Open Tabs 01: QSL Radio Cards

The wild visual landscape of amateur radio. Plus, a side of imperialism.

Open Tabs is a newsletter from one disorganized designer as I attempt to organize and close my many open tabs.

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It’s Friday night. I shut my laptop for client work, only to open it right back up for ✨ personal work ✨. I tell myself I’ll just do some light visual research (read: mindless scrolling) before going to sleep, when I come across this image:

Stop scroll. “What is this?” I ask myself. My brain is mush, and it’s past my bedtime, but I’m curious. Click. Click. Click. 😳. I stumble upon an archive of something called ‘QSL cards’ and I feel as though I’ve hit the graphic design jackpot.

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QSL Cards

Part business card, part post card, QSL cards were exchanged by amateur radio stations to confirm transmission reception. What does that mean exactly?

Imagine this. It’s the year 1908. You are a radio enthusiast and start to broadcast programs from your basement. There are no live chats or comments. You do not know who’s tuning in. You don’t know even know how far your broadcast can reach. So you send out your QSL cards. Mail them out far and wide to other radio enthusiasts around the country, around the world, asking, “Can you hear me where you are? If so, please let me know by returning this card filled in with your info. Thanks!”

From the bold, typeset card designs from the 1920s and 30s to the strip-mall aesthetic of the 1990s, QSL card designs are as varied as the radio stations themselves, reflecting both the times and the personal tastes of the radio station operators.

As for me, I’ve become smitten with cards of a certain wacky, ‘folky’ style. Characterized by a jarring combination of handdrawn type and illustrations, they are raw and full of personality –– a refreshing sampling of design that feels ‘authentic’. Below are a few that caught my eye:

I weirdly find these designs relatable. This one in particular feels like it could be me and Josh:

There are thousands and thousands more designs out there and you could can easily spend hours digging through the online archives of QSL cards. In case you want to get sucked in, here’s a few places to start. Proceed with caution :

• Ham Gallery (This is not an easy archive to use but has so many cards)

• Collection of QSL cards on Pinterest by Chuck Layton

• myQSL.org: The Art of CB Radio QSL Cards

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Empire. Japan. Korea. Oh My.

If you weren’t expecting this dive about amateur radio card designs to veer into colonial history, I wasn’t either, but where the internet leadeth, I follow.

In the course of my research, I came across a QSL card archive categorized by country. Naturally, I clicked on South Korea (in case my name ‘Do-Hee Kim’ didn’t give it away, I’m Korean). While the collection is not large, it offers a few poignant snapshots of modern Korean history.

Quick history lesson: From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan and given the name ‘Chosen’ (the Japanese romanization of 朝鮮 조선).

The QSL cards from the 1930s are visual reminders a Japanese Korea, when stations in ‘Chosen’ were operated by members of the ‘JARL’ – Japan Amateur Radio League. Looking closely at the the QSL card on the lower right, I see that it’s sent from a station in ‘Keijo’ (京城 ie. ‘Gyeongseong’) — the imperial name for Seoul, where I would be born 50 years later.

Korea becomes independent from Japan in 1945 after which the Korean peninsula is divided into 2 occupation zones along the 38th parallel — a Soviet administered northern zone and an American administered southern zone. The Korean War (1950-1953) renders this division ‘permanent’ and establishes the nation states of The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and The Republic of Korea (South Korea).

This period of political change and nation shaping can be seen in the QSL cards from the 1940s - 1960s. In the cards from the late 1940s, Korea is no longer referred to as ‘Korea Japan’ and feature the Korean flag (alongside the American flag), though the radio broadcast call signs still begin with ‘J8’ — the prefix dedicated to Korea when it was a part of Japan.

Starting in the 1950s, the call signs switch over to begin with ‘H’ — a prefix dedicated to Korea and are operated by the KARL — ‘Korean Amateur Radio League’. Radio licenses were first issued only to U.S. personnel and given call signs beginning in ‘HL9’. Educational institutions were next, with call signs beginning in ‘HL2’ as shown in the QSL card from Seoul National University on the lower left. In 1960, the first licenses to individual Korean citizens are issued with the prefix ‘HM’, a few of which you can see above. The ‘HM’ prefix was used in South Korean amateur radio for about 20 years before it was turned over to North Korea in 1982.

What started out as a casual late-night Pinterest session led me to dozens of open tabs and an engaging framework through which to explore history.

Cool? I think so. Thanks for reading, now I can close these tabs.

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