Eighty years ago, this young man was exploring the short waves with his National NC-46 receiver. As the ad points out, he might be listening to ships or planes, to hams, or perhaps to a distant baseball game. While it looks like he’s an SWL right now, it would be a great start to his ham shack after he gets a license.

The receiver was ten tubes, and retailed for $107, so it would have meant cutting a lot of lawns. The ad appeared in the May 1946 issue of Boys’ Life magazine.