A QSL card is a written confirmation of communication from a CB or short wave broadcasting station.  They are the size of a postcard, and most are sent through the mail.  The name comes from the Q code.  A Q code message can stand for a statement or a question (when the code is followed by a question mark). In this case, QSL? means “do you confirm receipt of my transmission?” while QSL means “I confirm receipt of your transmission”.  The CB cards were especially popular in the mid 1970s when the CB craze swept the country.

Gabby is amused by vernacular sexual art.  One weekend he assembled a modest collection of QSL cards depicting nudity or sexual activity.  Naughty!

Knowing of my friend’s fascination with CB ephemera, Gabby sent on the two dozen-ish naughty QSL cards that he had acquired in a weekend at flea markets and second-hand shops in Little Rock.  Young Emily was there for a conference of the Society for American Music, mostly to hear a presentation on Shape-Note Gospel Singing in Central Arkansas. Shape Notes are a type of music notation designed to facilitate congregational and community singing. The shape-based notation, introduced in the early 19th century, became a popular teaching device in American singing schools, helping singers find pitches within major and minor scales without the use of more complex information found in key signatures on the staff.

But his collection of naughty cards  –  pretty cool, no?  What did my friend think?