as the manufacturing and merchandising subsidiary. [12]

The business prospered until 1970 when the company posted a loss of almost $16 million, an astonishing amount in its day. This was caused by the removal of tariffs protecting Australian manufacturing which caused the importation of cheaper Japanese products. Also, the re-tooling required for colour television added to the costs. [13]

 The company succeeded in trading its way out but finally succumbed in 1975 as tariffs were finally removed. [14]

[1] The Reporter (Vic) Jun 5, 1896, Page 1.
[2] The Winner Jul 29, 1914, Page 13.
[3] The Bulletin Oct 29, 1929, Page 18.
[4] Wireless Weekly Aug 19, 1927, Page 41.
[5] The Herald (VIC) Apr 21, 1931, Page 12.
[6] Australian Telecoms at War, Page 156.
[7] The Bulletin Aug 27, 1941, Page 23.
[8] The Bulletin Mar 1, 1950, Page 14.
[9] Sydney Morning Herald (NSW)Feb 17, 1950, Page 8.
[10] The Bulletin Jan 5, 1955, Page 16.
[11] Biography of A. G. Healing, aussievelos.net. Accessed June 2022.
[12] COMENG - History of Commonwealth Engineering, Vol 3, John Dunn, 1955-77.
[13] Canberra Times (ACT) Apr 16, 1970, Page 27.
[14] Government Gazette (NSW) Apr 18, 1974, [Issue No.45] Page 1499