Heathkit was one of the larger electronic kit brands back in the day with products that varied from simple switches on up to full-blown radio transceivers. They offered some great quality -*test*-('") equipment for the price, same with the amateur radio gear and made their name mostly selling these products (I've a Heathkit oscilloscope and tube -*test*-('")er beside me as I write this). They were not alone, for there were also a lot of kit audio manufacturers, such as Dyna-kit that became Dynaco and others, but they were the most branched out including kit televisions -- my first computer, an old Tandy 1000 used a Heathkit kit monitor. They did sell some products preassembled later on, but that was a small portion of their business.
Sad that they eventually went out of business in the '80s when comparable consumer electronics became too complex to sell in kit form and the majority of people lost interest in assembling their own gear or even learning the requisite skills. I remember growing up in my father's electronics shop and wishing Heathkit was still in business so that I could build my own gear. There are still a few kit companies out there, Ten-Tec being the prime amateur radio example, but due to a limited market, their products cost as much as better performing, preassembled units from other manufacturers.
Some reading.Some more reading.- JP