{"id":17771,"date":"2016-03-13T12:44:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-13T16:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=17771"},"modified":"2016-03-13T12:44:05","modified_gmt":"2016-03-13T16:44:05","slug":"stuart-sizer-heathkit-designer-dad-and-bon-vivant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/stuart-sizer-heathkit-designer-dad-and-bon-vivant\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuart Sizer: Heathkit designer, dad, and “bon vivant”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Heathkit-Drawings-2\"<\/a>Two weeks ago,\u00a0through a radio preservation group,\u00a0I met the son of Heathkit product designer of the 1950s-70s, Stu Sizer\u2013\u2013”stylist, artist, maker of models, bon vivant.<\/em>”\u00a0His son\u00a0described the\u00a0discovery of\u00a0a few vintage Heathkit brochures, photos, and illustrations his father kept in his family’s basement shop, many of which had been scanned at some point.<\/p>\n

Stu Sizer\u2013\u2013”stylist, artist, maker of models, bon vivant”\u2013\u2013<\/em>was tasked with\u00a0crafting\u00a0Heathkit’s user-friendly and attractive exterior designs. For many years Sizer was Heathkit’s only<\/em>\u00a0product designer, and was therefore\u00a0often\u00a0busy. “He was a great dad,” his son told me, “but he spent a lot of time in the basement proof-building kits.” \u00a0He adds wryly, “Let that be a lesson to the hams of this world.”<\/p>\n

Sizer’s son kindly shared with us the following scans and photos of his dad’s work,\u00a0many of which\u00a0are original drawings; the series concludes with some clippings featuring\u00a0Sizer.<\/p>\n

\"PC241116\"<\/a> \"PC241108\"<\/a> \"PC241107\"<\/a> \"PC241106\"<\/a> \"PC241099\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-16\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-15\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-13\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-12\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-11\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-10\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-9\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-8\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-7\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-6\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-5\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-4\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings-3\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Drawings\"<\/a> \"Heathkit-Advertisement\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On Stuart Sizer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Heathkit-Stu<\/a>\"Heathkit-Stu<\/a>\"Heathkit-Stu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago,\u00a0through a radio preservation group,\u00a0I met the son of Heathkit product designer of the 1950s-70s, Stu Sizer\u2013\u2013”stylist, artist, maker of models, bon vivant.”\u00a0His son\u00a0described the\u00a0discovery of\u00a0a few vintage Heathkit brochures, photos, and illustrations his father kept in his family’s basement shop, many of which had been scanned at some point. Stu Sizer\u2013\u2013”stylist, artist, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[373,508,1271,2644,545,344,6,3,305,1936,288,26,43],"tags":[586,4844,4843,4842,4840,4841],"class_list":["post-17771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-art-2","category-boat-anchors-2","category-cb","category-ham-radio","category-kits","category-manufacturers","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-photos","category-radio-history","category-radios","category-shortwave-radio","tag-heathkit","tag-heathkit-illustrations","tag-heathkit-photos","tag-stu-sizer","tag-stuart-sizer","tag-stuart-walter-sizer"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-4CD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1802,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/heathkit-is-back-in-business\/","url_meta":{"origin":17771,"position":0},"title":"Heathkit is back in business","author":"Thomas","date":"September 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Great news for kit builders! Legendary company Heathkit has started manufacturing kits again. Though their first line-up of products do not include radios, they are planning to cater to the amateur radio community as soon as next year. I would like to believe that the popularity of the Maker community\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/heathkit-logo-300x63.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15088,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/new-from-heathkit-the-explorer-jr-trf-am-radio-receiver-kit\/","url_meta":{"origin":17771,"position":1},"title":"New from Heathkit: the Explorer Jr TRF AM radio receiver kit","author":"Thomas","date":"October 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, the legendary\u00a0Heathkit company is back\u00a0and their first kit is a simple\u00a0Tuned Radio Frequency (TRF) AM\/mediumwave analog receiver: the Explorer Jr. I knew\u00a0Heathkit was back in business and under new management, but hadn't heard any updates as of late. Their president, Andy, just sent a message to the \"Heathkit Insiders\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HeathkitExplorerJr","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/HeathkitExplorerJr.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16720,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/01\/james-reviews-the-heathkit-explorer-jr-gr-150-trf-am-radio-receiver-kit\/","url_meta":{"origin":17771,"position":2},"title":"James reviews the Heathkit Explorer Jr. GR-150 TRF AM radio receiver kit","author":"Thomas","date":"January 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Surprenant (AB1DQ), who shares this review and photos of the new Heathkit Explorer Jr. TRF AM radio receiver kit: \u00a0Heathkit Explorer Jr. Review I received this Heathkit kit for Xmas from dear old Dad. The Explorer Jr. manual is very nicely done, spiral-bound,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HeathkitExplorerJr","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/HeathkitExplorerJr.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26879,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/a-new-heathkit-precision-rf-meter-hm-1002\/","url_meta":{"origin":17771,"position":3},"title":"A new Heathkit: The Precision RF Meter – HM-1002","author":"Thomas","date":"July 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Heathkit recently sent the following link to their \"Insiders\" email list: Dear Heathkit Insider We have opened advance orders for our newest product, the HM-1002 Heathkit\u00ae Precision RF Meter\u2122, for our most loyal customers and fans. This is the first amateur radio accessory and the first test equipment kit Heathkit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Heathkit-Precision-Meter-1024x768.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Heathkit-Precision-Meter-1024x768.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Heathkit-Precision-Meter-1024x768.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17463,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/03\/james-adds-an-lm386-amplifier-kit-to-his-heathkit-gr-150\/","url_meta":{"origin":17771,"position":4},"title":"James adds an LM386 amplifier kit to his Heathkit GR-150","author":"Thomas","date":"March 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, James Surprenant (AB1DQ), who shares this update to his review of\u00a0the\u00a0Heathkit Explorer Jr. TRF AM radio receiver kit: With regard\u00a0to the Heathkit TRF AM receiver kit,\u00a0I did indeed build my LM386 amplifier. I was planning on home-brewing it from scratch as the chip is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Heathkit Explorer Jr. Completed w. screwdriver","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Heathkit-Explorer-Jr.-Completed-w.-screwdriver.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21612,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/heathkit-radio-in-netflixs-stranger-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":17771,"position":5},"title":"Heathkit Radio in Netflix’s “Stranger Things”","author":"Thomas","date":"October 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Mark Hirst, who has once again spotted a classic radio in film: This shot of some Heathkit radios came up in the first episode of \"Stranger Things\". The teacher mentions the brand by name, having sourced them for some enthusiastic school friends who then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"stranger-things","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/stranger-things-1024x521.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/stranger-things-1024x521.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/stranger-things-1024x521.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}