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If I could turn back time…

Nostalgia Radio, 9 new interlocking crochet/double filet patterns, is out is now. 67 pages composed and composited by me, a doddering human intelligence from the 1900s. $10-15 sliding scale, or it's already in the Vault for subscribers.

This collection includes the largest and most complex patterns I've written so far (see the ludicrous Reel-to-Reel), but also beginner-friendly motifs like the MP3 Player and Boombox, which require only a bit beyond granny-square-level crochet skill.

So yes. Buy these patterns, print them out (do it at work, quit), throw all your Internet-connected devices in a lake, and spend the next however-many years crocheting gramophones.

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During construction of the CBS Radio transmitter tower atop 500 Fifth Avenue (at 42nd Street), November 18, 1941.

Photo: CBS/Getty Images

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Yellow Vintage Radios as seen on Etsy

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

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1996 Collectible Disney 101 Dalmatian’s Radio Clock

White plastic FM radio bearing black Dalmatian markings, with a cheery clock face circled in red, and a little red aerial for reception. Includes an alarm clock that runs on 4x AA batteries.

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Noor Inayat Khan was the daughter of an Indian Muslim family of musicians and poets, a descendant of the ruler Mysore, Tipu Sultan. She overcame her Buddhist belief in not taking life because of her opposition to Nazism and her hope of making common cause between Indian and English people.

She was the first woman radio operator ever dropped into France, and she chose to stay on in Paris as the only English radio operator, even when her circle was broken up and she was offered evacuation.

"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory

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VINTAGE MINT IN BOX ANTIQUE SONY TR-63 MID CENTURY EAMES ERA TRANSISTOR RADIO

In March 1957, Sony introduced the TR-63, the first real Japanese “shirt pocket” radio - it sold well, and 114,539 units were manufactured in total.

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Lumbung Radio is an inter-local online community radio part of documenta fifteen. It’s an open online broadcast that comprises of an inter-local network of distinct radios and audio practices. It operates in no specific time zones, and streams multiple languages, music, and art. Each participating radio station depends on its own means of production, way of thinking, learning, and sharing. lumbung Radio operates as a decentralized network of nodes that uses internet without its hegemonic agency. The intention is producing an audiophonic common space built on the multiplication of the existing practices of its contributors.

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Thomas Collector's edition radio, model 511, made in March 1989

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Gibson Girl // SCR-578 Survival Radio Transmitter (US, 1942)

Gibson Girl because of the narrow wasted models by 1890s fashion artist Charles Gibson

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A radio wizard that has an extendable antenna magic staff. He can broadcast on any frequency, pick up any radio signals within 500 miles, and he gets in trouble with air traffic control A LOT.

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A love song on for the radio

Judith Herzberg, “sentimental” / A 70’s teenagers bedroom / Ben Doller, “Radio, Radio” / Queen, “Radio Ga Ga” / Tom Clark, “Radio” / Ruslan Sabiroff, Radio / John Denver, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” / Judith Herzberg, “sentimental”

Bonus: @argumate

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You Should Get A Radio

I want to convince you to get a radio. It can be a pretty cheap one - you can sometimes thrift them even - just something to listen to the music and shows that are literally streaming completely for free all around you right this very moment.

Libraries get a lot of love - deservedly so. They are such a frugal resource for entertainment and the community at large. I would argue that radio is very similar.

Find New Music

Radio can introduce you to music you never would have run across otherwise. Spotify and the like have a goal of getting you to listen for as long as possible. This incentivizes the alorgithm picking your music recs to stay very safely within your known listening profile. But since a radio station is broadcasting to a large number of people, not you individually, you're more likely to run into music you personally wouldn't have picked but actually enjoy.

Not to mention that if you're in the US at least, you're very likely within range of a public broadcasting station which not only has local and national news, but various music shows as well - World Cafe is a treasure. College radio stations, if you have one nearby by, can be hit or miss, but in general, it is a great way to find local and very niche music you wouldn't hear played anywhere else. If you're in a city, you very likely have a couple of hyperlocal low power FM stations - many who serve communities who don't speak English and who have their own unique music programming. I also enjoy a lot of the adult contemporary and "oldies" stations I can get near me.

The Ads Aren't Targeted

On most stations, you'll hear some ads. Some stations you'll hear more than a few. But none of those ads are based on an ever growing mass of information being collected about you and your listening habits to decide what specific ad you're most likely to actually act on. They're just...an ad. When you turn it off, it can't follow you around until you actually buy it.

Also, if you're listening to local stations, a lot of the ads are for local businesses in your community; places owned by your neighbors and the people you live with. For me, it's been a nice way to be reminded of what places exist in my community since I usually go to my regular haunts and nothing else.

Frugal and Fun

Radios can be pretty cheap. I see them in thrift stores pretty regularly around here and you might be able to try Marketplace for one. Mine was a birthday gift and I paid a little more to upgrade the antena later. Mine uses rechargeable batteries but I think they make ones that are just straight up rechargeable now.

Since I can't control the music, I'm not turning to it to skip through music or pick a different playlist or look up a given artist I want to hear because I just remembered they existed. I'm more present, whether I'm just listening to the show or pairing it with something else (recently it's been knitting or solitaire games).

Similar to the way that libraries can be one way you decrease your reliance on subscription culture, radio is another. Especially for public broadcasting stations, the programming is always changing, there are new shows every week, and there are often ways for you to get involved. It's another form of entertainment that often gets overlooked.

It's Screen Free

Not much to say here. It's just a big plus to me. I'm trying to take more breaks from screens and make the time I do spend on screens less addictive. I like that I can throw on a radio station and listen to a show without ever having to resist the urge to check email or something.

Vital in Emergencies

Have you thought of how you'd get information during an emergency if the internet goes out? Radio is a great option and still regularly saves lives. In the event of emergencies, local radio stations are often some of the very first people to get information on where shelters are being set up, where resoruces are being distributed, and how to stay safe through the course of the event. Depending on the event, emergency managers will actually bring in radio equipment to keep broadcasting going if there's been damage to a tower and even set up temporary/mobile station up to get the word out if there's not a local station they can partner with.

On days when the weather isn't looking so great, I often have the weather band radio turned on so I can get the latest NWS forecasts and hear when a watch is issued - phones usually only get warnings unless you go out of your way to sign up for more. And out where I live, I usually don't even get those since cell signal is spotty.

It's a great investment in your safety that you can also enjoy whenever.

Conclusion

Buy a radio. Especially if you're looking to get away from subscriptions and cut costs. You can own your radio - you can't own Spotify. It's also just something I think everyone should have since it's such a vital resource in emergencies.

ETA: I am a young millinial. I grew up with radio and remember a time before the internet so I'm not saying any of this as if I'm discovering it. It's more I've been not only enjoying it a lot lately but reminded that a lot of people aren't aware of everything it offers so I wanted to share that in case it was news to anyone.

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say what you will about the radio but it plays music

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S.P. Radio // Sailor R109 // marine receiver (Denmark, 1973)

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Soviet portable radio Olympic 305 - vintage radio USSR - Soviet transistor radio receiver electronics

The Olympic-305 or Olimpik-305 was a medium frequency band model by Olympic made in 1993 in Ukraine at the Sverlovodsk plant under the USSR. It is known to have come in red and green.

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Vintage Novelty Retro Ladybird Ladybug Portable Pocket Radio 1970s Working AM/MW

The vintage Ladybug Novelty Transistor Radio (model LT303) was made in Hong Kong circa 1976 - AM band, wings extend when the volume knob is turned up. This radio was sold under multiple brand names including Amico, Sonnet and Stewart, but all have the same model number (LT303).