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Scanning Around With Gene: Radio Shack in 1959
There was a time when Radio Shack wasn't in every neighborhood. Things have changed, but the heart of what makes Radio Shack unique is still beating.
Written by Gene Gable on December 17, 2010
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Everyone who dabbles in electronics, and that’s just about everyone these days, has cause to visit a Radio Shack store at least a few times in their lives. I can’t imagine getting by without them. Radio Shack and I go back to a time when there was a tube tester in the corner of every store, and you could build your own stereo amplifier from a kit.
Naturally, when I saw a 1959 edition of Radio Shack’s mail-order catalog on eBay, I had to buy it. What I found was the Radio Shack we know and love, only more so. Click on any image for a larger view.
According to Wikipedia, Radio Shack was founded in 1921 by brothers Theodore and Milton Deutschmann of Boston. The pair opened a store downtown that catered to the growing interest in amateur--or "ham"--radio.
They called the store Radio Shack after a term used by sailors to describe the small wooden shack that houses a ship’s radio officer. The company sent out its first catalog in 1939.
By 1954 Radio Shack launched its house brand, named "Realist," which was later changed to "Realistic" due to legal squabbles. These products looked okay but were generally pretty lousy performers. No self-respecting audiophile in my day would be caught dead with a Realistic component system.
For me, the heart of Radio Shack has always been its many parts: an endless array of plugs, adapters, cords, cables, fittings, and whatever you need to hook one thing to another. And batteries of every sort.
But at one time the company was much more diverse, stocking electric frying pans and hair-cutting kits along with the cameras, clocks, and toys. Although the product range in 1959 was broader, a lot of them seem like gimmicks.
Due to a risky scheme to give customers easy credit, Radio Shack was nearly kaput by 1960. But along came leather-goods purveyor Charles Tandy, who knew a good gimmick when he saw it, and he bought the company for $300,000. He named the new outfit Tandy Radio Shack & Leather. And even though the leather-goods side of the business was eventually sold off, you can still occasionally find a combined Tandy Leather/Radio Shack store in small towns.
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See every Radio Shack
See every Radio Shack Catalogs that was ever produced at: www.RadioShackCatalogs.com
Allied Radio
I'd forgotten about Lafayette Radio, but I poured over the Allied Radio catalogs and especially their Knight Kits. Dreamed of putting together their color TV but could never convince my folks to loan me the $$$$!
Leather at Radio Shack
Gene - Thanks for solving something that's bothered me for a while. I recall buying leather string and beading supplies at a San Francisco Radio Shack in the late 60's. Up until today I couldn't figure out how that strange combination was formed: Tandy-Radio Shack. Thanks!
Radio Shack
I still have my "battery of the month" club card I got when I was 10 in 1985, which entitled the card carrier to one free battery in any of the smaller sizes once each month. I will be very upset if they change the name from Radio Shack to any other name.
Wow!
Thanks for bringing back some great memories. One of my proudest possessions growing up was a Radio Shack 100-in-One Electronic Project Kit! Many hours spent learning the basics circuit board assembly! Being a fan of Allied, Lafayette, Olson Electronics, Heathkit and Radio Shack catalogs, seeing these is FANTASTIC!
The Competition
During college I worked for about a year for a competitor of Radio Shack called Lafayette Radio. They carried a lot of the same resistors and diodes as well as stereo equipment and other electronics. During that a time I learned I'd have a hard time making a living in retail. Sadly, they closed while I worked there, but on the bright side I got the best stereo system any 19 year-old could ask for at their going out of business sale.
"The Shack"
...sounds terrible, but here in the Great White North you find Radio Shack rebranded as "The Source"--my phone number is almost identical to a local "Source" outlet and I get about one mis-dialled call a week.
I suspect "Realist" was Kodak's trademark.
Re captcha
I know, captcha is a pain in the neck. But I already clean out scores of spam comments every day. Without captcha, it would be more like hundreds.
Terri Stone
Editor in Chief, CreativePro.com
ElectroShack?
Hah... radio sure sounds quaint now, but I still go to the local store. Just bought a replacement miniplug to repair my Shure ear-buds. Also got through my daughter's 8th-Grade science project with Shack power.
I actually owned the P-40 airplane you showed! Hadn't thought about it in years.
Gene, yer a mensch!
PS: Could somebody please tell the web master that this captcha nonsense is awful to use? I'm working on my 3rd attempt at determining a capital C from a little C.
Electronics and Leather?
The combination of Radio Shack and Leather reminds me of Bob Newhart's Grace L. Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Company! Strange combination, indeed!
Radio Shack: COSMOTRON!
Gene,
You've done it again. Thanks!
Now if they only carried "Sea Monkeys!"
radioshack
Where do you get all this stuff Gene?