QSL cards still valued

This week I received a beautiful QSL card to add to my album:

I've been DXing long enough to recall the poor quality of QSL cards common in the 1970's - often generic designs in one or two colours of ink, shoddily printed on cheap thin card with low resolution. They were par for the course, at the time. I had some printed myself. Home-made cards were common in some parts of the world.

Despite the limitations, some hams got creative with the designs: cartoons were quite popular, supplementing or replacing the more traditional country-outline-map-with-a-dot, or the plain and simple callsign banners.

In the 90s, full colour photographic cards gradually became more common. The standard design of the age was a photo of the operator, seated in the shack in front of the radio. Some were holding a microphone or Morse key, perhaps wearing headphones or turning the VFO. A few had kids or pets sitting on their laps, while computer screens and keyboards gradually appeared in the average shack-shot.

Too tight to get any printed, for some years I sent picture postcards of the local area using sticky labels for the QSO info - initially hand-written then computer printed.  

This century, as LoTW has grown, cards have declined in number but increased in quality. Most of the cards I receive today are unique custom-designed and professionally-printed in full colour. Nice! Some, such as VP8ORK's, feature arty shots by hams with a flair for photography. A few DXpedition or special event station cards, such as VP8ORK's again, are folded or stapled multi-page cards with further photos, sponsors' logos, info about the stations and operators etc. in addition to the basic QSO info.

I still get a buzz from QSLing. I enjoy reading the cards and appreciate the effort and expense by the senders. Hand-written comments - even something as simple as a scrawled 73 - catch my eye.  Cards confirming genuine DX QSOs are valuable, especially if I lack the corresponding LoTW confirmations.  Cards from friends or particularly challenging QSOs make me smile.

The best QSL cards deserve their places in my album. I ration myself to just one card per DXCC country, and relish leafing through the album either to insert new cards or just to remind myself of all the fun I've had over the years in this fine hobby.