Old Radio Shack catalogs...

[duronboy]

Been lookin' through this: Radio Shack Catalogs - General Catalogs

Oh gosh, how they bring back the memories! I used to pour over them for hours. I had a very impoverished childhood, and all I could do was dream. I did have a radio, but I only got a TV when I was around 13 when I bought a broken one from a flea market for $5. I took it apart and found a blown fuse, so then I had a nice, 5" black and white portable TV! I had to hide it from my super-religious parents, though. I used to watch Star-Trek late at night after everyone was asleep, and it was the most exciting thing EVER! Anyway, that has nothing to do with Radio Shack catalogs. But, I sure did used to lust after all the gadgets in those old pages! CB radios, amateur radios, police scanners, handheld TVs, speaker systems, woofers, tweeters, telephones, all that stuff! Seriously, consumer electronics from the late 80s - early 90s just turns me on. I love the design. Anyway, I just thought I'd share these. I figured I'm not the only one who had gadget fetishes, and probably not the only one who was greatly influenced by early Radio Shack products. And I know when I say early, some folks laugh at my 80s reference. I know radio shack had neat stuff as early as the 1940s! And I'll be checking all those early catalogs out as I get time!

[snydersnapshots]

Remember the coupon for the free 5 D-cell flashlight? It always came out about this time of year.

[wclavey]

Probably dating myself here...

When I was first starting out as a ham operator, back in Baltimore, there were 3 companies I mail ordered parts from: Radio Shack, Allied and Lafayette. There were probably others, but the world was smaller then and I had no visibility to them. In fact, my first transmitter was a 50W Knight Kit (with a single 807) supplied by Allied. In the 60's I would guess, Allied was bought by Tandy, as was Radio Shack, and their electronics parts businesses were merged. I loved looking through those parts catalogs and imagining all the things I could build if I had just a few dollars to spend on parts...

I know that they also sold stereo equipment, as did Lafayette, but I preferred the Lafayette brand and most of my first few generations of decent audio equipment came from the top of the Lafayette product line - - in fact, I still have some of that equipment, from the 60s & 70s today, in use.

So, Robin, I think my experience with them predates yours by at least a decade or two, but I had the same experience you did... Enjoy it!

[duronboy]

Yeah, I was looking through the 1993 catalog, and I have a few things from that one. Of course, at the time I couldn't buy anything, but once I got a job, I started collecting gadgets! I have a CB walkie-talkie that was originally $99, and I still have my HTX-202 from when I got my technician license in 1995, as well as a CD player I got from the Tandy outlet store years and years ago. I remember you used to be able to go and buy an entire pallet of Radio Shack claims. I think I paid $250 for a pallet one time and got an awesome police scanner that worked perfectly after I soldered the antenna connector back on! Most of the other stuff was junk, but it ended up paying for itself a couple of times over.