Since the obd readers for anything older than a 96 seem to be non-existant, is there a way to extract the cel codes without one?

Yes, there are threads here on the board about it. Look at the bottom of this page there are links to threads about retrieving codes.

OBD1 readers do exist, the problem is a lot of cars had proprietary plugs so one scanner will work for a Ford, but not a Chevy, Honda, Subaru, etc.