John,
I am not surprised at all: my first telescope was ø45 mm FL 700 mm "Vega" telescope, with 15.5 mm (Huygens) eyepiece.
I had it for years, and I enjoyed many hours looking at many objects over that time.. I also used it as a finder for my 10" Newt..
For today's "standards" this scope could be considered as "hobby killer", but if the infatuation with hobby is strong enough, nothing can kill it
I would have still used it today, but unfortunately it was lost in Balkan's wars 35 years ago, the only part survived is back end and eyepiece . I still can't get over it...
It is shown here on my balcony in Zagreb in late '60-ies (last century!), used for Sun image projection.