Alfred Stromberg and Androv Carlson were two Swedes who had been employed by the Chicago Bell Corporation. They formed Stromberg Carlson in Chicago in 1894 and began manufacturing telephones. Their product soon became known as the "farmer's telephone" because it helped small isolated towns and eased the harsh isolation of American rural life. By the turn of the century, their reputation for stable prices, uncompromising quality, and a strong emphasis on quality workmanship had made Stromberg-Carlson a leader in the telephone industry.

In 1904, Home Telephone Company purchased Stromberg-Carlson and operations were moved to Rochester, New York. The onset of World War One (1914) created a huge demand for telephone equipment, and by the outbreak of World War II, Stromberg Carlson was supplying portable telephones and switchboards to the Signal Corps who were fighting on the European front, as well as switchboards, telephone instruments, field radio sets and other sound-related systems to the U.S. Navy.

At the War's completion, Stromberg-Carlson flourished with the new technology boom, expanding into the consumer electronics industry. In 1955 the major defense supplier General Dynamics, impressed with Stromberg-Carlson's achievements, aquired the company. During the 1960s, inroads were made into the growing hi-fi market, but ultimately Stromberg Carlson returned to their primary interest which was telephones and communications equipment.

After establishing a new plant in Charlottesville, Stromberg Carlson continued to build and sell headsets to the Navy untill the mid 1980s but in 1982 Comdial Corporation purchased the Charlottesville facility from General Dynamics. The remainder of Stromberg Carlson was sold to Seimens Corp. and remains part of this company to this day.