This morning my apartment was filled with movers. For the last few months, my husband and I have been making do with no more than a table, bed, armoire and a few chairs. It was kind of both heaven and hell to have such few things. All that changed today when my husband’s furniture arrived from Spain. To be honest, I hardly noticed the parade of boxes and Spanish commands being shouted back and forth and the piles of emptied cardboard boxes and balls of used tape flying through the place like tumble weeds. Why? I had fallen into the rabbit hole that is radioshackcatalogs.com. The owner of this site has painstakingly documented RadioShack catalogs, photos, history, and then some. Do you love RadioShack? Neither do I. And yet, I was transfixed by this love letter to the company (which was started out as a Boston store for leftover Army equipment in 1921. Its founders were two brothers, Theodore and Milton Shack. I mean, Theodore and Milton Deutschmann).
This is a very rich little site. The above videos are just some of the riches it has to offer.
(Thanks to Retro Vintage Modern Hi-Fi for directing me to this RadioShack wonderland)
Reasons why I wish I had this phone now:
1. It’s so big that I’d never leave the house with it, which would mean that…
2. I wouldn’t have to answer the phone if it rang. Because it would be home. And I’d be out.
3. It’d be kind of like if I only had a home phone.
4. I miss only having a home phone.
5. It probably doesn’t have voicemail. I hate voicemail.
6. It’d be awesome to have a cell phone with a cord.
Retro Commercial - Radio Shack Cell Phones - 1990
(via alligatorjuice)
MEET THE AUTHOR
Anna Grossman is writing this bio in the third person. She is a New York-based freelance writer specializing in lifestyle and entertainment features. She is 5'7" and has been described as "nice." Su esposo, Jesus, enseñandola Espanol. Email her if you feel like it: GrossmanAJ@Gmail.com
MEET THE ILLUSTRATOR
James Gulliver Hancock is an internationally acclaimed artist who crosses as many mediums as he does borders. James is constantly on the move, having been involved in artist projects and residencies in Indonesia, Austria, France, the U.K. and America. He is currently located in Los Angeles and works on projects in Europe, America and Australia. His work is as varied as his travels, encompassing editorial illustration for magazines, commissions for music group artwork and animations, work with disabled children on logo designs, creating gigantic set illustrations for performances and TV.
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CONTACT: ObsoleteTheBook@ Gmail.com. Because books love to check email.
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