Early electronics is a passion for one local man who's got televisions that date back as early as 1946.
Mike Heim, who grew up in Prince George, has a collection of televisions at Books & Co., from the Atomic Age. One of his favourites is on display right now. It's a working 1960 Motorola Astronaut. It's part of the space race, Cold War, Vietnam war era that resulted in the emergence of the transistor age, Heim said.
Heim started his career doing repairs on electronics but that died off in the 80s.
"Things went from repairable to throw away and that pretty much ended that career," said Heim, who now does work in the industrial sector, maintaining and repairing heavy machinery, as well as fitness equipment repair and installation.
"I do have a fascination with vintage televisions," said Heim, who's got 30 vintage TVs. "The earlier stuff was hand-produced and uniquely fabricated and were more prototypes than anything else -- those are the types of televisions that appeal to me. Now things are mass produced and more stream lined. When you start looking at the older televisions they're quite fascinating. "
Heim enjoys sharing his finds with others and it took a great while to find a venue suitable for his display. Jim Brinkman, owner of Books & Co., has provided the showcase and Heim said he's very grateful for the opportunity.
He's already got an idea for his next display to be for the Golden Age of Television, featuring a 1951 TV Guide and the first pay television.
Heim donated a television to The Producers set for authenticity and he was happy to do it.
In the future Heim is looking for a way to show people how he restores the vintage sets from how he gets them to fully functional but that might just have to be in pictorial form.
Heim said he'll be changing the display every month or so to keep things fresh and interesting for Books & Co. patrons.
