Postcards of the Past
Some articles about
Postcard Collecting.
"Looking For Collectible Postcards"
by John Ugoshowa

I’ve found that the best place to find collectible postcards is at art auctions. I
was at an art auction in Eastlake, Ohio looking for stained glass and found
them auctioning a lot of vintage collectible postcards. I bought the lot at the art
auction and it contained almost three thousand beautiful collectible postcards.
About thirty percent of the collectible postcards were pre-linen. These are
postcards that were all made before 1930. The linen collectible postcards were
made from 1930 to 1945 and the lot I won at the art auction had thirty percent
linen cards as well.

Forty percent of the lot I won at the art auction was for early chrome
collectible postcards. Most of them were from the fifties and sixties. There
were also collectible postcards from the British museum series from the
seventies.

The collectible postcards that are my favorite are all turn of the century and
were sent for holidays. Valentine’s Day collectible postcards from the early
1900s are very romantic. The Christmas postcards have some really nice
artwork. I was really fortunate with the purchase at the art auction because
the assortment was so varied.

My collection of collectible postcards contains many different themes. I like the
non-US card. I found an art auction that had a shoebox full of these postcards
and they were from places like Bermuda, Zurich, Rio de Janeiro, Dresden,
Germany, Ireland and even Istanbul. I had never owned a collectible postcard
from Niger before that art auction.

People who do not collect vintage collectible postcards just don’t understand
their value. They are usually not even mentioned as being part of an art
auction. I go to art auctions every other weekend on the off chance that there
will be collectible postcards on the auction block.

I am always so pleased when I find linen ere collectible postcards at an art
auction. The auctioneer at most art auctions does not even announce the lot
as linen postcards; he usually just announces it as vintage or old collectible
postcards. His lack of knowledge of the subject almost always works to my
advantage.

I have various collections of collectible postcards within the main collection. I
tried for awhile to complete a set of state views in all linen era postcards. I can’
t even count how many art auctions I attended before I even had thirty of the
forty eight states. I know that I finally tired of the pursuit and have just put it on
the back burner.

The holiday collectible postcards go to collectors of more than just postcards. I’
ve seen people buy holiday collectible postcards at an art auction just to frame
and decorate with them during certain holidays. I actually found five really nice
vintage Christmas collectible postcards at an art auction and had them framed
for my mother as a Christmas gift.

I went to an art auction and estate sale of a man whose grandfather had been
a colonel army officer. The collectible postcards that I found there were
fantastic. The officer had amassed 353 different postcards from India. It was
amazing. They had been tucked into an album and never used and were in
perfect condition.

For awhile, I thought that I wanted to collect postcards from soldiers in WWI. I
found a two hundred piece lot of this type of collectible postcards at an art
auction in New Haven. The mix of cards was British, French and German. It
was interesting because some of the collectible postcards were censored. I’ve
never seen censored collectible postcards before.

The most I’ve ever spent on collectible postcards at an art auction was $530
for four postcards. They were all from 1904 and they depicted automobile
racing. They were in pristine condition. I doubt that I will ever find any more
even remotely like this the rest of my life. They were exceptional.

The lot of collectible postcards I found last weekend was really fun to look
through. The art auction had a lot of things from a family that had emigrated
here from Serbia. The postcards were all from either Serbia or Belgrade. This
was a good lot and it went for the opening bid.

John Ugoshowa.

For more information about Aquariums and fish care see the art aquarium and
fish care section of The Free Ad John Ugoshowa. For more information about
art auctions see the art auction section of The Free Ad Forum at: http://www.
thefreeadforum.com/infowizards/CAT/Art-Auctions_82_1.html
The Joy of Collecting Postcards
by Jay Corbin

Postcard collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world.
The Internet makes it easy to track down favorite artists, postcards
from your childhood, or beautiful pictures of the world around you.
Whether you're a serious collector or just some who likes the pictures,
postcard collecting is an amazing and exciting hobby.
When I was a little kid, my Dad would travel a lot for his job. No matter
where he was he would find me a postcard and send it. I held onto
them for years. He traveled all over the United States and Europe. I
got postcards from Georgia, California, Norway, and Turkey. I loved
them because I loved my dad but they were all incredible looking too. I
still have most of them and every once in awhile I take them out and
reminisce.

Serious collectors may choose to limit their collections to cards to
specific publishers and artists or by time and location or by type of
postcard. Antique postcards date back to the first postcards printed
during the civil war by J.P., Carlton. He transfered the copyright to H.L.
Lipman and Lipman Postal Cards were sold until 1873 when the U.S.
Government got into the business. Nine years later European
countries were also producing postcards. Antique postcards have
gained popularity in the past few years because many kinds of
messages and layouts have almost disappeared. Most collectors see
to it that they store and display their collection in the best possible way.

Historical societies are major collectors of Real Photo postcards
because of their importance in research about how a city looked at a
particular time or what people were doing. Real photo postcards show
many slices of historical life such as town streets, families, and
buildings that are no longer there. With a large enough collection you
can get a very good sense of the development of a town or city.
Postcards provide an incomparable glimpse into the society during the
period they were used.

Worldwide, deltiology is the third largest hobby. If you are starting a
postcard collection, go after the ones that you have an interest in. Part
of the joy of collecting is knowing a single acquisition found in a
unexpected place may begin a journey to unknown destinations.

Jay Corbin runs the Great Postcard Auctions website where you can
find many Real Photo Georgia postcards and other postcards for your
collection.
We want you - we want your articles, comments, old postcards - in fact anything
interesting about Collecting Postcards or about any of the places included in this
website. Send them to us at
gregoryolney@aol.com and we'll publish them here - with an
appropriate acknowledgement of course. So now's your chance to get into print !
Can't find what you want ? Try the Google
Search box on the right - you never know
what you might come up  !!
Custom Search
"Collecting Old Postcards"
by DWG

Postcard collecting just seems to have happened to me – it crept up without my realising what was
happening. When my dad died I found an old postcard of the “Queen Elizabeth” in his wallet. He and my
mum crossed the Atlantic to New York on this ship in 1967, and he had put a mark on it to show where
their cabin was. So I thought I would keep it, others got added, and then one day, having nothing better to
do, I put them in an old photograph album, and the hobby had started.

Today I have about 4000 cards, most of which appear on this website. I originally intended only to have
postcards of Stratford-upon-Avon on the site – hence the URL name ! – but then towns and villages near
Stratford crept in, and, like Topsy, it just growed so that it now covers most of Europe and a few places in
the USA and Canada.

It is gratifying to learn that other people enjoy the website; there must be a lot because of the number who
send postcard images to me via email. This is great because (a) I don’t have to buy them and (b) it saves
me time processing the images to make them suitable for the web pages. I try to add a few every day, but
as I learn more about site building and arranging the pages and images, I find I have to make
modifications, which can take time. If you have some old cards you think would make good additions to
the website, and if you have time to scan them, I’d love to receive the images and add them – with of
course an appropriate acknowledgement. You can get in touch via email to
gregoryolney@aol.com.

I suppose that, as a hobby, deltiology can be relatively inexpensive – with enough friends sending you
holiday postcards you can soon build up a collection, although the cards will not at first be very old. But
time soon passes, and if you keep your eyes open in charity shops, car boot sales etc, you will be able to
pick up some older postcards at bargain prices. There are millions of old cards out there – go to ebay and
see how many there are for sale at any one time – it’s a matter of finding them
Reproductions of postcards with a (Z) following the description may be purchased at Zazzle - click on the (Z)...........Please support our advertisers. Without them we would be unable to keep this site running, so bid on a new bike on eBay or buy some books and DVDs from Amazon. Thanks !