[SFDXA] Sixty Years of Lafayette Radio

[Bill]

This is from a close friend who worked at the Syosset Long Island NY 
store. I bought a Drake TR-3 there in the early 60's
Bill Marx W2CQ


Holy cow, does this article bring back memories.
I don't remember the early '20s and '30s but I sure do remember the Ham 
radios and especially the CB explosion.
I began working there in June 1962. My dad was a friend of one of the 
Vp's there. His name was Tom Vetter.
And how the heck did I just remember that guys name, a name I haven't 
said or thought about for 50 years.
Anyway, I started working there way back then. I was in the store and 
worked initially at the return desk.
After getting out of the Army, I went back to work there and that is 
where I met my first wife too.
The CB craze was huge and I had a CB  radio in my car, a bunch of large 
Walkie Talkies, the good ones with a range of over two miles.  Actually, 
I still have them.
I also had a Sony 5" tv mounted in my dash and 45 RPM recordplayer sat 
under my dash in the middle.
I began to do some work for a Mr.Brown, who handled all the stereo rooms 
and salesman and he put me in charge of
the outlet store where items such as demo's , trade in's etc were sold.
Of course I had my choice.
I remember purchasing the best Lafayette stereo AM/FM amplifier, Garrard 
Turntable with the best stylus, two huge
speaker systems and a large Sony reel to reel tape player, which I also 
still have and use, even today . Since I bought them at the outlet store 
and I ran the outlet store I dont think I paid more than $30.00 for all 
of it. And of course I remember having
to huge speaker type boxes with the colored lights thatwent with the 
music like in the discos of later years.

I was a stereo salesman on the floor when we were introduced to the four 
track stereo systems. They related to this
in the article.
I remember my comment to the boss. "We dont have four ears".. It wont 
catch on.  It didnt.

Wow again, what memories yet it seems like a lifetime ago. I guess in 
reality , it is.

Just thinkin those days of walkie talkies with a range of two miles, 
records as the only tapes at the time were reel to reel
then 8 track came out. Still no cassette tapes existed then. That came 
later.

Whocould have envisioned back then, cell phones, but not just phones, 
but the likes of which we have today and what they are capable of doing. 
The Internet?  Un thought of. Wireless wasn't even thought of.

Flat screen TV's. Hell no. I remember how many picture tubes I had to 
carry carefully as people brought back their old
tubes after buying new ones. I remember the first time I lifted one and 
stuck my finger in the hole where the cable went
and almost electrocuted myself as the tubes held a charge for awhile.

Ham radio and Cb were amazing. A window to the world. Little did we know 
what was coming.

Thanks for the memories.
Sixty Years of Lafayette Radio

http://www.ohio.edu/people/postr/bapix/LafArt_60_3.htm
For those of you who grew up with ALLIED Radio, Burstein-Applebee, & 
Lafayette...
The pages have many links for "Boat Anchor" memories