he period of the 60s brought the Herbert W. Gordon Co of Harvard Mass out into the classified
sections of the ham radio magazines. From Woodchuck Hill, W1KWB/W1IBY et all had athree floor converted barn. The business was a ham radio outlet, including parts, magazines, new andused gear plus lots of surplus equipment. I would drool over the R390 and 51J4's they featured.

TGordon Company had a catchy
sales pitch by requisitioning afull page in Ham radio
Magazine etc., selling radio
theory and facts about radiosubjects. (Helping Hams toHelp Themselves) It may have been a takeoff of National Radio Of Malden Mass, where technicalsubjects were brought up in an attempt to tutor and sell items to the faithful in the magazines.
As they put it, the store was an unconventional business location. Some called it a boutique or salon.
They preferred to think of the store as merely the office. But inside the rather modest structure is thelargest (tongue-in-cheek) ham radio business in New England and possibly in this country.
Three floors, comprising almost 5,000 square feet and filled to the brim with all kinds of goodies that
gladden the ham’s heart. On the main floor you will find displayed literally hundreds upon hundredsof pieces of ham equipment - both contemporary and old. On the top floor, more of the same and inaddition gobs and gobs of test equipment. In the basement was shipping and receiving and asubstantial inventory of the kinds of components that the ham is especially looking for. In addition
to the conventional and obviously required accessories, we have and will likely continue to stock theodd ball pieces, for example, a surplus component of a part specially made for a particular set.
We have a beautifully equipped service department, staffed by three very gifted electronic personnel.
These boys know their ham radio and can be depended upon for prompt service day or night.
The antenna farm we have is second to none, including 4 towers, 44 antennas and a coax matrix
which permits us to demonstrate any gear of your choice. Most New England hams have been here.
But many of you throughout the rest of the country continue to think of our company as primarily
the place where you can get the Reginair Quad. Most of the fellows don’t know that ham radio is ouronly business and that we are the largest, best stocked place north of New York or east of Chicago.
If you would like straight advice, soundly delivered, give us a chance to solve your problems andprovide you with equipment.
If you would like to meet the gang or just to browse, make the trip to Harvard and see us soon. With
modern highways coming to within a mile of our door, you can get here from any part in New
England in 3 or 4 hours. We are open on weekdays from 0830 until 1600 and then again from 7 PM
until 10 PM. Saturdays until 5 PM and Sunday by appointment. Excerpted from files.
So went the Herbert W. Gordon Company at Woodchuck Hill. They were around until the mid 80s
and there were some reports of lost shipments, missing equipment and some poor service. They
eventually folded and nothing remains, but the old musty articles in those old radio magazines.
Herbert Gordon born 1916 in NY to John M &Rose Gordon, a brothers Stewart, Richard and sister
Edith. John and Rose were born in Russia.
w8su 2007