Old Industrial Catalogues, keep, donate, recycle

[BryanG]

Sorting through years of 'stuff' (that is the polite word). I have industrial catalogues from 1988, is there someone who collects this stuff or does the paper recycling centre get a bonus delivery? Catalogues older than some of the members of the forum.

This my 'stuff', I haven't started on my Dads, he had sales and design literature from the 1950s, English Electric, GEC (not GE) and from times when electricity just went in one direction.

Seems a shame to just chuck this stuff out, but I am trying to defeat the hoarding devil who is saying 'just keep it for a bit longer'.

 

[JesperMP]

Keep a few !
I suggest the catalogues with the best pictures

It is a big part of our lives, and noone else understand the history or the significance.
My company had several Siemens PG685 complete in metal hard-cases (*).
At one point they were scrapped when the basement was cleaned up.
They were absolutely massive, but today I regret that I didnt keep one of them.

*: Insane, even without the hard-cases they would survive being run over by a tank. Why we had them in the hard-cases is odd. I guess they were so valuable that they needed the extra protection. Imagine traveling with these things, which happened.

 

[BryanG]

I suggest the catalogues with the best pictures

I really don't get 'steamy' over pictures of a pretty contactor, not even a mechanically interlocked reversing pair. .
Control Gear P*rn, could be a whole new thing, or maybe I am naive and it is already a thing.

 

[Holmux]

Send it off to recycling on a Friday morning and go straight to the pub

Treat your self with the best bottle, it will take of the worst sting

 

[danw]

Occasionally on other fora, the specs for legacy equipment like motors, or switch gear is found in old paper catalogs and spec sheets on the library shelves of retired (or near retirement) electrical guys.

I enjoy reading the early history of process instrumentation. A year ago, I posted on several fora asking if anyone had old paper copies of ISA's monthly journal, Intech, that they wanted to get rid of, because even ISA's web site does not have electronic copies of older paper journals. I had planned to scan any I got, but got no response.

Maybe some here has an historic interest in older docs.

 

[JesperMP]

Danw, maybe you would be interested in this site:
https://worldradiohistory.com/index.htm
It says "Radio and broadcast history", but it is much more than that.
If you browse the index, you will find a lot about electrics, electronics, communication, computers and lots more.

 

[danw]

JesperMP, thanks for the link.

 

[dogleg43]

Innumerable times I have been on the phone with a supplier trying to nail down a part # and they will ask if I have such & such version of their catalog handy.

I’m sure this will happen less frequently as the months and years go by but it still happens.

 

[alanduncan]

Thanks for the link, JesperMP.

 

[BryanG]

At least I will take the time to scan them. Then we do have a well respected Science Museum nearby in Manchester, UK, I will see if they would like them.