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August 1947 Radio-Craft
 [Table of Contents]
Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics.
See articles from Radio-Craft,
published 1929 - 1953. All copyrights are hereby acknowledged.
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These "Radio Term
Illustrated" comics from vintage Radio-Craft magazines are some of my
favorite tech-themed comics. Most were drawn by Frank Beaven in response to
suggestions / requests by magazine readers. The one here from page 80 entitled
"Crystal Gazing" was done by Franklin Folger. If you didn't know that it
appeared in a
1947 edition, you might assume it depicts a
Steam Punk themed LCD
computer monitor mounted atop a Morse code straight key, but of course it is not.
At the time, cathode ray tubes (CRTs) were the only form of video display, and
while small like the one in the drawing (and round, unlike the drawing), they
were far from flat. Little did the artist suspect that his "Crystal Gazing" idea
meant to imply a type of mystic's medium for seeing the future or far-off events
was actually an unintended look into what the future of video displays would be.
Radio Terms Illustrated
Radio Term Illustrated: "Crystal Gazing" Cartoon by Franklin Folger August
1947, Page 80
Radio Term Illustrated: Overload Capacity Suggested by: Gilberta Garza.
G(Xelga), Mexico Overloaded Capacity , Page 83
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.
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Posted July 23, 2020
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