Back
many moons ago, we presented a special feature here in Wavescan about unusual
QSL cards which were made from various forms of paper and printed card, thick
and thin, including blotting paper and parchment paper. Then too, there were regular QSL cards that
had been treated with oil and with varnish.
Over the years other materials have
also been used in the production of QSLs, including rice
paper, birch bark, and Pacific tapa cloth.
We should not forget too that the QSL text has been printed on currency
notes, including Japanese occupation money.
In our program today, we look at
other materials that have been used to make QSL cards, including various
metals, wood and plastics.
At least four different radio
stations in the United States have used a copper sheet in place of a thin card
as an official QSL to verify reception of their station. Three of these stations, all mediumwave, are
located in the state of Montana where there have been several notable copper
mines. During the 1940s when the copper
QSL “cards”
were available, these three stations were highly prized DX targets for
international radio monitors living in New Zealand. These three stations were:-
KGIR Butte Montana 1340 kHz 1 kW
KPFA Helena 1210 ¼
KRBM Bozeman 1420 ¼
The fourth radio station that issued
a copper sheet QSL “card” during
the same 1940s era was an amateur station, W6SCV in Tucson Arizona. This QSL “card” showed
a hand painted picture of a western cowboy with his donkey, and the QSL text
was typed in with the use of an old style typewriter.
A large tin-plated generic style QSL
“card” was
available several years ago for use by amateur radio operators who lived in the
town of Weirton West Virginia. This
unique QSL “card” measured
8 inches by 5 inches and it advertised Weirton as the “Tin
Plate Capital of the World”.
Two different varieties of this generic QSL “card” were
available, though they were quite similar in style.
An oversized amateur QSL card from
1947 was issued by an international radio monitor living in the town of
Mountain Iron, Minnesota. This QSL card
measured 7 inches by 4¾ inches and the QSL text was printed in
the usual ham style on regular thin card.
However, attached to the card was a small sample of crushed iron ore
taken from the Mountain Iron Open Pit Mine.
This card was issued by Bob Ostman with the self identification callsign
W0-SWL.
At least three different forms of
wood have been used for the production of a radio station QSL “card”. In 1958 amateur station HC1CW in Quito
Ecuador had his QSL “card” made
out of thin balsa wood. Balsa wood is
very light and quite fragile.
In 1992 a radio listener who was
holidaying in Alaska bought a tourist postcard made of plywood. Upon it he rubber stamped a generic QSL text,
together with a rubber stamped impression of his home address. This QSL “card” was
enclosed with a reception report to the distant mediumwave station KICY in
Nome, Alaska. The “card” was
duly signed and posted in Nome, though it was spoiled in transit through the
postal system, and it was received in a plastic envelope apologizing for the
damage to the “card”.
Back in the year 1999, the European
staff of Adventist World Radio staged an anniversary convention in Portugal,
celebrating a significant milestone in AWR history. Five different styles of tourist “cards” were
procured, each bearing a different colored picture of a tourist scene in
Portugal.
These “cards” were
all printed on thin sheets of cork, the same size as a regular postcard. A QSL sticker was adhered to the address side
and they were used to verify reception reports of the special anniversary
programming on the air from Portugal.
Cork is harvested from the inner
bark of the Cork Oak Tree. Portugal
provides half of the world’s supply of commercial cork.
Hard plastic was used for the
production of a QSL “card” issued
by amateur station WB5SGY in Dallas Texas.
This “card” is
formed in the shape of the state of Texas and it was issued to another amateur
operator in the United States, K3ASV.
Unfortunately. this hard plastic QSL “card” was
also damaged in transit through the postal system; it was actually snapped into
two separate pieces.
A ribbed plastic card was used by
Radio Netherlands in 2012 to verify the reception of their programming via the
transmitter facility on the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean. This card is a tourist postcard and it shows
a windmill scene in Holland. The clear
ribbing over the picture makes the entire scene look three dimensional. The QSL text was printed onto a sticker which
was then applied to the back of the card.
Back more than half a century ago,
there was a pirate station on the air in New Zealand. When the station was raided by the
authorities, the operator wrote a QSL text onto a standard 78 gramophone record
and gave it to one of the officers. This
unique QSL has since become an interesting historic item.
(AWR Wavescan/NWS 269)