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In Reply to: RE: The past is funny posted by Byrd69 on November 17, 2015 at 17:55:07
Well, if you ever come across a gasoline attendant, maybe he'll have one. That is funny.
Follow Ups:
The last time I went back New Jersey, you could only buy gas through an attendant. If however you asked for a bulb/fuse I am sure you would get a perplexed look and reported to Homeland Security.
Steve
Now, you pay many hundreds of $$$ for a 50 year old tube tester, on EBay.
8^)
Could you also buy replacements there?
...although stock selection was limited to really common types and prices were kinda high. Most non-stock types could be ordered. Overall, you paid for the convenience factor and the opportunity to actively participate in the technology of the day.
I really would have liked to experience the drug store tester for myself. What year did they generally get phased out?
The last one I saw was at a RadioShack maybe mid 80s. Not sure when they were phased out of drugstores but it was much before the mid 80s in my locality.
The corner drug store 2 blocks from the house I grew up in had a tester until the late 1970's. That drug store also had a soda fountain, so I spent a lot of time in there as a kid. The tester was on the end of the last aisle in the store right next to the finger nail polish display.
Yes, I remember, when I was a kid there was a grocery store here that had one right in the front of the store. You could test your tube and if bad they had a whole stock of tubes to choose from, probably mostly TV tubes.
These testers and the cabinets they sat on were large like the size of a washing machine. They show up on ebay from time to time it would be cool to have one but that is something else I definitely don't need :)
Cal
I always imagined the testers to be something like the suitcase ones but on a stand without the lid. I had no idea how large they were.
The one in my neighborhood drug store was about the size of a small ATM. The panel with all the sockets was at waist height and rested on top of a locked cabinet containing new tubes. There was colorful enameled advertising sign above the panel. The whole thing was probably 5' tall with sign and all. My family never used it though. My dad had a fear of electricity and would NEVER even have considered opening the back of the TV for fear of electrocution. He always called the repairman - which is another story. Still recall people showing up to that drug store with a shoe box of tubes (I assume every tube in their TV) and testing them all trying to figure out which one was the culprit.
We had one just like that at our local "Drug Fair". My father would get/test tubes for his amp there. The tubes weren't locked up, so he could try various ones until he got a matched set.
Jack
In my town there was a Mercury tube tester about the size of a small coffee table with a whole bunch of tube sockets on the top at the "five and dime". You would find the socket that corresponds to your tube stick the tube in and push the test button. Underneath was a locked cabinet which if you were lucky had a replacement tube for you. Those were the good old days. cheers, Dak
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