Starting dates are difficult. Take the companies started by Edward Bayard Heath (1888 – 1931), often described as an American aircraft engineer, who built assorted planes starting in 1909. He purchased the Chicago-based Bates Aeroplane Company in 1912, renaming it E.B. Heath Aerial Vehicle Co., which became the Heath Airplane Company. This company produced kit aircraft, most notably the Heath Parasol series powered with Henderson Motorcycle engines. Heath died in an aircraft accident.
In 1935, Howard Anthony (1912 – 1954) purchased the then-bankrupt Heath Company, and focused on selling accessories for small aircraft. After World War II, Anthony decided that entering the electronics industry was a good idea, and bought a large stock of surplus wartime electronic parts with the intention of building kits with them. Heathkit manufactured electronic kits starting in 1947. Heath’s first electronic kit was the O1 oscilloscope with 5-inch diameter cathode-ray tube (CRT) display. Anthony died in another aircraft accident.
After Anthony’s death, the company was sold to Daystrom Company, a management holding company that also owned several other electronics companies. Daystrom was absorbed by oilfield service company Schlumberger Limited in 1962, and the Daystrom/Schlumberger days were to be among Heathkit’s most successful. Products included electronic test equipment, high fidelity home audio equipment, television receivers, amateur radio equipment, robots, electronic ignition conversion modules for early model cars with point style ignitions, and hobbyist computers.
The success of Heathkit was dependent on the working and middle classes realizing that kits gave them the ability to acquire equipment once reserved for the upper class. Another part of this solution was the rise of TV and radio repair shops. This meant that equipment could be repaired. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, it meant young electronics enthusiasts had the means to explore their interests. Heath-equipped test benches could be set up wherever space permitted: basements, attics and garages. These became the proving grounds for a new generation of technicians. Amateur radio operators will also note that with its introduction of amateur radio products, Heath brought tens of thousands of new operators into that hobby.
Kits were produced in small batches mostly by hand, using simple roller conveyor lines, that were put up and taken down as needed. Some kits were sold completely assembled and tested in the factory. These models were differentiated with a W = factory wired, suffix after the model number.
For much of Heathkit’s history, there were competitors. In electronic kits: Allied Radio, an electronic parts supply house = KnightKits; Dynaco made audio product kits = Dynakits; Eico; Fisher; David Hafler Company; Lafayette Radio; Radio Shack = Archerkit; H. H. Scott, Inc. and Southwest Technical Products.
Heathkit’s approach to electronics required no knowledge of electronics to assemble a Heathkit. The assembly process provided basic electronics literacy, such as the ability to identify tube pin numbers or to read a resistor color code. Assemblers who wanted to be able to troubleshoot/repair the product, could use assembly manuals that were clearly written, profusely illustrated and usually included a detailed Theory of Operation chapter, which explained the functioning of the kit’s circuitry, section by section.
In 1979, Zenith bought Heath, but Zenith was interested only in Heath’s computer products and an opportunity to siphon off huge quantities of cash and other resources to pursue its own agenda. This internal destruction resulted in layoffs and a plunge in company morale. Heath’s original customer base was aging, and younger people had neither the time or inclination to assemble kits. The age of instant gratification had arrived.
Heath stopped manufacturing kits in 1992, but continued to make products for education, and motion-sensor lighting controls. The lighting control business was sold around 2000. The company announced in 2011 that they were reentering the kit business after a 20-year hiatus. However, that did not seem to happen. It filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2012.
The Heath kits I am familiar with always identified their origin as Benton Harbor, a city in Berrien county, Michigan state. According to the 2020 census, its population was north of 9 100 people. It is the smaller, by population, of the two principal cities in the Niles–Benton Harbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area with 156,813 people. Benton Harbor and the city of St. Joseph are separated by the St. Joseph River.
Currently, there appears to be an online store operating under the name of Heathkit. However, the About section of their website is vague, at best.
For many years, it has no longer been cost-effective to assemble kits. The price difference between kit and finished product, is small, especially when takes into consideration the possibility of making an mistake that damages a component or sub-assembly. Repairing that damage will be difficult and expensive because electronic = radio and television, repair shops are no longer ubiquitous, or cheap. This situation applies both before and after the imposition of large tariffs on products.
From about 2010, there has been an emphasis on microprocessor based kits. These include products from: Arduino (outdated), Raspberry Pi (too expensive), ESP8266 (outdated) and ESP32.
Note: in the above text a population was adjusted from 9 103 people in order to add the phrase north of. Someone I know had recently commented that she disliked this expression north of to refer to something greater than or more generally above, while south of referred to something less than or below. Here, the term is used simply to give attention to the problem. She felt this was a misuse of language, by adding an unnecessary obstacle to understanding. I thought I would test out this assumption. If, when you initially read the phrase, you reacted negatively or positively to its use, please contact me by email or some other way. Should I receive any replies, I will tally up the pros and cons and put them in a comment, after a week. If no one can be bothered to reply, there will be no comment.
