The Bicentennial Stereo is the last Stereo you will ever need…

Browsing old magazines and newspapers, it is amazing to see just how many people were using the United States’ 200th birthday as a flimsy excuse to sell something. I am sure they seemed like a good idea at the time, but now they really do seem like a cash grab, and I love it.

Radio Shack, on the cover of their 1976 catalog, offered something called The Bicentennial “Everything System”. Which they claim is the best way to kick off America’s 3rd century (with a boon, not a boom).

For $499 you get a tuner/amplifier, speakers, cassette deck with Dolby, turntable, headphones and two cassettes.

Then they end with something I do not really understand, but I really like…

“The cases and the bases. You’d better give in soon. Because you can’t beat the System!”

I assume they are referring to the stereo system, but it is so cryptic. Are they referring to the political system? Is Radio Shack trying to start a political revolution? So many questions…