Ah yes, Charley's. I remember his shop well. Not been in one I liked half as much since I moved from KCK to Arkansas. Hey, Doc. Do you remember Mr. Brooks's first name? I wondered if might have been my dad?
Mike
Jim Easton's Hobby Shop s.e. 92nd and Division in Portland Or. There is a freeway exit there now.Arn't you retired now? Have you flown your Actic Fox Yet? Welcome aboard! H^^ H^^ H^^ H^^
Don
Don's Hobbies on Front Street in Mankato, Minnesota. The airplane kits were leaning on one end up high on the left wall as you'd walk in. I still remember how HUGE those kit boxes looked after all the 1/2As I had built.That is probably why you don't build half "a'S now.That's a good thing. My moto, Nothin smaller than a 15.
Nice story, Chris.....Chris's dad has a Grish 3 bladded prop on that smoothy I remember using one of the 9/6's on one of my planes back in the sixties. I had to because most of the flying fields in those days were grass. The prop felt like mush when you did a corner but they didn't have many 3 bladed props in those days.
Hey CHRIS AND GRUNTS...this favorite and great photo of Chris and is Dad....pretty much says it all!!!
I just had to get in on this thread. I saw my first G-line model airplane in 1944. Then I saw my first engine powered model airplane in 1945 being flown at the fairgrounds in Reidsville, NC and I was hooked from that moment on. We had a small but pretty well equipped model shop that was started by a returning veteran of WWII. I started buying balsa wood there in early 45 and at the same time I got a job at the grocery store next door selling pop corn from a street side popping machine. Every penny I got was spent at the model shop. I purchased my first engine there which was a Rogers at the tender age of 12. I just about smoked my parents out of the house breaking the engine in down in the basement. That was a great little hobby shop that specialized in nothing but model airplane stuff. The veteran who opened the shop was a returning veteran highly decorated for his heroics. Not only did he run the hobby shop, but was my Scout Master as well. Life did not serve him well as he carried many scars from the war and his life ended at an early age, but he and his model hobby shop is still remembered to this day by many I'm sure including myself. God bless our veterans.Thanks for sharing your story....WOW! "G LINE MODELS IN 44!"
Wykagyl Hobby - just outside of New Rochelle, NY heading toward Tuckahoe.
Worked there in 1951-1953. Always sorted the incoming Firebaby kits (aka ARF's ;-) and noted which engine was included. I bought the ones with the WASP engines. y1
Westchester Hobbies, White Plains,NY - customer there from 1953 - 1955. then learned about hot rods and full scale airplanes.
Anybody remember these Hobby Shops??? Maybe Bob Zambelli??, Walter Umland??
Roger Vizioli
There were quite a few hobby shops in the early days. For me it was the Hobby Center, a medium sized shop that had most of what was needed. AND THEN there was the grand daddy of them all, Orange Blossom Hobbies. It was the largest hobby shop in this section of the country with a wholesale operation in the back. It had airplane, car, boat, and railroad departments. The owner died, then his son ran the business into the ground. It is now a drug store.
STANDARD HOBBIES - Lodi and Stockton, California. The owner was a control line and r/c flier. He opened in 1970 and retired about 2000. I first went in when I was just a baby and would often stare at the kits after kits after kits. There was a stack of 1/2a kits, a stack of profile kits, then a couple built ups kits, like the SIG CHIPMUNK and the GIESEKE NOBLER. The rest of the kits were r/c, but that was okay too.
The ceiling was filled with enough models to spend a week staring at. I'd even get the discard catalogs and pretend I was flying all the planes. That even became my first job, working at STANDARD HOBBIES till my twenties when Lanny retired and sold it all. Did I mention he was my dad?
During college I ventured into SHELDON HOBBIES in San Jose. My roommate showed up with a box of .049s from his grandpa and we grabbed a little kit at Sheldon's when it was still a true model shop (it's mostly cars and weird stuff now but still has some good hardware). That was my first time grabbing a handle since I was 5 and my first time having no trouble at all flying.
Now I enjoy R/C COUNTRY in Sacramento. R/C Country is a true hobby shop and yes it's still there. His control line section is adequate, but his rows of hardware are fantastic. Great employees who all fly (r/c) and know how to build.