In “State of Electronics” this week, we look at the early years of “Electronics Retailing”. “The Dusty Years” is about the struggle for early hobbyists in the field of electronics, in sourcing components. It follows on from their initial steps in scavenging for parts at the Tip, council pickup days & donation of parts by looking at how new parts were sourced pre 1970. Early electronics stores were mostly over the counter experiences, served by “dusty” people and old school professionalism. To the young enthusiast, these early retail experiences were intimidating and inefficient but were quite literally their only choices. “If you couldn’t find or swap, you had to go to the shop” says Ian O’Toole. While Disposal and Surplus stores fuelled some creative minds with opportunity, the overall retail experience was seen as pretty bleak prior to the 1970’s. Mostly, the retailing of electronics after the second world war was based around Radio and then TV, and was geared towards the trade and not hobbyists. At the beginning of the 1970’s however, a retail revolution was beginning to form in Australia, that made the careers of Dick Smith, Gary Johnston and others.