Electronics-Themed Comics: Radio Terms Illustrated
August 1947 Radio−Craft

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.

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

Posted July 23, 2020