Electronics-Themed Comics
December 1958 Radio-Electronics

December 1958 Radio-Electronics [Table of Contents] Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Radio-Electronics, published 1930-1988. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

Being a big appreciator of good humor, and especially technology-related humor, I made sure to scan these tech-themed comics from the pages of vintage Radio-Electronics magazines. Some of the same themes from half a century ago are still applicable today - like inventing a device that will block television commercials (see the page 132 comic). There are a couple huge differences between then and now, though. For one thing, the percentage of each hour consumed by commercials has doubled or tripled since 1958. A Prime Time TV show in 1958 like The Untouchables ran 54 out of 60 minutes (90% show / 10% commercials). Big Bang Theory, a 2014 show, had a run time of 22 out of 30 minutes (73% show / 36% commercials).

Electronics-Themed Comics

Page 38

"And I want a color bar generator, a field-strength meter ..."
Page 48

"This gadget automatically shuts off all commercials between programs."
Page 132

"Wait until you hear it at its full volume ..."
Page 79

Page 88

Posted November 3, 2022
(updated from original post on 5/26/2014)