Always thought postcards might be fun to collect... (model, collector, watch)

[Cida]

Postcard People
Like postcards, no two members of the Metropolitan Postcard Club of New York City are quite the same.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/n...rd-people.html

[ciceropolo]

While I wouldn't consider myself a Deltiologist, I must admit post cards are the easiest travel memorabilia as they sotre and carry well. I have over the years acquired a significant amount from traveling. I like to get city image postcards and montages. It's a fascinating way to catalogue the built environment over time.


A college professor I had for undergrad who taught a Cities and Planning course was an avid deltiologist and his collection was donated to the college library and is referenced frequently for old images of Cleveland and local areas. It's especially cool to see buildings demolished multiple generations ago and their intricate architectural detail or people in city street scape views and their clothing of a different time.


Something about the weathering effect of time on printed materials makes me think of this classic....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0r74rxvWxo

[TamaraSavannah]

I don't necessarily do post cards (but I might pick them up) but I do greeting cards. They are part of the art work on my walls. It depends on the theme.

Somewhere around is the post card I sent my cat at the time. She was spending the weeks with my Mother while I was off doing marine biology work. I sent her a card from the marine station about how much I missed her.

[talynld]

I collect postcards. I have about 500 now. They are cheap and easy to get people to buy them for you.
My boss brought me couple from Europe and Mexico last year.

I have some goofy ones, the standard tourist type, and the ones that are like unique individually designed.

I always promise myself to organize them, but I just put them in a couple of shoe boxes.

[headingtoDenver]

My wife and I have a few vintage postcards. We try and buy old postcards from places we have been ourselves. We did find a Colorado post card which was interesting. A guy was sending a postcard to his girlfriend saying that he wishes he was with her instead of traveling with his wife. This was from 1910 I believe.

[slowlane3]

You can often find old postcards in antique shops. Sorted by state location. I think the largest antique postcard shop in the U.S. is Mary Martin's of Perryville, Maryland.

My late father had 3,000 of them. The oldest ones showed such scenes as crowds wearing full-length bathing suits in Atlantic City, NJ......many of old Masonic Halls and old post offices, city theaters, etc. in cities. The "Hippodrome" in NYC....one of bombed ruins in World War I.....some racist ones, showing black children posed with crocodiles, watermelons, etc.....some showing the pavilions at various Worlds Fairs.....others with artistic birthday greetings, or humorous cartoons of people on the beach.....actual photos of workers making Model T Ford's, or pouring molten steel in a factory....old fashioned tourist homes on Route 66 in the midwest/ southwest.

Some of the very earliest cards around the turn of the 20th century, were actually black and white photos on slick paper. Later there was a period in mid-20th century, when rough-finish, drawn images predominated, with a small margin around the edge and the caption of what it was. Some of these would use a very generic pastoral scene and label it on the edge with the name of a town, which was not necessarily even the location of the scene. Then in the 1950s and 60s, color photographs began to be used again. Very often, motels, tourist homes, or restaurants would give them out as advertising - showing guests relaxed at the pool, or scenes of the interior of the restaurant. Sometimes you could buy a "booklet" or group of images of the same city or attraction, folded together alternate ways, into a kind of accordian shape. Some of these latter kind would have the name of the city or attraction traced in large oversized letters, with each letter of the word filled in with colorful embellishment. Like on the cover of Bruce Stringsteen's record album called "Asbury Park."

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I have gotten rid of unnecessary "stuff" over the last few years. And when I think of friends who are collectors, the objects they usually collect are packed away. This includes a friend who collects old memorabilia, including post cards. She keeps them packed away safe, out of sight.

So, you have to wonder, what good are they? if they have to be kept in the dark, out of sight somewhere either in your home or a safety deposit box?

Sure, they might be worth more money at some future date, but is that guaranteed? is it worth any extra insurance? What are you really getting out of it, if they're packed away somewhere and you rarely look at or enjoy them?

I do think collectors are of value to our humanity/culture, etc., because they preserve our culture and history. But, I really don't see the value in private collectors keeping their hoard in their homes in the dark somewhere that they aren't being shared by or enjoyed by the general public.

So, maybe donate historic items to a local historic society? Or at least display them so you and your visitors can actually enjoy them.

[RcHydro]

I started a few years ago by accident. looking for something, I ran across some of my home town, I live in a small town in NC close to the coast, downtown pics with old cars from the 50's and 60's.

[495neighbor]

I love the hand colored ones. They take me to a beautiful spot.

[Snowpacked]

I always bring back postcards from my trips for my neighbor. She really likes them and its a little something extra for watching my home while I am away.