This is a well-made little mini-documentary. Wow the memories!
The Birth, Life, and Death.... of Radio Shack.
- Thread starter sdkid
- Start date
I LOVED Shit Shack! Lived in that place for my electronics!
Remember the stores fondly. I still have some blister packed items I have yet to open.
Watched it on You Tube a few days ago. Great stuff.
Dad used to take me to an Allied Radio store (before it became Radio Shack) in the 1960's. First new short wave radio and stereo receiver was from Allied Radio.
Did also built a couple of Knight Kits back then. Built a radio shack under my parent's front porch.
Dad used to take me to an Allied Radio store (before it became Radio Shack) in the 1960's. First new short wave radio and stereo receiver was from Allied Radio.
Did also built a couple of Knight Kits back then. Built a radio shack under my parent's front porch.
I miss Radio Shack days. Went there alot. Remember going with my dad to get replacement tubes for our TV which started my Electronic addiction 
I played with many of their kits, also later even bought an home alarm system from them to.
Here is another blast from the past:
I played with many of their kits, also later even bought an home alarm system from them to.
Here is another blast from the past:
Dang you're Old, hahaha
So in Dallas, under a bridge, I kid you not, was a HAM Radio group gathering where parts were sold. It later became computer parts sold there. Never made it there since I lived in Houston but was aware of it.
I had a 65-in-One Electronics kit that I spent HOURS messing with. It had an integrated circuit that was probably 10 transistors, LOL. An i7-14th gen has over 25 BILLION within it.
Transistors??? What is that, we replace Tubes, haha...explain tubes to our youth, our tv was very hot behind it and it proved a nice glow on the wall from the back of the set.
Sit around the TV like a fire place, lol But not too close we were warned it will make you go cross-eyed our parents told us...hahaI'll agree that the video is good, but also think it's misleading about Radio Shack's fall. Maybe there was bad management, but even without that factor, the business model was doomed to fail because of the evolution of electronics. The electronic components were for either building something, or repairing something. Just about anything you can build out of components now will cost a lot more and do a lot less that what you can buy already assembled, even if it's cheap junk. Almost nothing is repairable without expensive equipment and the training to use it. The individual components are so small that you need magnification to work with them. There are so many different custom chips that it wouldn't be feasible for a retail outlet to carry them, even if there were people who were able to work with them. No more vacuum tubes to replace. Same thing happened to Heathkit, of which I built many. In the 1950s and for a few decades, they offered ham radio, testing, and audio equipment that was at the high end of consumer offerings, often at the lowest prices. With the manufacturing efficiencies of circuit boards and ICs, it suddenly became cheaper to buy assembled than to build, and a company like Heath or Radio Shack couldn't keep up with the lightning fast design capability of the giant electronics companies like Sony and others. It was a fun time for electronics enthusiasts. Now, there's no customer base to support a Radio Shack type of enterprise, even with great management.
The good old days where you could buy discrete electronic parts, projects, and caustic chemicals to etch your own circuit board.
They used to sell a two pack of contact cleaner spray cans and a rag in a blister pack. Perfect Xmas gift to make dreams come true. Good times.
They used to sell a two pack of contact cleaner spray cans and a rag in a blister pack. Perfect Xmas gift to make dreams come true. Good times.
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Glad to see EPO still open. It was my go to after Radio Shack, well one of mine. They had bins full of components...Used...they also sold new but it was great to get the used stuff...amazing all the things I found there...
Electronic Parts Outlet
epohouston.com
Google Maps
Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
maps.app.goo.gl
Ahhh, memories
Go through all the pictures in Google Maps, drooling already
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I had a Gilbert Erector Set when I was 8, used to assemble cranes, booms, etc. to lift play loads, etc. The furnished 120VAC motor drove a slide-gear transmission via wormgear, it would chew your finger off if you got it in the uncovered gearbox. Hard to believe I still have all my fingers.
Gilbert also made chemistry sets, my folks didn't get me one of those, probably a good thing. I've heard many stories of ruined rugs and carpets, burnt floors and stained clothing!
Every weekend I used to frequent warehouse sales between 1974 and 1985 in the Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, San Jose, Mountain View) that sold surplus parts from the local companies (National Semiconductor, Fairchild, Maxtor, Seagate, Shugart Associates, Western Digital, HP, Apple, IBM and too many others to mention or even recall)...it was a wonderland of mysterious, amazing and cheap components, pallets and boxes were filled with discrete components and PC parts.
Yes....good times.
Gilbert also made chemistry sets, my folks didn't get me one of those, probably a good thing. I've heard many stories of ruined rugs and carpets, burnt floors and stained clothing!
Every weekend I used to frequent warehouse sales between 1974 and 1985 in the Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, San Jose, Mountain View) that sold surplus parts from the local companies (National Semiconductor, Fairchild, Maxtor, Seagate, Shugart Associates, Western Digital, HP, Apple, IBM and too many others to mention or even recall)...it was a wonderland of mysterious, amazing and cheap components, pallets and boxes were filled with discrete components and PC parts.
Yes....good times.
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Ssayer
BIT Beta Team
I made some pretty good stink bombs with my chemistry set 
Did anyone besides me ever use this (or even know what it is!)? Heck, nowadays parents would have CPS called on them for letting their kid use this, especially unattended like I was...
Did anyone besides me ever use this (or even know what it is!)? Heck, nowadays parents would have CPS called on them for letting their kid use this, especially unattended like I was...
Ssayer
BIT Beta Team
I actually did think of a metal casting mold but thought it looked too heavy duty with the big bolt and thick metal....just shows that the saying about trusting your first instincts is pretty accurate!
Ssayer
BIT Beta Team
aaaaaaaand, horror of horrors, you filled it with molten lead (don't tell the greenies!!)!
Beween high school and active duty circa 1968 I worked in a plumbing supply store; used to load up contractor's trucks with cast iron soil pipe, lead ingots and oakum. The oakum was soaked in tar which can also be considered carcenogenic.
I would also unroll a H-E-A-V-Y 4 ft. wide x 1/4" thick sheet of lead, measure, lay on plywood and cut with a circular saw with its blade set really shallow, then roll the cut piece up and load on contractor's truck....these made pans to go underneath cast iron bathtubs that could be sealed good at the corners and around the drain to protect the subfloor under the tub from rot due to water leaks.
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That was back in the day when you could buy a young painted slider turtle at Woolworth's for a quarter with a painted shell and oftentimes a decal on the shell. They later quit selling them in pet stores when under 4" in size because they could carry salmonella. These days a couple of states still prohibit their sale regardless of size.
I'm glad their shell is no longer painted (which is not why they're called "painted turtles" or "painted sliders") because the paint would deform the shell....in the 50's it was also lead-based, a double dose of "bad."
