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Central Hardware, St. Louis history

Dave Farquhar Retail, St. Louis September 12, 2017November 28, 20181950s, 1980s, 1990s, american dream, consolidation, DIY, home depot, home improvement, Israel, Kansas City, Plumbing, sears 10 Comments

St. Louis-based Central Hardware was one of the first big-box home improvement chains. It peaked in 1993 at 39 stores in six states in the midwest, employing 3,700 people. It was once the 19th largest hardware retailer in the United States.

Central Hardware’s motto was “everything from scoop to nuts,” a play on the English idiom “soup to nuts,” which means beginning to end. Their inventory was over 40,000 SKUs, comparable to today’s home improvement stores. Its stores regularly exceeded 50,000 square feet. That’s about half the size of a typical home improvement store today, but it was large for the 1970s and 1980s. Traditional hardware stores ranged in size from 2,000 to 10,000 square feet. Its employees wore orange vests so customers knew who to ask for help.

What happened to Tyco RC and trains?

Dave Farquhar model railroading September 7, 2017September 6, 20171980s, 1990s, Fraud, HO, ho scale, Hot Wheels, lionel, matchbox, postwar lionel 0 Comment

Tyco is a name I certainly remember from my childhood. If you’re wondering what happened to Tyco, or what happened to Tyco RC, read on.

When I think of Tyco, I think of slot cars and trains. That might have been a problem. But its management had a solution.

Most valuable baseball cards of the 1990s

Dave Farquhar Baseball September 4, 2017October 23, 20171980s, 1990s, baseball cards, chrome, Fleer, minnesota twins, New York, Topps 2 Comments

Baseball cards were big in the 1980s, which led to overproduction and the baseball card bubble. That overproduction spilled over into the 1990s, and so did some of baseball’s scandals. Between that, and so many people buying and preserving cards during that decade, there aren’t a lot of super-valuable cards from the 1990s. But that doesn’t mean all 1990s baseball cards are worthless, and you’re more likely to find a stash from the ’90s than the ’70s. So let’s take a look at the most valuable baseball cards of the 1990s. The decade includes at least one big surprise.

The 1990s featured a number of exceptional players. And by late decade, the manufacturers had mostly sorted out their overproduction issues. Late 1990s cards also tend to be very attractive, with vivid colors and high quality photography. So the 1990s can be a nice decade to collect, even if the 1980s jaded you like it did me.

Least valuable baseball cards

Dave Farquhar Baseball August 29, 2017October 10, 20171980s, 1990s, Babe Ruth, baseball cards, Goudey, Jose Canseco, Kansas City, kansas city royals, kmart, pittsburgh pirates, Topps 0 Comment

I’ve talked about the most valuable baseball cards of the 1970s and 1980s. But what about the least valuable baseball cards? What does it take to be on that list? What is the Kmart blue-light special of baseball cards?

Commodore RAM expansion units

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 25, 2017November 10, 20181541, 1980s, 1990s, 6502, commodore, IBM, quantumlink, ram disk

The 6502-family CPUs in Commodore 8-bit computers famously used 64K of RAM at a time. But in 1985, Commodore introduced a cartridge that added up to 512K of RAM to the 128. Commodore followed up soon after with a 256K cartridge for the 64. How did Commodore RAM expansion units work?

Scale vs gauge: Not quite interchangeable

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains August 18, 2017November 25, 20181:64 scale, 1950s, 1960s, 1980s, 1990s, american flyer, HO, ho scale, lionel, Lionel 675, n scale, o gauge, o scale, s scale, Standard Gauge

Wondering about scale vs gauge? You’re not alone. It’s a common question, and I’ll try to provide a simple answer. The two terms may appear interchangeable, but they aren’t quite.

What is the purpose of a screen saver?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 15, 2017November 22, 20181990s, atari, best buy, blank screen, malware, spyware

What is the purpose of a screen saver? Screen savers served both a technical and a marketing purpose. From a technical perspective, the purpose of a screen saver was to keep an image from permanently being engraved in a CRT-based monitor’s phosphors. But it wasn’t long before screen savers started serving a vanity or entertainment purpose.

Commodore computer models

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 14, 2017August 16, 20181980s, 1990s, 6502, amiga, apple, CBM, Chuck Peddle, commodore, commodore 128, commodore 64, IBM, IEEE, KIM, MOS, motorola, Tandy, Texas Instruments, XT

The Commodore 64 is by far the most famous and successful computer Commodore ever made. But there were numerous Commodore computer models over the years. Some were also successful. Some were complete flops. Overall Commodore had a good 18-year run, but it could have been so much longer and better.

Let’s take a walk through the Commodore computer models from the beginning in 1976 to the bitter end in 1994.

Most valuable baseball cards of the 1970s

Dave Farquhar Baseball August 7, 2017December 13, 20171950s, 1980s, 1990s, andre dawson, baseball cards, cardinals, Kansas City, Topps, Willie Mays

Although the 1970s may not have been quite the golden era for baseball that, say, the 1950s were, the decade produced a good number of stars. An important thing to consider, too, is that many players Generation X grew up watching came up in the 1970s. That, along with lower production numbers, makes it an important decade in today’s market. Let’s take a year by year walk through the most valuable baseball cards of the 1970s.

Why did old PCs have a turbo button?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing August 1, 2017August 21, 20181980s, 1990s, benchmark, compaq, IBM, XT

Old PCs, especially PCs from the 1980s to the mid 1990s, have a button with the curious label “Turbo.” On some PCs, a number on the front changes when you push it. Why did old PCs have a turbo button?

Turbo buttons are a quirk of old PCs, kind of like their beige color that tends to turn yellow, but it served a functional purpose.

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