Remember when Gasser's sold electric model trains?
Remember when Gasser's sold electric model trains?
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Hasselblad USA did camera check seminars back during that time. Once took in the two Hasselblad bodies (2000 FCM and 2000 FCW) to have them checked. During the shutter speed test their tech did something to the 2000FCM which cause the shutter to jam. Not pleased an did not allow the to check the 2000FCW body. They had to take in the jammed 2000FCM and sent it in for service. Some days later, the once jammed 2000FCM was received repaired and went on continuing to burn LOTs of film.
How different the camera industry and Foto industry was back then. Possible we met at Gassers back in the day, remembering that would be iffy at best.
Bernice
Originally Posted by Bob Salomon
That was at the Geary St store, not the 2nd St main store.Remember when Gasser's sold electric model trains?
I spent lots of time at Gassers as well as the other N CA stores.
In fact, when I was in the AF Terry Schuchat was the OIC of my squadron. So I also called on him as well as Jim and Carla frequently.
So we could easily have met over over the years. But since I did so many shows and demos at dealers out there I would not have remembered.
If you know Bill Hodges he could probably tell you if we had met.
For a significant percentage of students (anyone whose parents make $125K/year or less), tuition is $0 now. Under $65K and tuition, room and board are covered. Stanford has always had need-blind admissions and, thanks to a significant endowment, offers some form of financial aid to about 70% of students (https://financialaid.stanford.edu/undergrad/). Stanford students graduate with a lower average student loan debt than public university students: https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/06/...-the-bay-area/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/drew_saunders/
Sorry for the derail. Here is an interesting website for exploring these issues: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...ord-university . Plug in any college's name in addition to Stanford. While it is true that high-endowment universities now are more generous with financial aid than state universities, and some graduate students with less debt, they also are serving a higher income population to begin with (Stanford student median family income $168K, San Jose State $95K, etc). I work at a state university, and have discussed these issues with people at private universities. While high state univ tuition and student loans are a plague that I wish would disappear, state unis still serve populations that wealthy institutions don't as much. One issue is that many less-wealthy students don't even realize that they could afford a Stanford, and don't apply.
Back on track - Bernice, are you going to continue the journey down Highway 1? I would strongly recommend a trip to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The place along Hwy 1 where Waddell Creek lets out into the Pacific is especially striking.
Dream on. Students still have to live somewhere and eat. The CA college and university system was originally set up so that, tuition-wise at least, qualified candidates could graduate debt free. Now that's not even remotely the case. I scrounged, but didn't owe anyone a penny afterwards. But in this area I did have the advantage of getting out a lot. Couldn't dream of shooting anything more than my little Pentax H1. Had to go to the bakery to get day old bread, to the supermarket to get dented cans they were about to throw out, to hippie families who wouldn't touch their free govt handout nutritious grains or cheese because it didn't comply with some guru's macrobiotic diet rules. Drove a battered VW bug with the ignition working via a paper clip and piece of baling wire. Only the hand brake worked. Lived right on the beach nr Hwy 1 for awhile. That area was economically depressed back then; now only multi-millionaires can afford beachfront. Kept a saltwater aquarium just by renewing the water with a bucket and rope over the cliff twice a day. Easy walk to the redwoods.
Must be a SF thing! I put on a new rep for N CA to replace our former one who only drove self imported Mercedes basic taxi cab versions.
The first trip with the new rep we had to stop at Schafer’s. He had an AM antique. We parked on a fairly steep hill. When we got back to the car he asked me to get in the driver’s seat. He opened the hood, grabbed a pair of pliers from his case, squeezed something and told me to start the car. Once it started he closed the hood and we switched seats and drove away!
No. Just a poverty thing for me. I dropped out of school for a year to earn enough money to finish. Ironically, I had no problem finding work plus super low rent on the coast. Surfers lived by theft, hippies either didn't work or got into drug distribution. At that time, Santa Cruz was a key segment of the heroin pipeline and the per capita murder capitol of the country. The town itself was relatively safe, but you had to be careful where you went way back in the woods. There were also a number of truly deadly religious cults. When I wanted to get over the hill to the inner Bay Area, I had to hitch a ride. That little Bug could barely get over the summit. Lots and lots of memories. But there was a vacuum in local labor skills, so I found legit income on the coast rather easily. About a decade later I was being represented by galleries in Carmel, so needed to return to the area from time to time. Later my sister's husband got a professorship at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, so I had a place to stay on weekends. Then when my dad got too old to live alone in the Sierra, we moved him there too, and on weekends I'd take him for long drives all through the back roads of Big Sur country. Like me, his idea of getting from Point A to Point B is by using the narrowest twistiest quietest road possible. We had wonderful times discussing the flora, fauna, geology, and local history.
I used to sell Oahus beam scales and my largest dealer for them, several per month, was a very small camera store in Stroudsburg, PA. After one sale I asked the owner what was his secret to selling so many each month.
His answer was that he did nothing other then have them in stock, but being rural along the Delaware River in a farming area there were a lot of hippies growing pot that continually get busted. The cops would confiscate all their equipment, as well as destroy the crop. So after each bust they needed new scales.
And I had hoped to pass on his wisdom to larger dealers in the NY, NJ, PA area!
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