My coworker has an interesting story. His grandfather, one Robert Tingleff, claims to have coined the term “Silicon Valley”. Apparently, he worked there in the 40s or 50s and was the Wall Street Journal’s contact in the area. My coworker has always wanted to see that claim supported or refuted, and now so would I.
There is a great book, I forgot the exact name but bookstores & libraries in California have it. ‘Origins of California Place Names’ or something like that…in the California History section…its got your info.
Well, I can find one competing claim: Don Hoefler
This seems too early for the phrase to have been coined.
Thanks for that reference handy. (No, I don’t have that backwards.) It was apparently published in 1969, so I’m not sure it will hold the answer, but I’m going to check it out anyway.
On that website, this Don Hoefler guy doesn’t claim to have coined the term, only to be the first to use it in print, and in 1971 at that. It seems that’s a claim we could easily refute, if only we had access to the Wall Street Journal’s historical archives. (Of course, that assumes that Mr. Tingleff is remembering things correctly.)
This guy Hoefler really needs to be taken down a peg or two for trying to ride his spurious claim to superstardom, or at least lesser obscurity. Who’s up to the challenge?
The semiconductor transistor wasn’t invented until 1947 or 1948. The computer didn’t really take off until the integrated circuit was invented, in 1957 or 1958. The first commercially available integrated circuits did not come along until 1961. I don’t believe the Palo Alto area became a hotbed of high-tech manufacturing until the late 1960s.
Yes, that’s true, and thanks for the good information bibliophage. (Does that mean you eat books?) However, I’m not wondering if it’s plausible, I’m wondering if it’s true. A subtle difference. Does no one have access to a searchable index of Wall Street Journal articles?
The way I remember it, Californians who knew something about solid state electronics started calling the area “Silicon Junction” around 1966. I assume journalists
used “Silicon Valley” instead because the pun would be lost on most of their readers.
Ive seen it written Silicon & Sillicon…at USA Today. Odd.
Yup, USA Today is indeed odd.
It’s Silicon.
A book I found on the history of Sunnyvale backs up the Hoefler claim to the origin of the term “Silicon Valley”.