THE DAY WHEN THE FAT LADY SANG

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I was working in the retail field when the fat lady sang her song, the song that said there was only a short period of time left that 23 channel rigs could be sold, before the 40's took over. Of course I was pretty darn upset because my $400 E.F. Johnson 352 was dropping by the hundreds, and many CB Shops (They were almost on every corner in Houston) were folding left and right. I really enjoyed using that 352, but what good was it now?? SSB freq's were moved to the upper end of the 40 channels (35-40), and believe me, it was very hard to find anyone who still used channel 16 LSB.

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Back to the fat lady: Each week the store dropped the price of all 23channel radios, hoping to entice someone into buying them, before the next price drop hit. But there weren't many people interested, including myself. Nonetheless, if I thought far enough ahead, or even conceived the idea that they would be collectible, especially NEW-IN-THE-BOX, I would have plunked down a few dollars, bought what I could, and then put them in a time capsule destined to be opened at the turn of the century. But I was in my 20's, and distracted by the usual things 20 year olds are, so I didn't buy one (hey, I was saving up for a 40channel sideband rig).

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The end came swiftly, with the $300-$400 Hy-gain and Cobra sideband rigs selling for $50 each. AM rigs fetched about $25, and when the dust settled there weren't as many brands around, nor CB shops to sell them. I'm sure many of these really bit the bullet on this switchover. Of course, they tried to combat the new rigs with rumors that the 40channel radios weren't as powerful, and didn't sound as good, but the writing was on the wall.

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I'm not sure what got me thinking about this, but hey, here it is and I'm wondering, what were YOUR experiences during this turbulent time? Did you get burned? Were you in retail too? Did you lose your business? Drop me a line or make a comment about this thread....

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'Nuff Said

Woody