Books by Philip S.
Harrington
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Nights of Future Passed
Here's a fun look back at some amateur telescopes from days gone by.
Some were great, some not so good. I'll leave it up to you to decide which
is which!
Choose your decade:
Click on the thumbnails
to see the fine print.
1950's

Thanks to
Peter Economides
for this 1959
photo, taken in Long Beach, CA! |
Cave Optical
Tom Cave, an exceptionally talent
planetary observer, began selling his line of highly coveted Astrola
reflectors back in the 1950s. His telescopes had a loyal following
and were considered among the finest amateur telescopes during the 1960s,
but began to lose prominence as delivery times slipped later in the
decade. By the 1970s, their fate had been sealed with the advent of
far more portable Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes. But, Cave Astrola
Newtonians still have many loyal owners to this day.
Wonder if that Corvette was
Cave's? |

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Image at left courtesy of Mike Gilmer |
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Coast Instrument
Coast was one of the early companies to
offer factory-built Newtonian reflectors. Their line of
Treckerscopes attracted a good amount of attention back in 1959 when this
ad ran, although their prices were higher than some competition.
Still, they became known for excellent optics and their unique
"Hydro-Glide" focuser, an early version of today's popular
Crayford focuser.
The less expensive 6-inch Pathfinder
included a scaled-down equatorial mount, helical focuser, and rotating
steel tube as standard, but a clock drive and setting circles were extra. My
thanks to Lewis Chilton for the photo of the Coast storefront, circa 1957! |
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Criterion Manufacturing
Co.
This early ad for Criterion's venerable
RV-6 reflector appeared in 1959. Compare it to the ad from 1968
and you'll quickly see several differences. But like the popular
Volkswagen Beetle of the day, changes were subtle. And also like the
Beetle, the RV-6 proved to be dependable and extremely popular
transportation to the universe for more than a decade. |
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Criterion's
1955 mirror/accessory catalog looks remarkably similar to later editions
from the 1960s, save for the cover. Click on the thumbnail at the left to open a PDF file of
the catalog.
Catalog images courtesy of Richard Sanderson |
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Criterion's
line of Custom Dynascopes set the bar for all top-end Newtonians of the
era. Click on the thumbnail at the left to open a PDF file of
Criterion's 1958 catalog.
Catalog courtesy of Rob Guasto |
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Edmund Scientific Corp.
This ad from March 1956 shows some of
Edmund's mainstay astronomical products that would go on to dominate the
market for better than a decade. Of particular note are the 3-inch
f/10 and 6-inch f/8 Newtonians.
But I find the Spitz Moonscope especially interesting. For $15, you
got a 3-inch scope on a pre-Dobsonian Dobsonian mount made of plastic and
standing on three wooden legs. |
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Garth Optical
Although the name is unrecognized by today's amateur astronomers, Garth Optical in Springfield, Massachusetts, was one of the earliest companies to sell complete Newtonian
reflectors on German equatorial mounts. This ad from 1956 shows their 6-inch and 8-inch models.
Take a look at those prices, and consider what they would translate to in today's dollars, given inflation over the past half-century. The Garthoscope 6, which retailed for $310 in 1956, would sell today for
more than $2,100!
Working the other way, an Orion Telescopes SkyQuest XT6 Classic, which carries a sticker price of $260 today, would have sold
for $38 in 1956. |
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Harmonic Reed
Here's an excerpt from the Smithsonian
Institute's National
Museum of American History:
The Spitz Junior was developed by two Pennsylvania entrepreneurs.
One was Armand Spitz who had previously developed a projection
planetarium for public use. The other was Thomas Liversidge, proprietor
of the Harmonic Reed Corporation, a firm that produced musical
instruments and toys. While Spitz held the basic patent, Liversidge and
his engineers figured out how to manufacture the instrument.
The first advertisements for the Spitz Junior appeared in early
1954 and the instrument was manufactured until about 1972. Altogether,
over a million were produced.
The ad here is from 1957. |
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J.W. Fecker, Inc.
Fecker produced
many telescopes both small and large beginning in the 1880's until 2000,
when they were bought out by Brashear
LP. Although most of their telescopes were aimed at professional
observatories and institutions, they also entered the amateur market with
this 4-inch f/8.75 Newtonian. A nice telescope to be sure, although
only as few hundred were made. Not too surprising when you consider
the selling price of nearly $200 back in 1956! In today's
dollars, that's equivalent to $1,495.
In 1958, Fecker's line was
expanded to include this 6-inch catadioptric (Maksutov?) for $495. That's more than
$3,500 today! The 6 only stayed in production for about a year and
half, with perhaps only 50 produced. Image at
left courtesy of Mike Gilmer |

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Questar Corporation
Many telescopes have come and gone in the
past half century, but the Questar 3.5 is one that has stood the test of
time. Largely unchanged in outward appearance since it first
appeared in the 1950s, the Questar epitomizes the amateur telescope as an
art form. The Questar 3.5 cost $795 back in 1952 when this ad
appeared, which translates to a staggering $5,679. |
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Spacek Instrument Co.
Not a popular name today, but 50 years
ago, Spacek made a nice line of 3- to 6-inch Newtonian reflectors on
typical-for-the-era German equatorial mounts. Priced higher than
other brands, like Criterion and Edmund, Spacek telescopes came and
went fairly quickly. |
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Tinsley
Cutting edge astrophotography in the age
of Bill Haley and the Comets.
Image at left courtesy of Mike Gilmer |
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United Scientific
Company (Unitron)
Unitron was one of
the leading telescope manufacturers a half century ago. This advertisement from 1954 shows "America's fastest selling telescope"
being inspected by a confused stockroom worker, Janice.
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By 1959, Unitron
had established itself as the pre-eminent manufacturer of
refractors. How about this pedestal-mounted 4-inch for $1,280,
cmplete with mounting, Super-Unihex rotating eyepiece holder, 10x42
finderscope, and 2.4-inch guidescope.
"Hey, ma, it's clear out; time to
crank up the ol' clock drive." |

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Remember the
Unihex rotatable eyepiece holder? It didn't come more hi-tech than
that!
Image at left courtesy of Mike Gilmer |
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Vega Instruments
Think Maksutov-Newtonians are new?
Think again! This 6-inch Mak-Newt, from Vega Instruments in the late
1950s, was much too expensive for the average amateur astronomer of the
day. But today, they are prized among collectors.
Image at left courtesy of Mike Gilmer |
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