"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
On 12/21/2010 10:54 AM Bob-tx spake thus:

"notbob" wrote in message
...

On 2010-12-21, Smitty Two wrote:

I usually buy tie wraps from Allied Electronics, on the web at
alliedelec.com

Lordy! ...are they still with us? Haven't thought of them since I
perused their wish-books for Knight ham gear, as a kid.

That wasn't Allied Electronics, it was 'ALLIED RADIO', which was bought
out by Tandy (Radio Shack) about 1954. I really liked Allied Radio in
Chicago -

Yep. I grew up reading the Allied catalog from cover to cover and hanging
out in the local store (Evanston, Ill.). And that line was called
"Knight-Kit", which I guess was their response to Heathkit; you could buy
them either in kit form or assembled.

I seem to remember that for a short time after being swallowed up by Tandy
that they were called "Allied Radio Shack", though I can't be sure. Even
in those days Radio Shack was clearly third-rate, much more limited than
Allied (or Lafayette, or any of the other electronics lines available).

I'm sitting next to an Allied receiver that runs my computer sound. Still
working after being bought--*used*--in 1975. (I had to replace one
transistor in the preamp section about 15 years ago.)

All that talk brings back memories. I had all the catalogs, despite the fact
that I lived in Canada and most US companies wanted nothing to do with
Canadian customers. If my parents had some money, I probably would have been
an electrical engineer, but I also had problems with math. Ended up in
printing, designing and creating business forms, which really sharpened my
math skills, as forms for early computer printers had to work with odd-ball
font and line spacing, while still creating all the preprinted information
on the forms. It was a living.