The Slide Collection of Dave O’Brien
by Roger Russell

 

 

Dave in Hawaii with the Lahaina-Kaanapali & Pacific Railroad sugar cane train ride.

 

This page is devoted to a few of the many pictures that Dave had taken or were taken of him and that he left to me in his estate. Dave was a good photographer. He had a wide variety of choices for subjects from his travels in practically every state in the USA including several trips to Alaska and Hawaii. Although the McIntosh clinics were the prime mission for his travels, he did have time to take lots and lots of pictures. Being a tourist, several pictures were taken on the run but at other times he had time to compose many interesting scenes. Most of his work was done in 35mm format. Dave and I both had Nikon cameras in the 1960’s and 1970’s and they were the best cameras at that time for all kinds of photography. He also used a Kodak model 60 camera in the smaller 110 format. His legacy of slides numbered about 100 Kodak Carousel slide trays making an approximate total of 11,000 slides. Later, of course, Dave went digital but by 1992 the clinics had been discontinued and his travels came to an end..

 

We have all seen pictures of Dave at work at the test bench in numerous dealer stores. That is where most customers remember him. The dealers were very happy to be able to have Dave do a clinic at their store. It meant some instant sales and attracted many new customers. However, there was another side to see when he had time off for touring. Time permitting; Dave was sometimes invited to the home of a dealer or a McIntosh representative. Sometimes he was taken on a tour of the area and even private boat trips. I have included many pictures that have Dave as the subject but with a wide variety of backgrounds where he visited. I have taken liberty to crop a few of them to eliminate unwanted areas.

 

I had learned later from his pictures that he had been a model train enthusiast in his younger days and that explains why he had taken many train pictures over the years.

 

 

 

Ace Ranslem (above) had joined the McIntosh California representative organization, Koessler Sales, the same week in February that Dave had joined McIntosh in 1962. A number of years later, Ace became the owner of Koessler Sales and operated a warehouse and office in Burbank, CA.. Dave spent many pleasant and productive days with Ace and his organization promoting McIntosh sales in Southern California, Arizona and Hawaii. Ace and his wife took Dave around many sights in the three states and he took many slides devoted to the enjoyable trips they made together. Many of Dave’s photos were taken in Hawaii.

 

 

Binghamton was never like this where you could sit under a palm tree and look off over the water. However, it was always a good idea to check for coconuts way up in some of the palms.

 

 

Dave often had the opportunity to tour the area where the clinics were being held..

 

 

At the Kaliuea volcano on Hawaii.

 

 

Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai. This is known as the grand canyon of the pacific.

 

 

Yes, there was even time for a swim in the warm waters of Hawaii in May of 1973

 

 

Wayne Paulson is putting on sun block before they ascend Haleakala Volcano on Maui, HI. May 1974

 

 

This is Wayne’s parents who joined Dave and Wayne on trips to Hawaii. May 1974

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Golden Gate bridge

 

 

Dave had special recognition for McIntosh representative, Charles Lucas, who he considered very talented. He had a practical knowledge of life and business that resulted in an incredible loyalty from the dealers in his sales area. Because Dave spent so much time with Charles, he felt like part of his family. Although Charles is deceased now, he had done an excellent job of training his two sons, Sam and Steven, to gradually take over the business. Dave spent much enjoyable time with Charles and his family.

 

 

Here is Dave on an outing with the Lucases. What a change from handling amplifiers and dealing with customers all day

 

 

Fisherman

 

 

Kissed at Sea

 

 

Visit to Bill Cushman’s house in Houston and two pair of ML-4C speakers.

 

 

The ML-4C speakers were driven by two MC2300 amplifiers

 

 

John Zimmer, one of the McIntosh representatives.