[Milsurplus] The story of Fair Radio as told to me

[Jeff Kruth]

A little more on Fair Radio.....I have known Phil a long time (over 30 years?) and like & respect him. I knew his brother George a little. As a kid, I marveled at their catalog. Later in life, living in Baltimore and going to surplus sales around DC, I met Phil at some auctions. I started packing & shipping for Fair stuff that they had bid on and won in my area, among the stuff Collins KWM-2's that came out of Meade by the pallet-full. Thus I got to know the guys.  I bought so much stuff, I had extras. Then I had the fun experience of selling some of my excess to Phil and seeing it in the Fair catalog! Talk about going full circle!
The story I was told about how the company was founded goes like this:  Phils Dad was from the Philly-Delaware area and, during WWII,  a bunch of workers including him were being sent to Lima to work in the Army tank factory there (which is still in business as of a few years back, it is around the corner from Fair and I saw new M-1 Abrams sitting in the yard there). A supervisor drew Phils Dad aside, pointing to a young lady that was going to Lima as well, saying "Keep an eye on her and make sure she is OK going so far away from home and all". Well, it worked! She married Phils Dad. When the tank plant shut down, Phils Dad went to the sales and bought the tank radios and other stuff, thus Fair Radio was started! 1947The first building I saw was in Lima proper, and IIRC, it was a Dairy products company, with big cold storage vaults in the basement, perfect for preserving electronics gear!  AFAIK, it is the original site, but I could be mistaken. When Phils Dad passed on, Phil & George inherited the business and ran it together. Once again, IIRC, Phil had been in the Air Force and was an Electronic Tech. I think George did a lot of the paperwork and Phil did a lot of the electronics side. A few years back, George passed away and the respective families sold the property in Lima. Phil wanted to keep the business going and moved to the new location at a defunct lumberyard a little south of town.So two generations of Selati's in the Fair Radio history! It was a long time back that I heard the tale from Phil himself, and I hope I got most of the details right.I have to say, I have met an amazing group of people in the Surplus Electronics arena over the years. Al Goldberg, Ron Baublitz, Nick Dawson, Phil & George Selati, John Henderson, Jeff Goldman, Dave Edsel, Bob Auerbach, Gary Green, Gary Gliecher (spl?), Fred Chassey, Vic Ranieri, Brian Kent, Joe Berardesco, Bill Perry, Bob Candell, Richard Finkelstein, Bernie Bernstein, Jim Tucker, Mike Megown, Jim Trees, Bill & Billy Cusa, Dean Kidd, the Landino Brothers, Tim Pace, the guys at Space (forget the names) and oh so many more.  All characters, many really great guys, a lot who taught me stuff and helped me out and told me great surplus tales, some of which I am sure were true.....Regards,Jeff Kruth
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