Throwback Thursday: The Albert Merrill School
The Albert Merrill School was one of those vocational institutes that promised computer training back in the days when Macs were just a fruit.
You can't train there anymore (thank goodness Apex and DeVry are still among us!) but on West 28th Street, you can still survey a mural for the defunct school.
Most New Yorkers will remember the school for its ubiquitous commercials (an example is below) shown on weekday mornings and afternoons in the 1970s and early 1980s. They starred a dapper fellow by the name of Jimmy Randolph, who is accosted by an eager fan who recognizes him from the commercials. He happily takes her to the nearest Albert Merrill School, about which Mr. Randolph is very proud.
The commercial offers vanished views of Columbus Circle, including the Coliseum lurking in the background. You'll also enjoy how it promotes the school's phone number, with a solid old-school exchange: CIrcle5-3900.
As for the merits of the Albert Merrill School, we quote a commenter on the YouTube video, who says he attended the school in the mid 1980s:
Yeah, I wish I knew that before going to that school, I went in October 1984 and graduated in 1985 and you know what my job was after school, Messenger! Wow what a ripoff, the stuff they train you on was so outdated for example the IBM 360 was a computer setup from the late 60's, we did not train on anything new, I can say that they only thing I got out of the classes was keyboarding, they started me on my way to typing, no surprise they closed shortly after 1985!
-- Rolando Pujol
