I remember recently reading somewhere that Harry Stine's strategy for MMI was to sell the kits through hobby shops, and that was what ultimately led to the company's failure. One of Vern Estes' first innovations when he set up Estes Industries was to sell via mail order, which turned out to be a wildly successful way to sell model rocketry in the 1960's. (The many extra touches and value additions that Vern provided for his customers certainly helped too, of course! And then there was the sheer quality of the products from EI, too!)

It seemed to me at the time that the retail hobby channel was undergoing tremendous growth in the 1960's and '70's, and I think now that it was due in part to the arrival of at least two runaway hits: model rocketry and slot car racing. By the mid-'70's, you could find any number of hobby shops in just about any small- to medium-sized city in America, as I recall. (My involvement in model rocketry was on "temporary" hold by then, but I do recall seeing all the hobby shops.) I suspect that there were never so many hobby shops in business prior to the 1960's; I have never seen any figures, but I would speculate that the state of the retail hobby channel in the early '50's was probably rather similar to what it is today, but without the large chain hobby stores. The fact that a huge new market of pre-teen and teenaged Boomers had arrived on the scene probably helped spur that subsequent growth, too.

(By the way, slot-cars (Aurora HO) were my other passion back then, but my interest in them faded a bit when I discovered model rocketry. )

Mark

__________________
SAM # 0011

Actually it was Harry's brother-in-law that wanted to go mail-order (and Harry supported him). Harry's college roomie was the one that wanted to stay with the hobby shops. The contention over that was the reason Harry got booted from MMI.

See "G. Harry Stine Personal Memoirs – The formative years of model rocketry, 1957-1962" over at www.questaerospace.com/museum.asp for the story.

__________________
Roy
nar12605

The odd thing for me was that my parents were NOT supportive of my interest in model rocketry at first. They had this feeling that there was something vaguely criminal about it. Oh, sure, maybe kids in places like Colorado or Texas could buy rocket motors and launch model rockets, but those places were more wide open and the laws about product safety and about selling dangerous products to minors were less stringent (or less "developed") out there, they thought. I bought my first starter set and my first rocket motors with lawn mowing money, and had built and launched my Alpha once before I ever told them. My folks were both, in all other respects, pretty open-minded and tolerant people from Detroit. But my mother was sure that I was going to blow off my hand, and my Dad lectured me about how kids that develop an interest in building their own rockets pretty soon move on to more dangerous pursuits, usually with bad results (either injury or arrest and prison, or both).

At first my folks tried to forbid me from launching any more rockets (I was 13 at the time), but after I showed them the literature I had from Estes Industries and the motors and equipment that I had bought, and also told them that my comrade-in-arms, so to speak (comrade-in-thrust?), a schoolmate and neighbor, was the Scoutmaster's son (and an Eagle Scout, no less), they relented. My older brother also told them that he didn't see much potential there for me to hurt myself no matter what I did, which also helped to sway them.

From then on they mantained a rather bemused, but never quite supportive, attitude toward my rocketry activities. (I was smart enough not to bring up the subject in dinner conversations, too.) And I am sure that they must have breathed a big sigh of relief when they saw that I had left my model rocket stuff at home when I went off to college. (All of it eventually wound up in the trash, without my knowledge.)

THe ironic thing about all that was that I, too, had been somewhat skeptical when I first began seeing ads from a few model rocketry companies (Centuri's ads are the ones that I remember) in the back of Boy's Life magazine, too. I wasn't sure if I should trust them when they said that it was safe and legal. But then I saw the ads from Estes Industries, with the picture of Vern Estes and those two boys, and I decided right away that this was a man who I could trust.

And the rest, as they say, is history...

Mark

__________________
SAM # 0011

I stand corrected. It is just another instance of G. Harry Stine's foresight that was ultimately vindicated.

Mark

__________________
SAM # 0011

"Bemused, but never supportive," could be said of my parents as well, as least my mom. My dad may have been a little more supportive; he did take me to see the farmers he thought might have enough land for rockets (of course none of them wanted me flying on their land, but my dad would have a good time talking with them for an hour or so while I sat disappointed and bored over all the farming talk).

Then again, they did drive me 60 miles to Atlanta every month or two to fly rockets with John Langford and the MASER section. And I did convince them to take me to NARAM-13, but that was only because I showed how we could visit relatives in DC on the way up, and NC on the way back.

But still, my mom was praying for the day I'd stop wasting my time with those silly little rockets.

__________________
Roy
nar12605

LOL!! Reminds me of my very first launch, the Astron Alpha on the Electro Launch Pad, back
in the summer of 1969. My mom was so afraid that the Alpha would blow up that she locked
herself in the car while my dad took this pic of that very first launch....

Pic comes from a slide; place is at the C. W. Ruckel Jr. High School grounds at Niceville, FL.
BTW, I'm 13 years old then, too!

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.

Hah! Is it possible that that your Dad wasn't really trying to find a launch field for you?


That would have been totally out of the question in my case. But then, if there had been a club that put on organized launches in my area, perhaps my folks might have had a different attitude toward my hobby. (It may sound incredible, but I never attended an organized launch until 2006.)


Making sure that there is something in it for them - always a good negotiating technique!


I know what it is like to deal with that attitude. In fact, I still do, but it is no longer my Mom that is doing the praying...

Mark

__________________
SAM # 0011

I wish that my folks had actually seen my first launch of my Alpha; if they had, they might not have been so worried. The 1/2A motor (or was it a 1/4A?) that was included in the starter set didn't put it up very high, to say the least. My friend Danny was my witness as I pressed the launch button. The Alpha struggled its way to about 25-30 ft., and then fell, ejecting the chute after it had already hit the ground. Danny couldn't stop laughing; neither could my brother when I told him about it afterwards. My brother wisecracked that I could have thrown the rocket higher than that! That was when he assured my folks that no matter what stupid thing I did with my rockets, there was practically no chance that I could hurt myself or someone else.

(After that experience, I immediately placed an order to Estes for some B6-4 engines. Those worked much better!)

Mark

__________________
SAM # 0011

The two engines that came with the Deluxe Starter Set were the 1/2A6-2 & A8-3.

__________________
Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.

If you only got that from a 1/2A6-2, you must've painted that rocket with house paint!

I lost my first flight on an A8-3. Totally surprised us all how high it went (from an 11 year old's perspective!).

__________________
Roy
nar12605