Talk:Lafayette Radio Electronics

No References
Looks like a lot of great information is contained in this article that is available no where else. I wish it was backed up by citations to reliable references. Otherwise, it's just one, long, personal essay. Nice read, but not suitable for an encyclopedia. Hate to see it deleted. Any sources? - LuckyLouie 04:43, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

This info is a rare find, and I disagree with LuckyLouie that it is "not suitable for an encyclopedia". Until somewhere else is established to store this information and make it available when queried, leave it in Wikipedia. Someone went to a lot of trouble to include these details even though there are no citations to reliable references. But some information, much of it accurate and maybe some not so, is way better than having no historical record of it ever existing at all. 71.125.139.64 20:44, 26 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree with you 71.125.139.64, it is a low traffic article and likely won't be purged of unsourced material. Yet according to WP:RS, the material, however well-intentioned and intrinsically valuable, can be removed by any registered account. Rather than hope that this article will escape scrutiny why not encourage someone with access to Library or historic records in L.I., N.Y. to contribute sources? - LuckyLouie 01:25, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

--- I spent much of my youth at various Lafayette stores. My father took me to loft building at 100 6th Ave in Manhattan to buy our first Fisher 400 receiver setup, complete with low-end Garrard changer and Lafayette SK-300 speakers. I still have several Lafayette items new in sealed boxes. What amazes me is how a major retailer that had such a large footprint in its industry could so totally vaporize from the historical record. A few years ago the nephew of the founder of LRE, whose name I can only remember as Abe Pletman, put up a history of Lafayette on the internet. It has disappeared. I am not familiar with much of what the author writes about Lafayette, but I have no reason to reject his chronicle. Those parts that I do recognize are correct, as far as I can remember. One death of Lafayette (there were 2 bankruptcies, as I recall) occurred after the FCC mandated that CB radios must have 40 channels as of a certain date. Apparently Lafayette's Japanese manufacturers knew about this change of law, but Lafayette didn't. LRE was stuck with a warehouse full of 23 channel CB radios. -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lusciousbobby (talk • contribs) 17:09, 27 December 2007 (UTC) Lusciousbobby (talk) 17:16, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

I purchased parts for amateur radio in the mid 1970's in lower mid Michigan. In one instance I requested numerous resistors, and after some days, was to be charged S/H, which I refused, expecting the price in the catalog. I've heard the store nicknamed "Laugh A Lot". Lawrence —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.57.53.31 (talk) 01:51, 19 February 2008 (UTC) --- I have a Lafayette Model F-342 Telescope with an oak tripod and oak storage box. The storage box says it is a "Lafayette Astronomical Telescope" and some of the instructions say it is a Lafayette F-342 Polaris Telescope". It saw a lot of use when I was a boy and still works well, although not as powerful as some starter telescopes produced today. There seem to be a few about, as I see occasional posts asking for where to get replacement parts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.198.251.142 (talk) 23:36, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Store Locations
I worked at a Lafayette Associate store in Salisbury, Maryland and was manager of another in Ocean City (also MD) from ‘69-‘71. We sold a wide range of audio gear, CB sets, and electronic components. Back then they were still somewhat affordable and it wasn’t unusual to walk in to the store and have one of the salesmen or technicians explain what components did and what you needed. They actually knew what they were doing. I bought tons of stuff from Lafayette and never had anything that failed to do what it was supposed to. 4-13-21 — Preceding unsigned comment added by RangerJ (talk • contribs) 17:42, 13 April 2021 (UTC)

There was an Orem, Utah, Lafayette store located at 291 East University Parkway. I shopped there often in the late 70's early 80's. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.27.153.167 (talk) 04:55, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

There was a store in the Bronx, NY located on 542 East Fordham Road near Third Avenue. I shopped there no later than 1965. accessed 3/17/20011--Zoetmb (talk) 21:36, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

There was a store outside Kings Plaza in Brooklyn in the 70s. I don't think it was on Flatbush Ave, perhaps on E.53rd St? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.250.111.226 (talk) 17:53, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

The store was on Flatbush Ave, between U and V [opposite The Plaza]. I used to go to hamfests for tubes, as my stereo was and still is tubed. About 20 years ago, I met and befriended a former head engineer from Lafayette, who was selling tubes from the trunk of his car. His name was Ed Duda. The guy was something else. Give him a bowl of pasta, and he could fabricate a functioning radio from it. R.I.P. my friend. About Ed- While working for Lafayette, he was handed this little 3-pin high-impedence amplification gadget that had been given to his boss by an engineer from Bell Telephone. It was a transistor. Ed designed THE FIRST transistor radio around that transistor. It required a custom shrunk-down transformer by Stancore as well as some other custom things. Lafayette then marketed that radio as a kit. Lafayette made the money. Ed got a verbal 'Thank You.' — Preceding unsigned comment added by Notransistors (talk • contribs) 18:52, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

Say What?
I think this statement needs clarification: "The company offered a free 400-page catalog filled with descriptions of vast quantities of electronic gear, including microphones, tape recorders, speakers, and other components that could be obtained for free by mailing in a coupon."

I remember Lafayette, used to get their catalogs, and bought stuff from them when I was a kid. I don't recall them giving away any of that gear or components "for free by mailing in a coupon". Did the writer prehaps mean to say that the catalog could be obtained for free? If so, the sentence is redundant, since it says this twice.

At any rate, the statement either needs to be rewritten, or some clarifying explanation needs to be added. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.206.183.96 (talk) 09:06, 15 September 2013 (UTC)

Lafayette Radio Electronics and New International Electronics
Was there a commercial link between Lafayette Radio Electronics and New International Electronics?

I have two empty 1/4" reel-to-reel magnetic recording-tape boxes, which are identical in construction, graphic design, print colours, font type and colour, except for the following:

Box 1: Printed "Lafayette Radio Electronics", centre Box 2: Printed "New International Electronics", centre

Box 1: Nine LRE store addresses, centre left Box 2: tape running-times, centre left

Box 1: graphic of the Mail Order Sales Center, lower left Box 2: graphic of the world, lower left

Box 1: Syosset store address and phone number, lower centre Box 2: "MADE IN THE USA TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS", lower centre

Box 1: label reading "RT 13 cat no. 2400' MYLAR", top right and box edge Box 2: label reading "RT 13 2400' POLYESTER", top right and box edge

I've found no information on New International Electronics but the identical features of the boxes and the same catalogue number indicate a connection. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stuart6363 (talk • contribs) 11:03, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

Advertising
As someone who grew up in Chicago during the 1960's and 1970's I can recall the Lafayette slogan, "Your Complete Electronics Shopping Center" which was incorporated into a radio jingle I think ran during the early 1970's. There appear to be only three sources corroborating this, including this link:

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/139644415/

The slogan is in the OCR section. I cannot, however, find a radio jingle. Should I list both the slogan and the jingle? Or just the slogan with a link to this article?

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September 2020
Former addresses are factual content and should NOT be deleted.

Addresses of former store locations has been deleted AGAIN. Actions such as this is one of the reasons why many colleges and universities disallow the use of Wikipedia as a reference source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.68.120.178 (talk • contribs) >
 * Actually, unverifiable material inserted by IPs in defiance of WP:V and WP:OR is why Wikipedia can be unreliable for academic use. - LuckyLouie (talk) 17:25, 5 September 2020 (UTC)

Picture of actual product question
I've got a 'Lafayette Solid State Fuzz Sound (99-9199)' in box. I originally bought one for myself as it was very inexpensive compared to others made by 'name' manufacturers such as Gibson, Fender, Univox, Vox and others. Sold it years ago when I upgraded to a Univox Super Fuzz ($40) from LRE also. The current one I mentioned was given to me by a friend. Would this be worth photographing and adding to the article? I don't think it would be considered OR by Wikipedia, but it may not be an appropriate/valuable addition. Thanks for any input.

As an aside: Lafayette was the place I bought most of the early music gear I used via mail order - the above mentioned fuzz boxes, wah-wah pedal, reverb unit for my amp, microphone, turntable and tubes for my 2 guitar amps (which were a very good price at the time). It pre-dated Musician's Supply in that area. THX1136 (talk) 21:39, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
 * <—— Wikimedia Commons has some photos of Lafayette products, why not add it there and leave a note here so other editors can find it. - LuckyLouie (talk) 22:29, 1 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the suggestion. THX1136 (talk) 00:21, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
 * Uploaded a photo of the fuzz box. It can be found here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lafayette_Solid_State_Fuzz_Sound.jpg THX1136 (talk) 00:52, 4 May 2021 (UTC)