What does this postcard mean?

May 7, 2010 9:36 AM

I recently received these antique postcards from a friend (with no explanation) and I'd like to know what exactly they are. They're of Soviet/Eastern European origin and seem to relate to radio somehow.

I wish I could scan them in, but unfortunately I don't have a scanner.

The front of the first shows a painting of a large tractor with the caption "Bulgaria - Our Agriculture in the construction of Socialism" and a stamp that reads "LZ1KPZ".

The back looks to be some sort of form, with spaces that are filled out. Anything hand-writted I've italicized.

TO RADIO W-2-FAR
UR cw/fone sigs RST 579 on 14 mc
on 15-08-1953 at 2115 GMT
RX 6 tubes* super
TX VFO-FD-FD-PH/RLIIP35*
INPUT 50 Watts
Pse/Tnx ur QSL via box 830 SOFIA
Best 73 es fb dx!
Op Rudko LZ-1 Rg LZ-1572
QRA Pazardsik BULGARIA
Dear OB tux nice* QSO! Hpe cuuyu su! 73 es best luck + thDx! Rudko

Anywhere there's an asterisk I'm unsure of the spelling. The second card is mostly the same, with a different front image and seems to originate from Armenia instead of Bulgaria.

Thanks

posted by hafehd to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Ham/amateur radio cards! Very interesting. There was an article in Harper's a couple of years ago about this. I'll see if I can find it.
posted by vickyverky at 9:39 AM on May 7, 2010

Those are ham radio postcards. Pre-internet fun.
posted by Weighted Companion Cube at 9:39 AM on May 7, 2010

Here it is. Looks like you have to be a subscriber, though.
posted by vickyverky at 9:40 AM on May 7, 2010

Best answer: They are QSL cards. These were originally an old-timey way of encouraging people to send in reception reports to commercial or experimental stations, which was of interest to broadcasters; the QSL card is a kind of receipt of the contact. Amateur radio types make a kind of game out of it, recording and exchanging contacts in as broad a number of locations as possible and printing up fancy-looking cards to exchange with each other. LZ1KPZ is the call sign that the guy who sent the card out. The card records time and frequency of contact, the equipment used, and so on. The last line is a generic looking personal greeting, with what I think are typical morse code shortenings-- similar to a lot of people's texting style today. 73 means something like best wishes in the amateur radio community.
posted by monocyte at 9:46 AM on May 7, 2010

Not exactly all that old-timey.....I was a ham in the 1980s and 1990s, and QSL cards were still de rigueur at the time. (Of course, every time I start to insist something "wasn't that long ago, it was nineteen eighty-something" Mr. Adams tactfully reminds me "Sweetie, the 1980s were 20-some years ago.")
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:02 AM on May 7, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks everyone, that was quick!
posted by hafehd at 10:21 AM on May 7, 2010