Back when "interactive" electronic activity meant something more than playing video games, Heath was the leader in build-it-yourself electronic engineering kits.
Founded in 1913 as the E.B. Heath Aerial Vehicle Company, owner Edward Bayard Heath introduced his first kit in 1926. For just $199 (sans engine), just about anyone could build a real airplane in his own backyard! Named the "Heath Parasol," the kit was a huge success and thousands were sold to individuals who could not have otherwise afforded to purchase an aircraft.
After Heath's untimely death while test flying a new low-wing plane in 1931, and with the intervention of World War II, the company was in need of a new business model. Howard Anthony, an engineer who'd bought the company in 1935, believed that the electronics industry offered new opportunities. Building upon Heath's reputation for affordable quality by doing-it-yourself, Anthony marketed an oscilloscope kit for $39.50, far less than factory-made.
The kit was an immediate success, and was soon followed by a plethora of others, from ham radios and stereo equipment to electronic organs, digital clocks, and microwave ovens!
In 1978, the company introduced its first computer kit, the Heath H-8. It, too, was a hit, as were most of its successors.
But throughout the 1980's, Heath faced increasing competition from technological and manufacturing advances that resulted in the lowering of the prices of electronic parts to such a degree that it was no longer cost-effective to "build-your-own," and by 1992 the company ceased kit production altogether and turned its attention to educational systems, which they produce to this day.
Heathkit had had a number of competitors - KnightKit, Dynakit, Radio Shack's Archerkit, etc. - but none could match the quantity or quality of the Heathkit line, or the ease with which their instruction manuals took the hobbyist from introduction to product completion ("we will never let you fail").
Today, Heathkit collectors are on a constant search for kits, manuals, and advertising pieces, with prices sliding from a couple of dollars on up depending on the condition and rarity of the item. Especially valuable, of course, are unassembled kits which can demand prices in the hundreds, and more!
Interested in building your own Heathkit collection? Then check out the resources listed below, and Happy Collecting!
Books
"Heathkit-A Guide to the Amateur Radio Products," by Chuck Penson Link to book
Websites
The Heath Story
Nice article by Roger Lorenzen details the history of Edward Heath as a "lightplane pioneer".
OLD-COMPUTERS.COM Link to website
Has pages devoted to Heathkit computers.
About the author:
Michele Alice is EcommerceBytes Update Contributing Editor. Michele is a freelance writer in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts. She collects books, science fiction memorabilia and more! Email her at makalice @ adelphia.net eBay ID: Malice9
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