Back when I was a schoolkid, the place to go was Oxford Street, Sydney (long before it became the haunt of gay men and trendy eateries). J. Keep was the place to go. A little, wizened old man, with tobacco stained fingers, hunched over and a barking voice. The place was an Aladdin's cave of goodies. All sorts of relics from the PMG (aka: Telstra) and various arms of the defence forces. The prices were low and I always felt sorry for the poor old bugger, who seemed to be barely eking out a living. He owned half the street.
Further up the road were the rip-off merchants - Deitch Brothers. More upmarket gear, but always interesting. Nothing was ever in my price range though.
For the mugs, there was Radio House, where the prices were obscene.
I remember him well, Trevors comment about him owning half the street had some basis of truth. There was a brass plaque above the door with J.Keep ELECTRICIAN engraved on it. When you went inside the shop it was mostly in darkness - I think there was a bare 25w bulb suspended above the counter and not much natural light coming through the shop windows because they were covered in perpetual grime.
Deitch Bros were expensive. Further up the road was Waltham Trading Company which also sold war surplus, but at cheaper prices. They had a bargain basement downstairs that contained all sorts of interesting stuff.
Down on the corner of York St was Martin De Launay (thanks for the photos Phil), a couple of doors further down was George Brown & Co in a basement shop probably where David Reid used to be.
I also used to visit John Carr & Co in Haymarket who sold electronic parts for the OEM market. They later became Jaycar electronics.
Out at Stanmore there was National Radio Supplies. At Enmore there was Tudor Radio which later became LE Chapman at Curl Curl after he closed the shop. Further down Parramatta Rd was Paragon Radio that sold war surplus. Out on the Princes Hwy at Tempe was Tempe Disposals (they had a fullsize WW2 searchlight mounted on the street frontage) and sold a lot of old Radar gear. In later years the searchlight disappeared and they began selling building materials
Thanks to all those that have conributed to this thread, it's been interesting reading.
My mistake, George Brown and Martin De Launay were actually in Clarence St as Phil correctly pointed out. David Reid was in York. It gets a bit hazy going back 40 years!
More Photo's
------------ George Brown was roughly where the truck is parked on the footpath
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Another shot showing Martin De Launay and more distant view down Clarence St.
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You can also go here and get a larger copy of the photos - click on thumbnail and the next photo for largest view. (Enter the archive number in the search form - 024029 or 005901 and click search)
And of course ACE Radio in Marrickville run by another Joe, a good bloke as I recall. I used to rummage around Tempe Disposals. Good for cheap 2nd hand fluorescent light fittings and lots of other stuff. :)
He was a funny old bugger - when I was a kid of 14 he gave me a job fixing up surplus stuff for a pittance - and I had to take the stuff home (to Villawood where I lived then) fix it and bring it back! Might have been good for my muscles, but exploitive. But as kid it made me feel grown up to be asked to work so I didn't complain
David
Trevor Wils> Back when I was a schoolkid, the place to go was Oxford Street, Sydney (long
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