Monthly Archives: September 2026

Mr. ZIP at the Minnesota State Fair

I was quite the philatelist when I was a kid, and when I learned that there were stamp exhibits at the Minnesota State Fair, I wanted to enter one. Every year, I check them out, and every year, I decide that I’m going to enter, when I get a Round Tuit.

This year, after about 50 years, I finally got a Round Tuit, and I entered the above collection featuring Mr. ZIP, the beloved mascot of the United States Postal Service, and before that, the Post Office Department. Mr. ZIP retired at some time in the 1980s, but in 2025, he came out of retirement, and is now a YouTuber, starring in “Mail with Mr. ZIP.”

If you get a chance to make it to the Minnesota State Fair, which runs through Labor Day, be sure to stop by the Creative Activities building and check out the entry.

As you can see, Mr. ZIP earned the second-place ribbon for 20th Century U.S. Stamps. If you’re wondering who took home the Blue Ribbon, that entry is shown at left, and is an excellent presentation of error stamps. The first-place ribbon was earned by Michael Hilpisch of Shoreview, Minnesota, who is obviously a serious collector.

(If you want to see better pictures, see my post on Facebook, as one of my friends posted some better images in the replies:)



1966 Two Tube Two Meter Receiver


This handsome two-tube two-meter receiver was featured in the September 1966 issue of Electronics Illustrated. The magazine noted that there was a great deal of activity on two meters in most areas, and this set would pull those signals in, perhaps with a TV antenna. The set was both superheterodyne and superregenerative. A local oscillator tuned 8 MHz below the band, and the superregnerative detector picked up the resulting 8 MHz signal. A speaker was built in, but there were provisions for headphones, for pulling in the weak signals.



Radio Physic(s)

The word has gone out of style, but back in the day, “physic” was a polite synonym for “laxative.” This cartoon appeared 80 years ago in the September 1946 issue of Radio News.