[IRCA] QSL COLLECTIONS

["Mark Durenberger" <Mark4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm a member of both radio clubs as well as a Museum Board member overseeing 
acquisitions for the Pavek Museum...a well-regarded home for Radio/TV 
history.  www.pavekmuseum.org

I/we have the utmost respect and admiration for the incredible patience, 
work and follow-up that goes into amassing any QSL collection.

The problem that museums encounter with potential QSL-collections is what we 
learn from our research and acquisition-qualifications:

1.  Sadly, logging a group of stations from a long distance is no longer 
considered unique enough to be of historical significance.  At the Pavek we 
show what a QSL card is and what a "Verie" means to so many.

But adding a large display of QSL cards really doesn't further the 
information we've presented, which is this: "there are folks out there doing 
this, and these two items are their instruments of record.  Many have 
amassed thousands of these cards."

That takes a minute or two...waaaayyy outside the attention-span of so many 
today <g>

2.  A QSL collection is really a PERSONAL accomplishment and stimulates 
happy memories when we review our cards.  As such...unless the collector is 
himself a newsworthy person (say, a Walter Mondale)...a museum would have no 
historical context in which to display the collection.

I think most other museums have found the same thing to be true.

BUT: great QSL collections should not be lost!  Hopefully we can bequeath 
them to someone a generation or so down the line, who might then be inspired 
to continue the hobby!


Regards,

Mark Durenberger
DX Audio Service


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