Wow, what a great thread and trip down memory lane. Yes, young geezer here, only 70. For sure there were nerds and actual brick and mortar stores back then- I'm remembering the '60's. Big, thick catalogs from Allied Electronics, Lafayette, and others. Tiny print which we could read back then, and we read it all! Every big city had a retail shopping district. That's where you shopped. For us kids around here, it was Columbus! We had Lafayette, Olson Electronics, and Universal Supply, all within walking distance.
usta have a pdp8 in a rack with a 10 meg! disk drive, rocked the rack as it ran.....hada load the thing with switches to get it to boot....
Radio Row in New York, AKA “Canal Street” in the early 60s was a couple of blocks of mostly military surplus shops. Some merchants would roll out racks onto the sidewalk but the real bargains were deep inside the shop in bins. You had to dig to find the really good stuff. Receive vacuum tubes went for 10 or 15 cents each. The bigger transmitting tubes like a 829 VHF PP amplifier went for a few dollars. The socket for this tube cost way more than the tube. What I found interesting was some of the products were still in the “sealed for overseas” packing with dates like March, 1945. Memories…. Tom WA4ILH
Once upon a time, long, long ago... Yes, Chicago had a similar "radio Row" on So. Michigan avenue. It was about two blocks from the "L" station, and went on for about a mile; there were pure surplus and some surplus/discount stores along the way. LONG gone I believe. Now, there is still APEX Electronics in Sun Valley, outside of Los Angeles. It's a great place, a ham could get lost in there for several daze. Just don't get caught inside during an earthquake; they might not find you for a month!
When I was a new 12 year old ham licensee in LA in the late 50's there was a very large military surplus place in Vernon, CA (can't remember the name). Had acres of WWII military surplus including lots of comm gear. Even had de-com'd Norden bomb sights and a couple of tanks. Bought some tank whip antenna material to make into a vertical.
1945 to 1965 was only 20 years....not a long time. One big reason for military surplus was.....The Bomb. People today often don't appreciate just how secret The Bomb really was. Only those with a genuine "need to know" knew about the Manhattan Project. Even Harry Truman wasn't told of its existence until after FDR died. Plus, nobody knew if The Bomb would actually work. It could have turned out to be a complete dud. WW2 in the Pacific was largely a US war on the Allied side - not to diminish our Allies in any way, but they were quite busy in Europe. Production of vast amounts of materiel was needed to support the invasion of Japan itself, scheduled for late 1945 and continuing into 1946. And because the supply line from factory to battlefield was so long, there were stockpiles all along the way. And then, suddenly, the war ended in mid-August 1945. All sorts of stuff was suddenly not needed. Thus, surplus. A lot of it wasn't immediately disposed of, either. It took years to sort out what could still be used and what was truly not needed. Just remember: All that cheap surplus cost the taxpayers far, far more than we paid for it. Fun fact: US military planners expected an enormous number of casualties when Japan was invaded, so an enormous number of Purple Heart medals were ordered. But because the war ended before the invasion, they weren't needed. They were put into storage - and only in 2000 did the stockpile begin to run low, resulting in a new order. 55 years....
Irvine Spectrum today: https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=e...d=0ahUKEwjIgJiR1qPaAhWowVQKHSlHAiwQoioIsQEwEQ Irvine Spectrum Center In 2010, readers of the Orange County Register voted the theater at Irvine Spectrum Center the best place to catch a flick in all of Orange County. You can spot the Irvine Spectrum Center minutes before you arrive in the 108-foot-high Giant Wheel rising high above the shops and paths of this exceptional Irvine shopping destination. At night, the Giant Wheel is especially magical, twinkling its invitation to take a break from shopping and dining and see the lights of Irvine and Orange County from high in the sky. Of course the Giant Wheel (and the carousel, and the kiddie train that whistles its way through Irvine Spectrum Center) aren't the real attractions here. First and foremost is the shopping, with more than 100 boutiques and shops lining wide outdoor walkways, softly lit with warm white lights. Beyond shopping, Irvine Spectrum Center truly is a one-stop entertainment destination, complete with the Improv Comedy Club, a 21-screen movie and IMAX theater, a 24-hour fitness center, a spa and more than 30 dining establishments for everything from a gourmet meal to a quick cup of frozen yogurt or a latte on the go. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...ationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=303868599 It's actually ranked today as one of the "Top 10" places to shop in America.
