He’s entrepreneurial. He’s passionate about technology. He’s creative.
And he’s a very quick learner.
At 12 years old in the summer of 2018, the young Westporter wanted to make money. He found a few water bottles in the pantry, and tried to sell them on his driveway for $1. A couple of people “pity bought” them.
His father John said, “If you want to do this, do it right.”
They created an LLC in his name: 88mphEnterprises (a “Back to the Future” reference).
He got a permit to sell snacks at youth soccer games, and loaded up at Costco. “Standastic” accepted credit cards. He wheeled his goods around in a wagon for “mobile delivery.”
A young — but entrepreneurial — Jay Babina.
A couple of years later at an estate sale with his father, he saw Healthkit radio meters for $10 each. Jay bought them, then resold them on eBay. He learned a lot about listings — and here is his thriving online store today.
He branched out to Amazon, and just hit the $100,000 mark.
That business funds his Westport Tech Museum.
One of the most fascinating hidden gems in town — and it will stay that way, because it’s not open to the public — the museum is a large attic filled with over 500 computers, video games, calculators, cameras, radios and more.
Jay Babina’s Westport Tech Museum.
From a Commodore Amiga 1000, Osborne 1, Apple IIe and an original Macintosh, to a 1914 Victrola that still plays, 1910 Edison light bulb that still shines, and a 1905 crank telephone that still rings, Jay scoured the world (and eBay) to find rare, important, classic, quirky and historic products.
Last spring, Jay’s dad bought a photo scanner, to scan family photos.
You or I would say, “Meh.” Jay thought: Ka-ching!
He ran the numbers, researched the competition, and developed a pricing model.
No matter how the photos were taken, Jay can digitize them.
He tested the concept with family and friends. He quickly realized they wanted more than just photo scanning — for example, transferring CDs to thumb drives.
Some of the types of media Jay accepts for digitizing and transfer.
And it wasn’t only photos. Someone asked about scanning old documents. Jay bought a flatbed scanner, for that service.
Jay Babina, at his workstation.
Jay is now a sophomore at Manhattanville College. He devotes weekends to his new business. He calls it Scans by Me.
Yes, that’s an homage to the Ben E. King classic. Jay is not only creative; he’s also a fan of great music.
(To learn more about Scans By Me, click here; email jay@scansbyme.com, or call 475-444-3040.)
(“06880” often covers businesses in town, the creative endeavors of Westporters — especially young people — and, like today, their intersection. Please click here to support our work. Thanks!)
The Citizens’ Police Academy is one of the best — and most unpublicized, and underrated — programs in town.
25 Westport residents participate in classes that cover many aspects of law enforcement.
They learn about specialized units in the Westport Police Department, as well as how it operates and its role in the criminal justice system.
Participants observe demonstrations, and get hands-on experience with equipment the police use every day.
Instructors include experienced officers, and attorneys from Stamford Court.
In addition to classes, students experience a ride-along with a patrol officer.
They also receive Stop the Bleed training.
The next Westport Citizens’ Police Academy begins September 19. Classes run from 7 to 9:30 p.m. for 8 weeks, on select Tuesdays and Thursdays (September 19 and 26; October 1, 10, 17, 24, and November 7 and 14).
The academy is open to Westport residents 21 and older. Applications are available at police headquarters or by email from Officer Jill Cabana (jcabana@westportct.gov), and are due by August 27.
Residents can learn about this vehicle — and many other aspects of policing — at the upcoming Citizens’ Academy. (Photo/Dennis Wong)
The supermarket — which plans a soft launch starting October 24, in the Post Road East shopping plaza best known now for Angelina’s — begins interviews on August 26.
The hiring site will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, through October 19.
Positions are open in the bakery; meat and seafood; in-store deli and kitchen; produce and floral, and center store. Big Y is also hiring cashiers, overnight stock clerks, and managers and assistant managers.
Speaking of Compo Beach: The extended Mickune family was there yesterday, celebrating patriarch Derm Mickune’s 90th birthday.
His sons and daughters came from as far as Arizona, for the birthday, bringing spouses and grandkids too.
The Mickune “kids” were well known during their time at Staples High School. They enjoyed their time back in their hometown.
And their dad was — as you can see below — all smiles.
Derm Mickune (Photo/Dan Woog)
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The demise of WCBS 880 AM took Westporters by surprise.
New York’s all-news station will end its programming this month. It went on the air nearly 6 decades ago: August 28, 1967.
It will be renamed the very unmemorable WHSQ says its owner, the oddly named Audacy.
The Philadelphia company owns more than 230 radio stations in the US, including WFAN and WINS in New York.
The new station will launch as sports radio ESPN — joining WFAN in that space.
WINS, meanwhile, becomes the only all-news station in the market.
This being Westport, we’re sure there are readers who have a connection to WCBS NewsRadio 88. If you’ve worked with or for it — or have a memorable story to tell, as a listener — click “Comments” below.
The Westporter is the founder, curator and mastermind of the Westport Tech Museum — an astonishing repository for over 400 computers, video games, calculators, cameras, radios and more.
Yesterday, the NPR station aired a feature on one of Westport’s most interesting teenagers.
Or most interesting residents of any age, period. Click here to listen.
(PS: NPR posted it on their national Facebook page. And at least for a while, Jay’s story was on the home page of the national network’s website. Very cool — and very well deserved.)
Jay Babina channels Steve Jobs, with Apple’s groundbreaking Macintosh.
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This summer we’ve seen — among other animals — bears and coyotes on the roads and in the woods of Westport.
(Spotted lanternflies too. But let’s not go there.)
Now there is at least one pig. And a bison.
(Photo/Mary Lou Roels)
At least they’re confined to the Furniture on Consignment II store on Post Road East.
Tickets for the Woodside Bash — the great Earthplace fundraiser (Saturday, October 5, 7 to 10 p.m.) featuring great food, live music and a woodsy fall evening — are available now, at a special price.
They’re $100 each through Labor Day. They’re $125 from then on. Click here to purchase.
The fun continues the next day (Sunday, October 6, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.), with the annual Fall Festival. The family fun includes food trucks, a climbing wall, corn pool, apple slingshot, donut on a string, nature exploration, animal encounters and more. Click here for tickets.
And finally … in honor of the first pumpkin (blossom) of the season (story above):
(WCBS is signing off. But your local news source — “06880” — is still here. Please help us stay strong. Please click here for a tax-deductible donation. Thank you!)
It takes a lot to make my Top 10 Favorites list. But Jay Babina’s is on it.
A year ago, I toured the Westport Tech Museum.
Most people had never heard of it. Unless you’re a family member or friend, you can’t get in.
That’s because it’s in the attic of the teenager’s home.
But there — on shelves and desks, and in display cases — I found an astonishing collection of 500 computers, video games, calculators, cameras, radios and more.
Jay has created a fascinating, educational, fun, nostalgic and very, very cool tour of American technology.
From a Commodore Amiga 1000, Osborne 1, Apple IIe and an original Macintosh, to a 1914 Victrola that still plays, 1910 Edison light bulb that still shines, and a 1905 crank telephone that still rings, Jay has scoured the world (and eBay) to find rare, important, classic, quirky and historic products.
Many of them are famous and now obsolete. Some are long-forgotten failures. All make up our technological timeline.
This wide-angle view captures only part of the Westport Tech Museum. (Photo courtesy of Jay Babina)
For those lucky enough to gain admittance, this may be the greatest attic in America. And Jay is an eager, informative tour guide.
You can read last year’s story here. For an update on what’s new since last May, read on.
One of Jay’s proudest additions is a Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder.
And not just any one. This is the same model that ended Richard Nixon’s presidency, when Watergate discussions were recorded on it.
The type of reel-to-reel tape recorder that brought down a president.
Jay points to the tape on his machine and jokes, “This is the missing 18 1/2 minutes.” (For an 18-year-old, he has a remarkable knowledge of history.)
An original Asteroids machine is enhanced by an actual game token from Arnie’s Place. Jay’s father — who grew up in Monroe — visited the Westport arcade as a youngster. (For whatever reason, he kept the souvenir.)
Asteroids amused countless kids (including Jay’s father) after its 1979 release. It’s playable today, in Jay’s museum. An Arnie’s Place token sits above the center button.
Jay found the first Polaroid camera model — in 1948, it was also the first instant camera in the world — on eBay. It cost him only $40.
He now owns the pay phone used in “Witness.” And not just the type — this is the actual phone used in the filming.
How does he know? Diligent research matched the telephone number shown in small print on it, with that in the movie.
Jay has a NeXT computer — Steve Jobs’ failed company from 1996 — as well as a bit of fabric from the Apple (and NeXT) founder’s turtleneck.
Long after it faded from memories, Jay’s NeXT computer still works.
He’s got a 1992 Motorola “brick” phone (it’s hard to believe people made calls on something like that) and a 1939 View-Master toy (it’s hard to believe people were excited by those stereoscopic images).
A 1939 View-Master. You put the disc (right) in the viewer (left), and saw — wow — a 3D image!
It’s a shame — but understandable — that Jay’s museum is not open to the public.
Fortunately, it is online. Click here to enter; then bookmark it, and return often.
Meanwhile, scroll down for a photographic tour of one of the most intriguing places in Westport — and far beyond.
And one that is on my Top 10 out of 17,000+ favorite “06880” stories ever.
(You can also find the Westport Tech Museum on Facebook; click here. And Instagram; click here.)
Hey, kids! This is how your parents (and grandparents) once connected to the internet: with a Texas Instruments monitor, keyboard — and dial-up phone modem.
A 1992 Motorola cell phone — called a “brick,” for obvious reasons.
A working Palm Pilot fits in Jay Babina’s palm.
Did you “witness” this phone in the movie of that same name?
Jay’s museum is not all about technology. An exhibit on the 1980s includes New Coke (“the biggest product flop in history”), and the much more successful California Raisins and Cabbage Patch Kids. (All photos/Dan Woog, unless noted)
(Westport is filled with intriguing people, doing way cool things. “06880” finds them, and shares them with the world. But we can’t do it without reader support. Please click here to help. Thank you!)
New York City boasts remarkable museums: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Natural History and dozens more (including the Museum of Sex).
Hartford is known for the Wadsworth Atheneum; New Haven, the Peabody and Yale Center for British Art.
Westport has MoCA, and the Museum for History & Culture.
And now, the Westport Tech Museum.
You probably never heard of it. Unless you’re a family member of friend, you can’t get in.
But founder/curator Jay Babina has amassed — and displays, in an attic and online — an astonishing collection of over 400 computers, video games, calculators, cameras, radios and more.
That’s one fascinating fact.
Here’s another: Jay is just 17 years old.
The private school junior comes from a tech family. His father was into computers; his grandparents started radio station WMNR.
One day in 2018, in his dad’s 15-year-old car, Jay found a circa-2002 iPod. Then, in his basement, he discovered a box of old phones: a Palm Pilot, Treo, Startec and others.
He brought the box to his room. Months later, he put the objects on a shelf. To add context he researched their backgrounds, and added information cards about their designers, production and more.
As Jay added to his collection, he needed more space. The attic was perfect.
Now — even with added shelves — it’s almost too small. His 400-plus items fill most of the space.
A wide-angle view of Jay’s Tech Museum. Not all of it could fit in this photo.
Every day, Jay works on his museum. He does more research, writes new cards, finds new stuff. (Click here for a virtual tour.)
A great source is eBay. He goes to tag and estate sales, and the Elephant Trunk flea market in New Milford.
Westport residents donate objects too. One recently offered a rare Osborne 1 computer.
Jay’s personal favorites include a Commodore Amiga 1000 (his most expensive purchase — $825 — but “definitely worth it”); an original Macintosh, and (newly donated by his grandfather) a 1937 radio. “It’s a work of art,” Jay says.
The actual radio Jay’s relatives used, to listen to news after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
His wish list includes an Apple Lisa (“they’re expensive, and hard to find — all the listings are in places like Slovenia,” Jay says), and a Virtual Boy video game system.
Jay’s creativity is boundless. Here, he carefully recreates Steve Jobs’ iconic photo, with Apple’s ground-breaking Macintosh.
Jay’s museum is not open to the public. He doesn’t want random strangers walking through his parents’ house.
But the people who see it (spoiler alert: I’m a lucky one) are amazed.
Fortunately, the rest of the world can experience the Westport Tech Museum virtually (click here to enter). “Visitors” have come from as far as India, Malaysia and South Korea.
They marvel at his collection.
But they can only see its wonders — including a 1910 Edison light bulb that still shines; a 1905 crank telephone that still rings, and microphones and a 1940s-era television that once belonged to legendary voice actor Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, Barney Rubble) — in cyberspace.
A still-working 1910 GE “Edison bulb,” and an early, pre-QWERTY keyboard typewriter.
They won’t get a personal tour, as I did. They can’t hear the excitement in Jay’s voice, as he describes each piece — and its back story — to me.
There are some things technology just can’t do.
But if it’s related to technology — particularly whatever was cutting-edge, whether in the early 1900s or early 2000s — it’s there in Jay’s attic.
He’s not sure what the future holds, for his museum or technology in general.
But perhaps a few years from now, Jay will find a way to display today’s amazing — but tomorrow’s ho-hum — ChatGPT.
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Now, scroll down for a tour of a few highlights from Jay’s Westport Tech Museum.
Welcome!
This crank telephone from 1905 still rings.
This 1914 Victrola still plays music.
An early television (top) and microphones owned by Mel Blanc.
The “History of Audio” shelves display short-wave radio, a reel-to-reel tape, 8-tracks and much more …
… and continues with LPs and 45s, cassettes, mini-discs, Walkmen, a Watchman and iPods.
Atari 400 (1979): early personal computer with Pac-Man.
A 1981 Osborne 1 — the first commercially successful portable computer. It was donated to Jay’s Tech Museum by a Westporter.
The very popular Apple IIe (left), and the first commercially successful computer with a mouse: the 128K, introduced with great fanfare as the “Big Brother” Super Bowl commercial in 1984.
A 1984 Commodore 64 — the best-selling personal computer ever.
This Commodore Amiga 1000 (1985) is Jay’s favorite.
Early Apple laptops.
Jay with a NeXT computer. The company was Steve Jobs’ venture after being forced out of Apple. It was a bit pricey, and sold only 50,000 units. But its graphical user interface was very influential.
An iMac: the first Apple product with a USB mouse (1998).
An Apple Cube (2000-2001) was a rare Steve Jobs failure. Priced incorrectly for its features, it sold only 150,000 units.
Descriptive cards and posters add information about many items. Jay writes every one himself.
Top: a 1992 “brick phone” and rotary phone. Bottom: pagers and beepers.
A collection of camcorders includes the JVC product used in 1985’s “Back to the Future.”
Jay’s museum includes “tech toys.” He also displays Cabbage Patch Kids (which saved Coleco — originally the Connecticut Leather Company — from bankruptcy after its video games were supplanted by home computers. Also, though not high-tech, on the 2nd shelf from the top: an original pie plate from Bridgeport’s Frisbie Co.
(Westport is filled with people doing amazing things. “06880” is proud to bring you their stories. Please click here to support our work.)
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Early Apple laptops.
