gio’s WeBlog

Vintage ads are fun to collect. The hobby has grown significantly over the last few years, and is expected to continue to grow in the future. Everyone has their own reasons for collecting vintage ads. Some people collect to reminisce about earlier years, some like the ad campaigns or the artwork, and yet others see the collection as an investment. For some people the collection is just an extension of their fondness for an item or company. For example, many people collect Coca-Cola ads, and others collect Disney ads.

Most people acquire the vintage ads in one of two ways. The first way is simply by purchasing old magazines from garage sales, flea-markets, and other venues. They then cut out the ads they desire. This method is beneficial in that it typically costs less, but the downside is that it is much less targeted. If you are looking for specific ads, then this method is not very practical. The second way is to simply purchase the ads directly. Some stores will sell just the ads by themselves, while others will sell them pre-matted and ready for framing. In some cases they will be sold already framed.

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Call signs in the United States used to be very easy for one Ham Operator to tell which area in the US the Ham they were talking to was from! A 6 call was from California or some state near, or a 0 call was New York or a state near New York, they did not even need to look at the call map! Today a Amateur Radio Operator can move from North Carolina where it is a 4 call to Texas where it is a 5 call and keep their 4 call. Call signs (in the United States) consist of one or two letters, a number, and one to three more letters. The first part of the call sign denoted what country they are from, with the US being A, AA - AK K, KA - KK, KM - KW, KX - KZ, N, NA - NK, NM - NW, NM - NW, NX - NZ, WA - WK, WM - WO, WQ - WW, and WX - WZ. Also in the US, AA - AK was issued only to Amateur Extras.

Each country has been assigned a country designation by a governing body. This group is made up from representatives from all over the world and is not only concerned with ham communication but all communication. I am not going to get into the designations for the countries. There are several charts available that shows the different designations and the country it relates to.

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