Pic of " Martin's Laundry"

"Phil Allison"

...... Phil

My first job out of school was at martins laundry, it was the ONLY place in town for electronic parts back then. A very good monopoly with absolutely no competition.

in

no

Not quite the ONLY place; I used to buy parts from Fox & McGillycuddy (sic) at the Bridge end of York St. There was also Homecrafts in Clarence St. This wouls have been early 1950's. There was also Levensons Radio in either York or Clarence, can't quite remember which, but it was near the AWA tower. Does anyone know the story of Levenson's window lighting saga?

Chas,

I do remember those names from old radio mags that my father gave me but think those businesses had all closed by the time I was in high school and actively persueing electronics.

The price of radio parts in those days were quite high from what I remember compared to the average wage.

Anyhow, go ahead and tell us about the Levenson's saga...

Wasp

-----

Chas wrote:

Sydney was just the head office. Out of Sydney, they were the only wholesalers around.

absolutely

(sic)

either

tower.

Ok then, here goes. I cannot vouch for the story, but it was well known at the time

The story goes that Levensons fitted the display windows with the latest fluorescent lighting, giving them a much brighter showcase for their products. Someone cried "foul", and the local Electrical Authority began investigations as to why this bright lighting was not accompanied by an increase in power consumption at the meter. They found that the lights were powered from a tuned antenna picking up radiated RF from the AWA tower.

Levenson was prosecuted for some awful offence; stealing AWA's power or something similar. The case was thrown out when the defendant produced a current "Broadcast Receiving Licence" as his permit to draw on AWA's radiated energy. After the case, the shop did convert to the normal grid connected lighting, no doubt due to further "Official" intimidation.