116 replies to this topic

[clamchip]

I agree Unitron ads were right up there with the candy counter at Sears and a swimming pool filled with

peanut butter ice cream.

A strong second place was the Edmund Scientific catalog and the 4 inch equatorial refractor. I almost

found myself held back a year for not paying attention in class because of that 4 inch Edmund. If the 4 was

a full color catalog centerfold, OMG let's not think about that.

I was also very attracted to the surplus ads too. C&H, Jaegers, Edmund, and quite a few others. I ended

up buying surplus lenses and tank prisms, etc.

 

Robert

[Terra Nova]

I agree Unitron ads were right up there with the candy counter at Sears and a swimming pool filled with

peanut butter ice cream.

A strong second place was the Edmund Scientific catalog and the 4 inch equatorial refractor. I almost

found myself held back a year for not paying attention in class because of that 4 inch Edmund. If the 4 was

a full color catalog centerfold, OMG let's not think about that.

I was also very attracted to the surplus ads too. C&H, Jaegers, Edmund, and quite a few others. I ended

up buying surplus lenses and tank prisms, etc.

 

Robert

YES! Loved the Edmund and Jaegers catalogs! I had one of those tank prisms. Actually it was a chunk of one about 3” long. It made a dandy spectroscope, actually a slapdash spectrum-maker for casting the solar spectrum. I have no idea what ever happened to it? It was heavy too! Weighed about a pound! I wish I still had it. I’d make a frame holder for it and slip it over the objective of one of my big refractors to show star fields of mini-spectra. It would have been perfectt over the front of my ST120.

Edited by Terra Nova, 03 August 2022 - 09:21 AM.

[John Huntley]

I think most of the ads in "Astronomy" and "Sky & Telescope" were pretty eye catching for me when I first started taking those magazines back in the early 1980's. Over here in the UK back then things were pretty crude and rather amateurish. To see those rows of glossy "professional" looking telescopes was a revelation

 

I used to pick up my monthly copy of the magazine from the local newsagents and then retire to a pub for a couple of pints of decent beer while I absorbed the contents and dreamed. What I used to call a "working lunch"

 

I think one of the most impressive was for Coulter Optical's dobsonians - I had no idea that an amateur could possibly buy a 17 1/2 inch aperture telescope never mind a 29 incher !!!

 

One exception was a small ad in the back of the magazines from a company called Tele Vue for it's plossl eyepieces. What a naff name for a brand I thought. I don't think they are worth considering seriously

 

How wrong I was !

Edited by John Huntley, 02 August 2022 - 07:38 PM.

[Jae]

Loved the Meade 447 Ads

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[Darren Drake]

Something about this one just does it for me 😃...

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[grif 678]

Something about this one just does it for me ...

Well, the Celestron Girls probably turned a lot of guys on, but I was just talking about the telescope itself.

[Kasmos]

Well, the Celestron Girls probably turned a lot of guys on, but I was just talking about the telescope itself.

What girl? I was so busy looking at the scope I didn't notice her.

Just another photo of a C8

[Nippon]

What girl? I was so busy looking at the scope I didn't notice her.

C8-Girl-2.jpg

Just another photo of a C8

Right

[John Huntley]

Celestron did use other models as well

 

[rob1986]

Think abput it from the ad agency's perspective

How do you advertise to nerds, geeks, dorks, and poindexters of all kinds? It may be stereotyping, but i'm sure that was what they were thinking

[CHASLX200]

Then we had the blue Losmandy mount ads around 1988.

[Craigar]

.. and I thought the Leonard Nimoy ad (that  I saw as avatars, etc. around here) was a spoof   --- that's so neat! 

He's right, "Logically" speaking the ubiquitous C8 may be the best single scope for us mere mortals (that can restrain themselves to just one scope, me excluded)

[Exnihilo]

Celestron did use other models as well

 

 

Johnny Carson would have been great too!

Edited by Exnihilo, 03 August 2022 - 11:55 PM.

[Kasmos]

I'd once seen some discussion about the Leonard Nimoy ad where a lot of people thought it was just another example of celebrity exploitation, but he was genuinely interested in astronomy. Amongst other things, he and his wife had been supporters of Griffith Observatory. IIRC, they were members of the old Friends of the Observatory oganization and later made a sizable donantion when it was renovated. So much so, the added theater bears his name.

 

https://griffithobse...orizon-theater/

[CHASLX200]

Then we had all the fancy Meade blue SCT ads around 1980.

[tim53]

For me it was the optical craftsmen ad for the 8” Discoverer in 1972. I still have the primary from the one I bought in my Springfield. 

[Argonautt]

P.S. A great deal (1941-2007) of the Sky and Telescope magazine is available on archive.org: https://archive.org/...y-and-telescope
 
That only lists indexes - what you need to do is click on one for a year, then scroll down to where it says 'previous issue/next issue' and click on one. This will lead you to the full magazines (need to sign up with a free account to borrow).
 
It's a bit awkward, but you'll have to navigate between magazines this way- not sure why it doesn't come up in the full search. 
 

 
Anyway - lots to be seen... here's one someone posted a page ago, as a scan:
 

Back in 1965 it was the lineup of Astro Optical and Towa telescopes in the Sears Fall-Winter catalog what turned me on into astronomy. After my first telescope arrived during that Christmas (#4 in the Sears image), the Unitorn ad in the back page of the Review of Popular Astronomy featuring the fully loaded 3" equatorial was always my favorite.

Edited by Argonautt, 04 August 2022 - 06:58 PM.

[CHASLX200]

Then we had the Volk scope ad in 1979 i think. It was like a 12.5" F/4 Newt on a odd looking ALT AZ mount. Coma heaven for sure since that was pre Paracorr days.

[Terra Nova]

Imagine yourself at the controls of a Unitron:

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[Exnihilo]

Wow, 4" Unitron for $785 new.

[clamchip]

The ad for the Edmund 4 inch you practically needed a magnifying glass but what a dreamscope.

I didn't know Edmund from Adam and yet I wanted it in the worst way. It may have been

the very good price, I might have felt it was within reach.

Robert

 

 

[bremms]

I think most of the ads in "Astronomy" and "Sky & Telescope" were pretty eye catching for me when I first started taking those magazines back in the early 1980's. Over here in the UK back then things were pretty crude and rather amateurish. To see those rows of glossy "professional" looking telescopes was a revelation

 

I used to pick up my monthly copy of the magazine from the local newsagents and then retire to a pub for a couple of pints of decent beer while I absorbed the contents and dreamed. What I used to call a "working lunch"

 

I think one of the most impressive was for Coulter Optical's dobsonians - I had no idea that an amateur could possibly buy a 17 1/2 inch aperture telescope never mind a 29 incher !!!

 

One exception was a small ad in the back of the magazines from a company called Tele Vue for it's plossl eyepieces. What a naff name for a brand I thought. I don't think they are worth considering seriously

 

How wrong I was !

Funny thing was, I bought an early TV eyepiece on the suggestion of a friend that was acquainted with Al Nagler. He answered when I called and said he would send me the revised version of the 26mm when it came in. He told me how he modified the original design to get rid of a little lateral color and better edge correction. I was not disappointed.

[Nippon]

Imagine yourself at the controls of a Unitron:

Guess the microscope is for when clouds roll in

[Darren Drake]

How bout an old big Tinsley that can track future satellites??..

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Edited by Darren Drake, 05 August 2022 - 11:46 AM.

[CHASLX200]

Then it was them fancy Newts from Telescope world in 1981 that made me dream..