FW: [Hallicrafters] History

[Langston, Mike]

OK, I can't stand it anymore. 

In the early sixties before I was old enough to drive, I used to visit
an electronics store in Chicago. I no longer remember the name of the
store but it was on Madison Avenue. I would spend the night at my ham
friend's house (or vice versa) on Friday night. A parent would drive us
to the train station in Arlington Heights on Saturday morning and drop
us off. We would ride the train to Chicago (we were 14 at the time). The
end of the line was a station about three blocks from the store. I
remember walking across a bridge over the river and tuning left on
Madison.

This put us in the heart of "skid row". Old (and not-so-old) men would
be sitting on the sidewalk on both sides of the street with their
bottles of wine in paper bags. Those not sitting were sleeping or passed
out on the sidewalk. Any on their feet were bumming pedestrians and cars
for money. That gauntlet lasted about a block and a half then petered
out as we neared the store.

Jack (WN9IZD) and I would spend the rest of the day in that store until
it was time to re-run the gauntlet and catch our train back to the
suburbs. A parent would be waiting at the station to drive us home. It
was an all day adventure. The only thing I remember ever buying was a
crystal for 7.191 Mc, the same frequency that Jack had. We were strictly
window shoppers (no $) but must have been pretty well behaved because we
were never asked to leave.

Jack and I both upgraded to General Class that year. By the time we were
seniors in HS, he had his pilot's license and I rode once to Kenosha, WI
with him in a little 2-seater. I looked Jack up in 2002. He is a Captain
for American Airlines and no longer active in ham radio.

Hallicrafters content: my novice receiver was an S-40B (used).

73, Mike KL7CD (formerly WN9KCL)
Dallas-Ft. Worth