[bars] W1OLU QSL Cards

[Richard Heckbert]

Hi Bruce,

Thank you greatly for your reply!  Wow, what a small world.  My grandfather, Ronald Heckbert, W10LU, lived at 30 Magoun Ave. in Medford, two doors down from the railroad station and yes, near the Swan school which my Dad, uncles and aunts all attended.  I myself grew up in West Medford.

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As I said he passed (1958) before I was born so never got to meet him.  According to my father, he was quite the Renaissance man and in addition to very eclectic interests he pretty much could master whatever he set his mind to.  Apparently, printing was one of those interests.  I found an old copy of QST and found one of his ads, thanks for pointing me in that direction.
https://www.worldradiohistory.com/INTERNATIONAL/QST/QST-1956-08.pdf  (page 148 if interested)

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What I find amazing is in the mid 50’s, creating QSL Cards like these or any printed material involved literally having a home printing press.  No going online, finding a template and downloading it, filling in the blanks and printing them on your home printer.  Also, creating the graphic for Mr. Bunney – a rabbit with a microphone, involved a lot more than downloading clipart found online.  Most likely he purchased a bunny and a microphone type-piece from a mail-order company and set them in the design.

I also found him listed in the Fall 1952 Radio Amateur Callbook
https://leehite.org/callbooks/Fall_1952_Radio_Amateur_Callbook.pdf  (page 54)

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According to my mother, he suffered severely from agoraphobia in his later years.  To the point where he didn’t/couldn’t work and never left the house, not even for my parent’s wedding in 1958.  Other than family and the occasional visitor, amateur radio was his only contact with other people.  What’s sad is today’s medicine/medical treatment most likely could have gone a long way towards helping him.

I’m glad I was able to bring back some memories

Rick
KC1VGF (soon to be W1OLU)


From: Bruce Anderson <w1lus at hotmail.com>
Date: Sunday, September 1, 2024 at 1:13 PM
To: "richard.heckbert at gmail.com" <richard.heckbert at gmail.com>, "bars at w1hh.org" <bars at w1hh.org>
Subject: W1OLU QSL Cards

Hello Richard
Your note brought back many memories
As a teenage Novice, living in Medford, I purchased my WN1LUS QSL cards from W1OLU.
I remember seeing his ads in QST advertising his QSL card business.
And traveling to his house on my bicycle to pick up my cards. It was somewhere near the old Swan School.

Bruce
W1LUS

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