Vintage QSL collection for sale from the Spark Museum in Bellingham

Perhaps the buyer would like to let W8JYZ scan the collection and then return them.

 

Attached are two old time QSL's displayed accordingly, from my collection. I am looking for QSLs from DeForest, and Armstrong BTW.

I am donating some of my collection to the AWA....hopefully not someday soon!

Best wireless piece is a deForest RJ4 with a spherical audion. I will try to get a picture (here it is!)



My point is that much of the good stuff is well maintained in private hands. Not in USPO boxes. Stuff needs to be preserved (scanned if QSL) and displayed, either by non profits or private collectors.

PRESERVATION!

Your bones may rot, but your QSL shouldn't ;-)



73
Chip W1YW

 

I have been buying, selling, and collecting QSL cards for 25 years+. The interesting thing about this collection is the amount of early cards (1920s). Over the years they have become quite hard to find in quantity and the price for them has increased accordingly. Even the early 1940 cards are exhibiting this effect. As some have stated, the market is soft for QSL cards compared to the late 1990s, but there still is market for them and there is a fair amount of serious collectors looking for their gem. Congratulations to Mike for saving these gems.
My personal collection contains over 150,000 cards, a few rare and most of the common variety. Most likely in the next few years, I will part with them due to my health and age. It would be unfair of me to burden my XYL with them. They most likely would meet the same fate that 9 out of 10 collections meet, the dreaded dumpster.
Congratulations to the new owner .

Art-N2AU

 

Art--

W8JYZ does a great job and you might want to do a periodic swap of card boxes so he can scan them. Just a suggestion.

Congrats on the huge collection!

73
Chip W1YW

 

I think you should not be so rude.

 

BS.

Why don't you get a REAL ham on here--and ask him or her about the background of the folks on this thread.

You are indeed correct that museums are often the first inspiration for young people who become scientists.

However, your apparent altruistic assertion is so nebulous as to be useless.

Exactly WHAT will the money be spent on that will "motivate and inspire" future scientists? Is it earmarked specifically for electronics exhibits? Relevant lectures? In-school demos?

Is it ham radio related? If not, then why not?

 

Man those are cool!!! It would be great if they could dedicate a website and display all of them for everyone to enjoy[/QUOTE]
Indeed. It could be a wonderful display of ham radio history. Wish it all could be seen by a million hams.

 

WOW!!!! Card #4083 is from my grandfather, Emil W1IQH. They lived in Lawrence Massachusetts before they came to Western New York. It's pretty neat to see something from the old man out in the wild after all of these years. In fact, I had MY QSL card made to look like one of his from that era.

John KB2HSH

 

W8JYZ has done a great service by scanning these QSL's. That's why any OWNER of old QSL's should either volunteer to send W8JYZ the cards for SCANNING (and return)-- or scan them and make the scans available to W8JYZ.

 

Indeed. It could be a wonderful display of ham radio history. Wish it all could be seen by a million hams.[/QUOTE]
That's what W8JYZ does already....

 

W8JYZ has 52000 cards in the database, but far fewer images of cards. He is one guy doing things manually.

I don't think it would work for people to send him piles of cards to scan and return. If he wanted to invest in a bulk scanner, I'd make a small donation to that effort.

I've asked a friend who used to be at google if she knew any amateurs currently at google who might be interested in getting them to do the bulk scanning...they have scanned huge numbers of old books, for example.

73
Jon
AF7TS

 

"Motivating future scientists"? Ham radio QSL cards? Maybe fifty bucks worth?