Ephemera of the Airwaves: Vintage QSL Cards

I think I can safely say that the two greatest questions of our cellular age are “Can you hear me?” and “Where are you?”

It just so happens that those two questions have been around for quite some time. In fact, it’s been about a hundred years that while the rest of us were telephonically tethered, amateur radio operators around the globe have been asking each other those exact same questions. The answer came in the form of a QSL card.

The QSL card (Q-code for “confirming contact”) came into popular use in the early 1920s, around a decade after amateur wireless started to spread as a hobby. When sending out a signal, the only way to know how far away it was picked up, was to get verification from a recipient. A QSL card was sent by mail as confirmation that a signal had been received. In addition to date, place, and call letters, the sender supplies details about all the receiving equipment. Upon receipt of a card, the originator of the signal would then send one back.

There are thousands upon thousands of QSL cards out there. Their design range from large letters of whichever type style prevailed at the time, to radio and transmission imagery, to something representing the sender’s location or interest (usually amateur radio). Some of the cards look to be standard issue, but as you can imagine, given the DIY nature of ham radio, many operators designed their own cards.

One especially well know operator was cartoonist, Otto Eppers (1893-1955). The first thing you will read in any write-up on him is that as a teenager, he jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge as a stunt and survived. Eppers worked as an inker for numerous comic strips and also illustrated ads for radio supply companies.You can see lots of his work, including many QSL cards here.

Like all subcultures, ham operators have their own lingo, and love bragging about the celebrities in their ranks. They claim Walter Cronkite, Marlon Brando, and Robert Moog as fellow operators. And while there is no doubt about the geek quotient (GQ?) inherent in ham radio, operators get to clam the nerdiest nerd of all time as one of their own--Gerson Strassberg, inventor of the plastic pocket protector.

Okay, all you OMs and YLs, enough rag chewing. Over, 73!

Much thanks to Bob Green W8JYZ and  David Johnson G4DHF, 

 for permission to post cards from their fantastic collections.

Jazz Signers

“Autographs” is stamped in gold across the top of the book’s bright green cover, and in the corner is a little girl holding an umbrella. While it might look like something to be passed around a 5^th grade classroom on the last day of school, this darling autograph book was actually passed around the nightclubs of Winnipeg, Manitoba in the 1940s. It's filled with signatures of some of the greats, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, and Gene Krupa. 

The book is for sale now, on eBay.

Kusama, Spot On

"...a polka-dot has the form of the sun, which is a symbol of the energy of the whole world and our living life, and also the form of the moon, which is calm. Round, soft, colorful, senseless and unknowing. Polka-dots become movement... Polka dots are a way to infinity." Yayoi Kusama

There will be no shortage of dots in New York City this summer. In particular, white dots on red, but also dot/ground combinations of white, black, red, and yellow. A retrospective of the dot-obsessed 83-year old Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama, is on view at the Whitney, while elsewhere around town, Louis Vuitton is featuring a Kusama-inspired collection in their windows.

There’s lots to read about the artist, whose life is an ongoing performance piece, and there are plenty of videos on YouTube to check out.

Here are some iPhone pix from the Whitney party.

You will definitely want to see the the fabulously trippy installation, Fireflies on the Water.

As I was leaving the museum, I met the Ariel, the “Anti-dot.” He effortlessly carried off an elegant ensemble--shirt, tie, vest, and trousers--of dark blue toile on cream. 

Mesh Mash

Down to the Wire

(Bustles and Bertoia)

                                                                                                                        via DCC

You're so Vein/Vain

(stents and hair roller)

                                                                                     via Bobbins and Bombshells

Strained Relations

(strainer and fencing mask)

Seating Plan

(hoop skirt and papasan chair)

Staged joke photo sequence c. 1860 via Wikipedia

                                                                                                      via Victoriana

San Fermin Posters from Pamplona

The partying in Pamplona for the festival of San Fermin gets underway on July 6^th, so that by the next day there will be plenty of folks drunk enough to participate in the encierro, the city’s famous Running of The Bulls. The all-night drinking, to be followed by a morning bull-run, will take place every day through July 14^th, as the bulls are let out from their pen and charge up to the bullring.

The week of festivities is in honor of the patron saint of Navarra, Saint Fermin, a 13^th Century local who was martyred in France. It includes a grand procession where musical bands, city officials, and the 19^th-Century papier mache “Giants” accompany the figure of the saint through the streets.

The Municipal Archive of Pamplona houses a collection of official San Fermin posters dating back to the 1880s. Starting in 1924, the original artwork for the posters has been preserved as well. There are so many fantastic posters in the collection. Here is a small sampling, beginning with this year's model.

2009

2003

1998

1996

1991

1990

1988

1975

1974

1970

1963

1950

1948

1940

1932

1911

1900

Racer’s map for the Tour de France

While there are maps galore for the Tour de France, they are most often for fans and viewers of the race. I’ve seen many vintage maps--usually souvenir-type posters filled with information about the race and the riders, or maps issued as advertising vehicles that are covered with tourist attractions and logos.

The map here, from the 1950s, was one that would have been used by a racer. The seller of the map says it was found, along with one for the Giro d’Italia, folded to fit into the back pocket of a bike jersey. How cool is that? It is for sale here.