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One unexpected discovery is that the average reader
must have had better near vision eyesight than today because the print size was
very tiny. Even as recently as 1943, a large portion of people could not afford
corrective lenses so unless either a reading magnifier was a staple of every household
or it was common practice for the person with the best eyesight in the house to
read QST aloud to the poorly sighted of the house, the only conclusion can be that
the average citizen had better eyesight than today. I write that only partly in
jest; a search for scientific data to back my suspicion was not fruitful.
See response from Joe B.
Kirt,
Re: The old QST font size. During WWII everything was rationed, including
paper and ink, because materials were needed for the war. Magazines
were permitted because to not print them would hurt morale. And since the
Army and Navy (and Marines) needed radio operators, I suspect QST was near the top
of the permitted list. But the smaller the font, the more you could
squeeze into a given issue. 73
Joe (N3TTE) Birsa, P.E.
Warrendale, PA
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