[NJARC] Closing, A Store Near You

Sat Feb 25 21:29:31 EST 2006

John D,
   Really enjoyed your email describing your job history. You were very
fortunate to work in places that dealt with the hardware you enjoy. I did a
similar thing when I was young. I always enjoyed working with mechanical as
well as electronic stuff, hence the interest in record changers and tape
recorders as well as radios. When I was 16 I got a job at a local bowling
alley that had just had 6 brand new Brunswick pinsetters installed. The
owner sensed that I could handle the mechanics of the machines and taught me
how to service and maintain them. What a kick it was to be the one who would
go down the alley and fix the problems, and get paid for it too!
   In '67 I got a job with Honeywell Electronic Data Processing. At the time
Honeywell had the biggest computer account in New York City with Met Life
Insurance. They had 9 huge systems on one floor of the met life building on
23rd street. Honeywell had to provide 24 hour on premise support and I was
part of the crew. I worked on the old tape drives that were the size of
refrigerators, printers the size of a small car, and fixing bad circuit
boards.
   In '68 after graduating from college I went to work for Bells Labs in
Holmdel, NJ. At first I was involved with designing new test frames for
projects like Picturephone and the first #4 ESS in Chicago. This was the new
electronic switching office to take care of long distance calls that was to
take the place of the older 'step by step' relay type offices. Then I got
moved into the software development end of the business. This was better for
my career but I missed the hands on part of working with the physical
equipment. After 12 years at Bell Labs I left and did consulting through
companies like Computer Science Corporation but most of my contracts were
with Bell Labs and AT&T, so I was still in the same building in Holmdel, NJ.
Then in '88 I went back with AT&T and bridged my previous service and landed
up with 20 years before retiring last year.
   Now I get to spend a couple of hours per day working on radios and
phonographs. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

Phil Vourtsis
Pres. New Jersey Antique Radio Club
Editor: 45 rpm Phono Gazette
Author: Fabulous Victrola 45

-----Original Message-----
From: njarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:njarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
On Behalf Of John Dilks K2TQN
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 4:28 PM
To: New Jersey Antique Radio Club
Subject: Re: [NJARC] Closing, A Store Near You

Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
_______________________________________________
At 02:40 PM 2/23/2006, you wrote:
>Trenton had Nidisco which closed in the late 80's, I
>think. I'm sure Trenton had lots of radio stores, but
>most were gone by the early/mid 80's when I moved to
>the area.

Trenton also had Allen and Hurley.  Les Allen was an early radio ham 
that always promoted ham radio.

Back in 1965-66 I worked in Trenton installing the b-i-g Number 1 ESS 
telephone switch (largest in the nation at the time).  I was there 
9-months and stayed up there during the coldest months and commuted 
the rest of the time.

I visited Allen and Hurley's store and purchased my Simpson 260 with 
a roll top case (still have it).  I met Les Allen and joined the 
DVRA. Later on he vouched for me so I could have a key to the DVRA 
club house at the airport.  I went in there a couple of times and 
operated 6-meters.  That was fun.

Les Allen always wanted to own an AM station and finally did, 
somewhere around Long Beach Island, after he sold the store (or 
closed it down.)  His son is a ham and lives in Delaware.

Atlantic City had Almo and Radio Electric.  Almo was within walking 
distance from high school, where I joined the high school ham club to 
get a license.  I visited Almo many times when I should have been in 
school.  They always had rigs on display and had a working station 
from time to time.  That big Johnson and National equipment sure 
looked good to a 14-year old.

Radio Electric was a longer walk towards Pleasantville from the high 
school, across from the Atlantic City Air Port.   I got out there a 
few times, but they weren't pain-in-the-ass-kid friendly.  They 
didn't want questions, just buy what you came in for and get out.

Later Almo relocated to West Atlantic City, so I needed a ride to get 
there.  I still bought from them when I had a couple of bucks.  And 
.... I almost went to work for them when I was almost out of high 
school.  Only when they found out I was working for the Van 
Doren-Hemple Company, their customer, they changed their 
mind.  (Didn't want to upset the customer.)  Not working there was a 
good thing for me.  I would not have gone on to work for Western 
Electric a couple of years later I'm sure. (Van Doren Hemple sold 
TVs, Radios, Washing Machines, Refrigerators, and serviced 
everything.  I was the delivery-boy helper, known around the store as 
"the boy".  Oh how I loved hauling those big refrigerators to the 
third and fourth floor apartments in Atlantic City (with no elevators).

One time we wet to the fourth floor and removed the old refrigerator, 
a real old and heavy clunker. Then we carried up the brand new 
refrigerator up to the fourth floor landing. It wouldn't fit through 
the door.  So we took off the refrigerator door, then took the 
apartment door off, then took off the molding.  It still didn't 
fit.  Fit was the word we used later back at the store to describe 
the customer. She was real upset that she had to buy a smaller 
refrigerator.  She made us bring back her old refrigerator and put 
the door back together before we left.

The following week we had the opportunity to retrace our steps with 
another, smaller, refrigerator.  This time we measured everything 
before hauling it up there.  When we were done, we each got a dollar tip.

I worked there with Homer Sooy, K2LTR.  He was a ham since the 1930s 
then. (Different earlier call).  He weighed about 135 pounds soaking 
wet, was about 55-60 years old, and could work this teen-age boy 
under the table.  He was as strong as an ox.  We had a lot of fun 
talking about the customers when we got back in the truck.

One time we refused to pick up the TV for repair because it was 
infested with bugs. Homer told the lady to call a fumigator, then 
call us back.  When we were getting into the truck Homer told me that 
the only thing wrong with the TV was, the engineer was lying inside, 
dead.  Unfortunately the lady was listening to us from an open window 
above.  When we got back to the shop, did we ever get our butts 
chewed out.  We were told not to talk about the customers where they 
could hear us.

It was my fifth year in high school, and I worked at Van Doren-Hemple 
every day after school and on Saturdays.  It was my second year there 
as a part timer. As the Christmas season came and went, the retail 
business in Atlantic City went into hibernation until near the summer 
season. I was laid off the second week in January.  That didn't 
bother me though, as I went the NJ Unemployment and filed for unemployment.

At first I was refused. It seemed they had this rule about not 
collecting if you were going to school.  I appealed the ruling and 
had a hearing.  I proved that I had worked the required number of 
weeks, and was available to work the same hours.  I won!

Didn't I have fun showing my unemployment check around high school to 
all my buddies.

Summers I worked on the Atlantic City Beach Patrol. I would go back 
on the beach for one final year, my fourth.  Then after the summer 
ended I went to work for Pacemaker Yachts, in the warehouse.  Two 
years later I went with Western Electric building telephone offices 
all over New Jersey, and a couple out of state. That was the best 
job, ever.  I lasted there almost 38-years, through three name 
changes (AT&T and Lucent Technologies) and finally after Lucent 
Technologies went bust, I retired.

Whew, I ran long.  Did anybody get here?

73, John Dilks, K2TQN 

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