Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles
from Popular Electronics,
published October 1954 - April 1985. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.
"My husband wants a
selenimum rectalfire, a silicode capasitator, and a 16 bome appleflyer." That
is the caption of one of the "Hobnobbing with Harbaugh," comics that appeared
in the June 1962 edition of Popular Electronics magazine. Dave Harbaugh's
"Hobnobbing with Harbaugh" was a monthly feature for a couple years that dealt
with stereotypical (pun intended) behavior of technophiles and their often unwilling,
often unwitting wives, girlfriends, kids, parents, workmates, and neighbors.
Check out the large list of other electronics-themed comics at the bottom of
the page.
Hobnobbing with Harbaugh - The Store
"I had no idea it was so small."
"... Madam!"
"He wants that one."
"My husband wants a selenimum rectalfire, a silicode capasitator,
and a 16 bome appleflyer."
Here is the original page:
These Technically-Themed Comics Appeared in Vintage Electronics Magazines. I
personally scanned and posted every one from copies I own (and even colorized some).
275 pages as of 5/13/2026.
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools"
in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide
me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing
my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet)
was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity.
Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line,
and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...
