Your story about soldering your first radio with your dad’s tools is especially heartwarming—it’s those early DIY moments that spark lifelong passions. The fascination with shortwave radio and the excitement of picking up far-off stations like Radio Free Albania must have felt like opening a window to another world. The fact that you remember discovering its location on an old globe just adds to that sense of adventure.

Collecting 1960s shirt-pocket radios and novelty items like the Frosties cereal box and WD-40 can radios is a truly unique pursuit. And those 1967 sunglasses with an AM radio? That’s next-level cool. It’s charming that you want everything in your collection to be in working order; you’re preserving these pieces in a way that honors their history and keeps them “alive.”

You’ve got such a rich collection and a great sense of humor to go with it. It’s wonderful that, even with so many hobbies and interests, you still find joy in revisiting and sharing your passion for radios. Here’s hoping Oliver Mousely somehow hears your plea and sends back that camping stove trade-in!