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Letters
An important means of exchange for the time, letters enabled actors to establish hitherto inexistent networks of epistolary exchanges. Here some illustrations from the CRAFTE database.
Letters from radio stations to listeners
This sub-collection consists of digital copies of letters sent by several international broadcasting radio stations to individual listeners in India.
Some of the radio stations, which regularly sent letters were–
- Radio Tashkent
- Radio Moscow
- Radio Berlin International
- NHK Japan
- Voice of America
- Deutsche Welle
- BBC
- Radio Nederland
- Radio France Internationale
The originals belong to the private collections of listeners based in different federal states in India (Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Chattisgarh)
The collection gives a preview into the plethora of stations Indian listeners were regularly listening to and the kind of correspondence they received from them.
All digital copies have been made with the permission of individual listeners and may not be reproduced without their due permissions.
Some of the radio stations, which regularly sent letters were–
- Radio Tashkent
- Radio Moscow
- Radio Berlin International
- NHK Japan
- Voice of America
- Deutsche Welle
- BBC
- Radio Nederland
- Radio France Internationale
The originals belong to the private collections of listeners based in different federal states in India (Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Chattisgarh)
The collection gives a preview into the plethora of stations Indian listeners were regularly listening to and the kind of correspondence they received from them.
All digital copies have been made with the permission of individual listeners and may not be reproduced without their due permissions.
Letters exchanged among radio listeners
In the 1960s-90s, radio listeners in India, who heard several international stations, did not only write to the moderators and broadcasters, but also to each other.
This led to the crafting of intricate epistolary exchange networks.
Several such letters have no traces in institutional archives but can still be found in listeners' private collections today.
The CRAFTE Database houses digital copies of over 600 such letters. They were digitized both for the keepers as well as for the database.
All material has been digitized with permissions. For using any material necessary permissions of collectors needs to be sought.
This led to the crafting of intricate epistolary exchange networks.
Several such letters have no traces in institutional archives but can still be found in listeners' private collections today.
The CRAFTE Database houses digital copies of over 600 such letters. They were digitized both for the keepers as well as for the database.
All material has been digitized with permissions. For using any material necessary permissions of collectors needs to be sought.
QSL Postcards collected by radio listeners
One of radio listening's features, highly popular in 1980s–present day India, was DXing.
DX Programmes of stations were a platform for direct exchange through
letters and reception reports between the presenters and the listeners.
An international phenomenon since the 1920s, DXing refers to amateur listeners’ hobby of identifying and receiving distant radio or television
signals, or making two-way contact with distant stations.
DX comes from
the telegraphic shorthand for distance or distant. It includes the practice
of regular communication with radio stations through reception reports,
whereby listeners inform the station about the quality of the transmission.
DXers were sent a written acknowledgement of receipt of reports by radio
stations in the form of QSL cards (acknowledgment cards).
Over the past six decades several radio listeners have meticulously collected hundreds of such QSL cards from all kinds of stations and coming from different parts of the world.
The CRAFTE database comprises digital copies of hundreds of such QSL cards. Resembling postcards with both urban or rural landscape images, they also were a means for radio listeners to imagine places far away.
DX Programmes of stations were a platform for direct exchange through
letters and reception reports between the presenters and the listeners.
An international phenomenon since the 1920s, DXing refers to amateur listeners’ hobby of identifying and receiving distant radio or television
signals, or making two-way contact with distant stations.
DX comes from
the telegraphic shorthand for distance or distant. It includes the practice
of regular communication with radio stations through reception reports,
whereby listeners inform the station about the quality of the transmission.
DXers were sent a written acknowledgement of receipt of reports by radio
stations in the form of QSL cards (acknowledgment cards).
Over the past six decades several radio listeners have meticulously collected hundreds of such QSL cards from all kinds of stations and coming from different parts of the world.
The CRAFTE database comprises digital copies of hundreds of such QSL cards. Resembling postcards with both urban or rural landscape images, they also were a means for radio listeners to imagine places far away.
Registered Mail
Most radio memorabilia and souvenirs were sent by registered mail to Indian listeners.
This group of digital copies of the envelopes used for registered mail by the stations, makes for a unique sub-collection for the CRAFTE database.
Besides spatial coordinates of radio listeners, we also get several historical hints through hand-written notes on the envelopes.
This group of digital copies of the envelopes used for registered mail by the stations, makes for a unique sub-collection for the CRAFTE database.
Besides spatial coordinates of radio listeners, we also get several historical hints through hand-written notes on the envelopes.
Letters across the Indian Ocean
Radio listeners' epistolary exchanges did not just include listeners writing to each other within their countries, but also to those abroad.
This sub-collection consists of digital copies of letters sent by listeners from Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria, Mauritius, Seychelles, Bangladesh, Japan, China, Pakistan, Iran etc. to their radio co-listeners in Indian villages, towns and medium-sized cities.
This sub-collection consists of digital copies of letters sent by listeners from Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria, Mauritius, Seychelles, Bangladesh, Japan, China, Pakistan, Iran etc. to their radio co-listeners in Indian villages, towns and medium-sized cities.
AISF Correspondence and Circulars
Like any larger organisation, the All-India Students' Federation (AISF) also produced a rich source base of internal and external correspondance, as well as circulars and bulletins to be distributed amongst varying circles of members.
While only a small amount of this kind of material seems to have been preserved in the archive of the Communist Party of India, future visits to the archives of the AISF itself or the entangled All-India Youth Forum might bring forth further holdings.
While only a small amount of this kind of material seems to have been preserved in the archive of the Communist Party of India, future visits to the archives of the AISF itself or the entangled All-India Youth Forum might bring forth further holdings.
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