# Old school Edmund Scientific Catalogs **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 20, 2021, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338 "2021-02-20T10:10:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/1 "2021-02-20T10:10:25Z")
Anyone remember those from the mid-1970s? Sadly the company has turned into all optics (lenses and the like), but when I ordered from them regularly, they had quite the variety of stuff. I got my very first computer (an assemble-it-yourself job called JR-01) and this great thing for weather forecasting (had a specialized circular sliderule to generate codes for the forecast and a codebook to explain the codes), and quite a number of other geeky items. The reason I bring it up now is I’d like to get that weather forecaster, and maybe just reminisce while thumbing through the catalog online. So, anyone have any better luck than I did searching for the things online? ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/2 "2021-02-20T12:47:38Z")
I remember some of the computer stuff and some very early Edmund computer articles. But, most of the Edmund remnants in my garage are optics - sheets of polarizing material, lenses, frosted glass. Was the computer a Sinclair? Ebay or a specialty forum would be your best bet. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/3 "2021-02-20T13:13:05Z")
Absolutely remember these catalogs! I used to buy from them and visit their showroom. I still have various optical and non-optical things I bought from the showroom, the one in the back that was surplus, as well as the nicer showroom in front that was not surplus and was more expensive. They originally started as Edmund Salvage and now have evolved into industrial optics and I still buy from them, but more like I buy from Thorlabs et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/4 "2021-02-20T14:58:48Z")
I’ve no idea who made the thing. It was not even remotely close to the Tandy COCO 1~3 I got later on in life. For the JR-01, the programming and input were literally rewiring the machine, while the output was a single array of lights giving a binary number. I loved it! ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/5 "2021-02-20T15:00:15Z")
Showroom?! I never knew they had showrooms. I got hooked on the non-optical stuff while I was in high school in the Washington, DC area. The only optical thing I liked from them was the cool telescope that, IIRC, was the result of a design contest. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/6 "2021-02-20T15:06:30Z")
They had a showroom in New Jersey. I went there once to pick up a piece of plano-parallel glass. I think optics was it’s original business but they branched out with all the other gizmos and gadgets. I had a couple of those things, and wanted much more. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/7 "2021-02-20T15:08:49Z")
Jumping discs. ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/8 "2021-02-20T16:56:52Z")
I have their 1998 Annual Science Reference Catalog for Educators (Telescopes/Microscopes/Optics/Biology/Physics/Motors/Magnets) ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/9 "2021-02-20T17:10:24Z")
People who used to order from Edmunds might like American Science and Surplus. > **[American Science and Surplus](https://www.sciplus.com/)** > > American Science & Surplus offers science kits, educational toys, school supplies, arts and crafts items, hobby tools, scales, lab glass, housewares, electronics and much more all at discount closeout prices. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/10 "2021-02-20T17:10:53Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Showroom?! I never knew they had showrooms There’s a great little Wikipedia article about Edmund: > **[Edmund Scientific Corporation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Scientific_Corporation)** > > Edmund Scientific Corporation, based in Barrington, New Jersey, was founded in 1942 as a retailer of surplus optical parts like lenses. It later branched out into complete systems like telescopes and microscopes, and in the 1960s, a wide variety of science toys and kits. Through the 1970s and 80s they were best known for their mail order sales and associated catalogs, although they also maintained a retail presence at their factory store. > In 1984, the company split into Edmund Scientific and Edm... As far as I know the Barrington location was their only location and only consumer store. I haven’t been there in years. Used to be, you’d walk in and it’s a nice shiny store, perhaps expensive looking when you consider the display cases. In a corner off to the left was the Mad Scientist’s room which had some special items in it. I remember a piece of lab glassware the size of a small refrigerator. Then, toward the left rear of the main showroom was the surplus area, with loose items in big plywood bins. There’s a picture of that in the Wikipedia article. Lots of images of it if you google the following words and phrase" “edmund scientific” store barrington ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/11 "2021-02-20T21:48:13Z")
A couple online copies at Internet Archive: > **[Edmund Catalog 671 : Edmund Scientific Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and...](https://archive.org/details/edmund-scientific-co-catalog-671)** > > 148 p., illus., 21.3 cm, trade catalog > **[Edmund Scientific Catalog, 1979 fall/winter 801: : Free Download, Borrow, and...](https://archive.org/details/TNM_Edmund_Scientific_Catalog_1979_fall-winter_80_20180119_0115)** You can buy copies on eBay. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/12 "2021-02-20T21:51:03Z")
Apparently, the non-lens based part of Edmunds can be found here: [Educational Science Toys, Kits & Equipment Online - ScientificsOnline.com](https://www.scientificsonline.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/13 "2021-02-20T22:06:47Z")
Oh, I loved the Edmund Scientific catalog. I couldn’t afford almost anything in it, but it set my Jr. Mad Scientist blood racing. He-Ne lasers! Large telescopes! I did get some jumping discs from them, and a little pocket telescope. But I read those catalogs cover to cover, over and over again. Another catalog like that was Heathkit. Couldn’t afford any of their kits, but I drooled over the computers, the HERO robot, and the HAM radio gear. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/14 "2021-02-20T23:12:46Z")
Ahhh, the DIY days of my childhood. Order stuff from the Edmunds catalog to supplement your Heathkit 10-in-1 Electronics Kit… while you made fireworks (with chemicals from the Caseco Pyrotechnics catalog), wearing the down vest that your mom sewed from a Frostline kit for you! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/15 "2021-02-20T23:16:27Z")
I made my one and only telescope using their optics and their manuals. I started grinding my own mirror, but that didn’t seem to be making any impact on the glass after running out of compound, so I went and bought a completed mirror. I still have the books. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/16 "2021-02-20T23:20:46Z")
I have vague memories of Edmunds. I think we still have a Prism floating around somewhere from them. Not really the same, but American Science Surplus is a fun site with lots of interesting and oddball stuff. [https://www.sciplus.com/](https://www.sciplus.com/) Which I see was mentioned 6 hours ago. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/17 "2021-02-20T23:28:47Z")
Loved it! Stopping there was a special treat on the way to a relative’s. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/18 "2021-02-20T23:52:22Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I made my one and only telescope using their optics and their manuals. Me, too, though I never attempted to grind my own mirror. When I was a kid I bought a ready-made mirror from them. That, and the 45-degree reflecting prism were the only things I bought. Everything else was homemade, or scavenged from something else. It was a real low-budget effort. But it worked, and I actually saw the rings of Saturn with it. I think I was maybe 12 or so. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/19 "2021-02-21T02:00:08Z")
More recently, there’s [Jameco Electronics.](https://www.jameco.com/). I spent a lot of my disposable income there in college. So, not that recent ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-school-edmund-scientific-catalogs/933338/20 "2021-02-21T04:24:26Z")
I bought quite a bit of components from Digikey. Think they are geared towards manufacturers (can get stuff in quantities of 1000) but individual sales can happen. Brian