[GreenKeys] When hobbies cross over...

Michael O'Day mgoday at gmail.com
Thu Nov 28 13:52:32 EST 2019 

Sorry, originally only went to Steve.....

My Grandfather also worked at REA in Chicago. I have a Lionel train set
nearly as old as I am, and one of the box cars is a green REA car. I used
to ride the train into Union station on Adams St. when they were doing
renovations, I happened to look out the window and saw an REA sign in the
midst of the area being worked on. I so wanted to figure out a way down
there, but never did.

Mike O'Day
N9ODM


On Thu, Nov 28, 2019 at 8:37 AM <steve.n4tty at gmail.com> wrote:

> I remember it well!  My grandfather work for the Atlanta office of REA for
> 41 years, retired and got his gold watch!  That retirement was a railroad
> retirement which was a pretty good thing to have in its day.  At least one,
> and it could have been both, of my grandfather’s brothers worked at REA as
> well.  I know one of them retired from REA with at least 40 years.  Don’t
> see that kind of tenure at many companies these days.
>
>
>
> Steve G./N4TTY
>
>
>
> *From:* greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net <
> greenkeys-bounces at mailman.qth.net> *On Behalf Of *Ralph Irish
> *Sent:* Thursday, November 28, 2019 8:56 AM
> *To:* Greenkeys <greenkeys at mailman.qth.net>
> *Subject:* [GreenKeys] When hobbies cross over...
>
>
>
> Meant this for the group, and it initially just went to John, W9DDD.
>
>
>
> Ralph - W8ROI
>
>
>
> -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -
>
>
>
> *From: *"Ralph Irish" <w8roi at wowway.com>
>
> *To: *"W9DDD John" <w9ddd at tapr.org>
> *Sent: *Thursday, November 28, 2019 8:48:47 AM
> *Subject: *Re: [GreenKeys] When hobbies cross over...
>
>
>
> Does anyone remember a company known as the Railroad Express Agency, or
> REA?  They shipped 'goods' from one
>
> point to another, often using various railroads that were still
> operating.  One unique thing about them was that they
>
> charged you based on  WHAT  was being shipped in addition to the weight
> and size.  A 25 pound box of screws and
>
> washers would cost one amount, but if those screws and washers were
> fastened to something, then the price went up.
>
>
>
> The John Meshna company, I think it was, back in the 60s, 70s and probably
> into the 80s, used to advertise most
>
> interesting things.  I saw their ads in mostly ham radio magazines.  73
> Magazine, later Ham Radio Magazine, CQ
>
> and maybe also QST, aka 'the big four'.
>
>
>
> One thing that hooked me was a large box of electronics and relays which
> connected to a typewriter of some sort.
>
> It is quite vague at this time.  55 years or so may have passed since that
> transaction.  I might have to go through my
>
> surviving issues of 73 to find a reference to this.  Sadly, my ADD (short
> attention span!) will divert my attention to
>
> most anything that catches my fancy.
>
>
>
> Anyway, it was shipped to me by them via the Railroad Express Agency.  It
> came on a wooden pallet, as I recall
>
> and a separate, smaller box for the typewriter.  REA wanted some kind of
> 'surcharge' on top of weight and volume,
>
> since it contained electronics.  I got into a 'pissing contest' with them,
> when I saw the shipping bill.  That was another
>
> thing about Meshna, (and shame on me for getting caught!) they often
> 'glossed over' what it might cost to ship something
>
> to you, and you never knew, until the smoke cleared away,  how much.
>
>
>
> REA went out of business not long after that.  They had some kind of Depot
> in the Metro Detroit area, and that is where
>
> my packages were 'held ransom' until I paid that 'surcharge'.
>
>
>
> One time Meshna had some illuminated push buttons in an ad.  The ad photos
> were of products made by  DIALCO  a well-
>
> known manufacturer.  The price was right so I ordered 20 of them.  The ad
> showed four contacts on the bottom, and a 'milk-
>
> white' pushbutton on the top, with a star-washer and locknut to hold them
> to a panel.
>
>
>
> When the package arrived I ended up with similar looking* lamp holders*.
> Each held a #327 or #328 lamp.  The two contacts
>
> on the bottom of each of them  were identical to those in the ad photo.
> When I called them to cancel the order and return it,
>
> I got a lot of crap from Mr. Meshna, himself.  He figured what I really
> wanted was panel lights, so he just shipped what was
>
> available, not what showed in his ads. When I pointed out the large
> difference, he became a bit defensive.  "I can't take the
>
> time to look *everything* over!"
>
>
>
> Wonder if any other G/K people had 'less than satisfactory' business
> dealings with Meshna?  It couldn't have been just me!
>
> But, let me also say that there were a few instances where I got what what
> was advertised, and sometimes at a reasonable
>
> cost.  Many times, over the years, I wished I'd kept a Log, Journal or
> some kind of diary aboout my purchases.  What great
>
> reading it might have made, 50-some years later!  (And an eye-opener for
> my widow!)
>
>
>
> Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Not yet certain how we will be celebrating
> today.  Somehow, though, food will be involved!
>
>
>
> Ralph - W8ROI
>
>
>
> -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -
>
>
>
> *From: *"W9DDD John" <w9ddd at tapr.org>
>
> *To: *greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
> *Sent: *Wednesday, November 27, 2019 3:51:36 PM
> *Subject: *Re: [GreenKeys] When hobbies cross over...
>
>
>
> Friden Flexowriter became popular for punching tapes for early NC
> machines.  At least where I worked way back when.
>
>
>
> John, W9DDD
>
>
>
> On 11/27/2019 2:32 PM, Ralph Irish wrote:
> > Jeff
> >
> > Friden made a typewriter with tape gear that could do what you
> > described.  A friend of mine found one and put it to
> > use making Resumes for his job hunting.  Someone made a machine called
> > a, "Flex-I-Writer" or maybe  "Flex-O-Writer",
> > It might have been Frieden, not sure.
> >
> > I think that it had "STOP"codes one could punch into the tape so that
> > manual entry of a name or company name could
> > be inserted, making each letter appear to be unique, when it might have
> > been one of fifty, going out for business purposes.
> >
> > These had their own unique codes.  My friend's was an 8-Level thing, but
> > I never had a chance to play with it or make a
> > test tape to run on a 33ASR, for comparison, etc.
> >
> > Ralph - W8ROI
> >
> > -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -
> >
> > *From: *"Jeff G" <jeffg at junknet.net>
> > *To: *greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
> > *Sent: *Wednesday, November 27, 2019 3:21:32 PM
> > *Subject: *[GreenKeys] When hobbies cross over...
> >
> > Figured you guys and gals would enjoy this - this is an excerpt of an
> > email from a long-time vendor in my car hobby who often tells stories in
> > his emails, and I thought it was ironic that one hobby would mention
> > another:
> >
> > "In the 1960s and 1970s my Dad did a lot of marketing for major
> > insurance companies. Most people would call this “junk mail.” I would
> > agree with that assumption. At one time, my Dad had 3 automatic
> > typewriters that would auto-type full-page letters for mailings. They
> > looked like they were personally typed letters to individuals. These
> > typewriters worked similar to a player piano working off a roll with
> > holes it. One person could run 3 machines at once. He also had a machine
> > (not sure what it was called) that using a fountain pen and could
> > duplicate a hand-signed signature of a person. This was pretty advanced
> > stuff for the 1970s. I worked with this equipment as well as ran
> > inserting machines back in the day."
> >
> > While I'm sure there were a bunch non-teletype typewriters that fed on
> > paper tape, you never know.
> >
> > Jeff aka "Bags"
> > KC3GJX
> >
> >
> > GreenKeys mailing list
> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > Post: mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net <GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net>
> >
> > 2002-to-present greenkeys archive:
> > http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/
> > 1998-to-2001 greenkeys archive:
> > http://mailman.qth.net/archive/greenkeys/greenkeys.html
> > Randy Guttery's 2001-to-2009 GreenKeys Search Tool:
> > http://comcents.com/tty/greenkeyssearch.html
> >
> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> > Message delivered to w8roi at wowway.com
> >
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > GreenKeys mailing list
> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > Post: mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net <GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net>
> >
> > 2002-to-present greenkeys archive:
> http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/
> > 1998-to-2001 greenkeys archive:
> http://mailman.qth.net/archive/greenkeys/greenkeys.html
> > Randy Guttery's 2001-to-2009 GreenKeys Search Tool:
> http://comcents.com/tty/greenkeyssearch.html
> >
> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> > Message delivered to w9ddd at tapr.org
> >
> ______________________________________________________________
> GreenKeys mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net <GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net>
>
>
>
> 2002-to-present greenkeys archive:
> http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/
> 1998-to-2001 greenkeys archive:
> http://mailman.qth.net/archive/greenkeys/greenkeys.html
> Randy Guttery's 2001-to-2009 GreenKeys Search Tool:
> http://comcents.com/tty/greenkeyssearch.html
>
>
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to w8roi at wowway.com
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> GreenKeys mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net
>
> 2002-to-present greenkeys archive:
> http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/
> 1998-to-2001 <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/1998-to-2001>
> greenkeys archive: http://mailman.qth.net/archive/greenkeys/greenkeys.html
> Randy Guttery's 2001-to-2009 GreenKeys Search Tool:
> http://comcents.com/tty/greenkeyssearch.html
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to mgoday at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/greenkeys/attachments/20191128/cdd8012b/attachment.html>

More information about the GreenKeys mailing list