In honor of National Postcard Week I thought it might be fun to take a look at the hobby of collecting vintage postcards. This year the celebration falls between May 2 through May 8. Officially started in 1984 by collectors of postcards, the week is used to promote the hobby and have some fun with this old paper referred to in the Antiques industry as ephemera.
Postcard collectors will spend the week mailing postcards to friends, family, and fellow collectors all over the world. They may send a vintage postcard or design a new card to send. Some will purchase a new postcard to send out. This is the week that many collectors celebrate the history of their favorite collectible and add to the collections of their fellow hobbyists.
Deltiologists, collectors of postcards, will tell you that their hobby is one of the three largest collecting hobbies in the world. Picture postcards became the rage around 1870 and have been collected by people ever since. J-ellen is a postcard collector and she has shared the passion for her hobby in her article Vintage Postcards: Collecting and Collectibles. She outlines some of her favorite artists who designed some of the vintage postcards during the time that is referred to as the Golden Era. In the article by J-ellen, you will find a wealth of information about the hobby of collecting vintage postcards. She tells about the different types of postcards that people collect, gives resources for information, and ideas on how to display a postcard collection. If you think that you might like to start a collection, her article is a good place to start to gather information.
Join in the celebration this week, even if you don't collect vintage and contemporary postcards. Imagine the smile on someone's face when they get a postcard from you in their mailbox. As J-ellen mentions there is a category to suit anyone's taste from artist designed to old photographs. Postcards are inexpensive to purchase and mail along with being just plain fun.
Visit Vintage Postcard Collecting
Image Credit: Postcard: Badminton Kittens Vintage Art by VintagePets
Sounds like a social hobby too! I'll bet that you have a few postcards yourself, Bev. Thanks for pointing out this excellent lens.
ReplyDeleteThat is an excellent lens, Bev!
ReplyDeleteIf I were a collector I believe I would choose a genre of postcard such as Black Americana or Weiderseim.
J-Ellen put together an impressive resource for vintage postcard collectors, it really was very well done. Like you, I enjoy history and vintage postcards make the past tangible. Oh, and I learned another new word from you this week, Bev -- deltiologist!
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