Heathkit

The Heath Company began as an aircraft business: Edward Bayard Heath bought Bates Aeroplane Co. in 1911 and sold the Heath Parasol light aircraft as a kit from 1926. Heath died in a test flight in 1931, the firm went bankrupt and moved to Niles, Michigan, and in 1935 Howard Anthony bought its name. In 1947 it launched its first electronic kit, the O1 oscilloscope with a five-inch tube, for $39.50.

Kits became the company. Test equipment, amateur radio, hi-fi amplifiers and tuners, and later televisions and computers all came in boxes of parts with famously clear manuals. After Anthony died in 1954 his widow sold the company to Daystrom, which Schlumberger absorbed in 1962; and Zenith bought Heath in 1979 for $63 million. Heath closed its stores and stopped making kits in March 1992, after 45 years.

The archive has the W4-AM tube amplifier and the XO-1 electronic crossover.

Heathkit: quick answers

When did Heath start selling electronic kits?

In 1947, with the O1 oscilloscope, which had a five-inch tube and cost $39.50.

When did Heathkit stop making kits?

Heath closed its stores and ended kit production in March 1992, after 45 years.

Who owned Heath over the years?

Howard Anthony bought the name in 1935. After his death in 1954 the company went to Daystrom, Schlumberger absorbed Daystrom in 1962, and Zenith bought Heath in 1979 for $63 million.