Collecting Antique Postcards

Antique postcards are a wonderful way to learn about the past. Often the only way to see pictures of old buildings, street cars, expositions, or sports and other pastimes, is on a postcard. A collector of postcards usually specializes in a theme: perhaps a particular location or mode of transportation, or a sport or pastime, or in advertising cards. Trains and old sports stadiums are very popular, and fetch high prices. Postcard collectors are often referred to as deltiologists (from the Greek meaning a collector of small pictures or writings).
At the turn of the 20th century, postcards were extremely popular. It is said that visitors to New York's Coney Island mailed 200,000 postcards in a single day in 1906. At the height of their popularity, over a billion cards were sold every year.
Vintage postcards can be found in several places. Flea markets, antique shows, or ephemera (paper) shows often have tables. Auctions are a good place to look for postcards. In the United States there are many postcard clubs which often have public shows
The same dealers often move from show to show. Some dealers will bargain with you, and others won't. Most dealers give a discount for large purchases. You might want to shop around when you are at a show, because prices of the same postcard might vary with different dealers. There is a wide range of prices of postcards, from as low as a few dollars to more than 50 dollars; the price of the postcard depends on the subject, condition, and scarcity of the postcard.
You may choose to overlook the condition of a card if it is scarce or you need it to add to a collection. You may or may not be interested in the stamp on the postcard. Most postcards are printed on cardboard, but materials such as leather, wood, and even metal have also been used. There is a incredible variety of topics depicted on postcards. There is everything from disasters to greetings (not just holiday greetings but also greetings from a particular place). German "Gruss Aus" cards are very popular.
There have been several artists that have made their living creating pictures specifically produced for postcards. Popular "signed" artists include Ellen Clapsaddle (1865-1934) whose cards show delightful children, and Frances Brundage (1854-1937) among others.
The idea of sending postcards became popular in 1861 when H.L. Lipman from Philadelphia began to privately print cards with the front left blank for a message, and the back left for the address. These cards could be mailed once they had a stamp. Companies quickly realized that printing messages or pictures on the backs of "advertising cards" was an inexpensive way to advertise their products. The US government issued its first postal card in 1873. These were mostly used for advertising.

It was the Chicago World's Fair that started a frenzy of sending picture postcards.
The pioneer era of picture postcards was from the 1893 Columbian Exposition to 1898. At that time US Post Office cards could be mailed for one cent, but privately printed cards cost 2 cents to mail. Postal cards were government issued and had pre-printed postage, but postcards were privately printed and required stamps. The backs of cards were "undivided backs" and intended only for writing the name and address. Many of these cards have writing on the front below or along with the picture. These cards are often called souvenir cards or mail cards. Charles Goldsmith, using government postal stock printed several sets of official souvenir postcards for the Columbian Expositions and these were extremely popular. Pre-1900 postcards are rare though.
The Golden Age of Postcards was from 1898-1915. The printing and coloring on these cards were high quality. The passage of the Private Mailing Card Act of 1989 allowed private postcards to be mailed for one cent. The back was still undivided, until 1907 when the requirement for undivided backs was dropped, and the left side could be used for a message. In 1915 World War 1 brought an end to the golden age of postcards.
Many postcards from this era were printed in Europe, especially Germany, which allowed good printing quality. The cards were hand colored, and sometimes the colorer used his imagination. Sometimes a printer would add or subtract an object to make the picture look better. It is not uncommon to find two cards with the same scene except for some object is missing in one of them. For this reason collectors must not assume that old postcards show historically correct images.
Antique postcards are a wonderful peek into the past. Although images are often not historically correct, they give us a picture of what has been (of what people wore, and what they did, and where they did it, and what was important to them) that we often can't get anywhere else.







Tracy Crowe loves looking at old postcards
For information about antique collectables, visit [http://antiquecollectablesinfo.com]

Scams to Avoid When Buying Vintage Postcards at Offline Auction

Most local auction rooms sell collectors' and dealers' postcard cast-offs, as well as bulk lots of liquidated property, business clearances, collections from people who have died or given up collecting.
The good news is specialist postcard dealers rarely get to know about these sales so there's always a good chance you'll find plentiful lots worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars selling for just a few dollars.
TIPS
* You'll find some auction houses selling complete rubbish stock in bundles which no one can resell; others promote rubbish lots mixed with one or two quality items, usually to confuse bidders and create a bidding frenzy. Yet others sell quality items only, usually complete collections or entire business stock from people who have given up collecting or selling or they've died or gone out of business.
* Know how unscrupulous dealers operate. Most dealers know what they are doing and the dishonest few will remove quality items, the process is called 'picking', from anything they buy, and bundle the rest back into auction. The best they sell themselves, often on eBay.
* Visit as many auctions as possible that deal regularly in big bundle items. Many auction houses have special collectibles sales every few months and can be a wonderful source of low cost, high profit goods. Try to get some back catalogues and look for realisations of prices fetched at previous auctions. You could, for example, obtain a past year's Spring and Summer Postcard Sale catalogue and a subsequent list of realisations, namely prices achieved. You can sometimes get these catalogues from auction staff, some may still be available to print from the auction company's Internet site. Compare lot numbers from the earlier catalogue with actual finishing prices listed in the later catalogue. You'll get a good idea of how close the auction company's estimates were compared to finishing prices. Being able to confidently predict finishing prices means you can budget on the day and in emergency you might even consider placing commission bids without having to visit in person.
* Try always to turn up on the day, not only to view but also to bid. Opinions vary and it's not unusual for an auctioneer to describe something as 'old' which in collecting terms is better called 'modern'. You can't afford to bid on items you haven't viewed, you must not trust another person's opinion, irrespective of their standing in the postcard world.
* At offline auction try to check lots immediately before bidding starts. This is because lots are sometimes tampered with, often mistakenly, usually deliberately, and what you viewed yesterday may be totally unlike the lots you'll buy today.
Check for:
- items since stolen or damaged.
- items moved between lots so a lot that contained rubbish yesterday is packed with high value collectibles today, and all the postcards you wanted are no longer part of the lot you're bidding on.
- higher priced items are often concealed behind less valuable items so all most people see is rubbish and low value pieces and they probably won't bid.







Avril Harper is an eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com

eBay! The Answer to a Vintage Postcard Seller's Prayers

My own fascination with vintage postcards began about forty years ago when my grandmother gave me her own small collection of cards sent to her by my grandfather from Active Service in World War One. I knew nothing about postcards then, but from that small bundle began one of the most exciting areas of my life, as a collector and dealer in these popular collectibles.

Postcards, in the early 1900s ranking as THE most popular collectible, today rank third, behind coins and stamps. They're not the bits of worthless paper many people imagine, in fact some amazing prices can be fetched for postcards, notably on eBay, where items typically catalogued £1 tops can fetch double figure, sometimes three figure sums.

Years ago, before eBay opened a global market for dealers of all manner of goods and services, most postcards were sold at collectors' fairs and specialist postcard events, flea markets and antiques fairs, through postcard collectors' magazines, sometimes on approval, in the same way that stamps and coins have been sold for decades.

It's history now but, believe me, in pre-eBay times, a seller knew almost exactly how much to charge for a postcard, topographical or non-topographical. You'd consult the catalogue, pencil the price on the back of the card, amend it upwards or down depending on condition and other special factors.

For several reasons, some topographical postcards (sometimes called 'view cards' and depicting places as opposed to subjects) fetched higher prices in one geographical area than in another, such as a street scene of Horden Colliery in County Durham which will invariably attract far more eager buyers at events in the north of England than elsewhere in the UK and certainly more so than in other countries. So a great business was enjoyed by many, myself included, who travelled the country looking for vintage view postcards gathering dust outside their area of origin which sold like hot cakes when they arrived back home.

Today things are very, very different. On the down side, it's more difficult now to find cards gathering the proverbial dust the way they once did; on the plus side those of us who once earned a few pounds on every postcard sold are oftentimes reaching profits of $10, $50, $60, one hundred dollars each, or more.

In my eBay experience THE best money makers look very ordinary, they may even be damaged, stamp removed, but what makes these cards potentially the most collectable and pricey of all is merely that two or more people want the card and they are ready to bid high to win it.

Think about it this way, when cards were sold at local fairs where just a few hundred people attended each time, you never faced a fight over cards, it just didn't happen, the visitors were too few and specialist collectors were extremely rare.

Today, on eBay, millions of people worldwide will see your postcards, bidding wars are frequent, even for what seem to be common and all but worthless postcards.

Avril Harper is an eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com

Ephemera - How to Protect Vintage Paper Collectibles

If you either own or have inherited old paper materials such as postcards, brochures, letters, greeting cards, tickets, pamphlets, trade cards, tobacco cards, calendars or other related items, it is important to care for them properly. Even newer paper collectibles, such as all the really cute drawings your children do in school, need to be protected if you hope to turn them into treasured momentos that you can cherish for years to come.

In the antiques business, these items are referred to as "ephemera." Ephemera is written material that was only designed to be temporary. For example, once a greeting card, letter or a postcard was received and read, it was expected that it would be discarded. Even though it was suppose to be transitory, people began to save such items as souvenirs or remembrances for sentimental reasons.

When someone passed away, these old reminders of special occasions or special events were handed down to the next generation as part of that person's estate. After the passage of so many years, much of the artwork and many of the graphics that appear on some of these materials are now considered valuable.

Collecting vintage ephemera is very popular today but a lot of it is quite fragile so caution needs to be taken when either handling it or storing it. With proper care, hopefully it will be around for generations to come. Only true experts in this field have the extensive knowledge needed to successfully stop the aging process or to restore these materials. The basic recommendations listed below are a beginning and will go along way toward maintaining the present condition of any ephemera pieces you may have.

1. If you have postcards in albums, they should be removed. Cards should be separated with pieces of acid-free paper and they should be stored upright on their edges. Stacking them on top of each other could cause damage to cards that are embossed.

2. When postcards or other paper materials are stacked on their edges within a space, and they do not completely fill that space, be sure to use some sort of stabilizers or separators to keep the postcards and other paper materials in a straight up and down position. You do not want the materials to "slump" which can cause curling or bending.

3. Paper materials should be stored in a temperature of 75 degrees or less. Also, too much or too little humidity is not good.

4. Next to fire, sunlight is the biggest enemy of paper materials. It is best to keep your materials in a dark, dry and cool place such as a fireproof cabinet.

5. Do not eat or drink anywhere near your collection. Spillage of any kind could be devastating.

6. Dirt and dust can cause discoloration and even scratches so use a soft brush to dust materials.

7. Rodents and insects are attracted to some of the ingredients in paper. Even if they don't eat away at the paper, although they probably will, droppings will leave permanent stains.

8. Try to handle your materials by holding the edges unless you wear gloves. If you handle the paper too much, the oils in your skin will slowly cause erosion.

9. If you must attach a piece of ephemera to something else only use linen or paper tape and never put the tape on the front.

If you are a dealer and are selling ephemera, you probably do not have any pieces in your possession long enough to warrant taking these steps but if you have your own personal collection, it could be worth your while.

Some of these suggestions may not sound all that important but following them over the course of 10, 20 or 30 years can have a dramatic effect on the longevity of these heirlooms. Remember you can never replace theses wonderful old collectibles - time is their enemy. Do what is necessary to protect them.

Anne Benedetto is a former auction house owner and former dealer in the antiques and collectibles business. She presently provides people with important details, behind the scenes information, helpful tips and first hand knowledge of the brick and mortar auction business. Visit Anne at http://AuctionHouseTalk.com which is an interactive site where interested people can talk about the ins and outs of auctions, antiques and collectibles.

Origin of Collecting

Collecting goes back several million years and then some. Today we watch grown men on television digging holes in someone's back garden and getting extremely excited about a piece of pottery or small adornment that is corroded beyond recognition that a long departed ancestor collected several million years ago. Our television archaeologists call in a mechanical digger to shift several tons of dirt to discover nothing and then explain to the viewer over the next hour exactly what all this means to us today and what our ancestors were like then.

Most collectors now that it is not necessary to dig holes in other peoples gardens to find something of value, we have replaced holes with charity shops, junk shops and antique dealers though man appears to have a preoccupations with digging holes and hording, you only have to watch children digging up their parents favourite plants to realise it is a natural instinct and only need look at ourselves to realise collecting tat is inbreed. The signs are refusing to throw anything away and when we do we replace it with something similar that we brought at a bargain price..

There is a point in history that we know little of, did the caveman collect and if he did why? Initially our collecting instinct must have been that of the squirrel or the pack-rat hording food out of necessity and in preparation for a time experience had taught us that it would not be available. Our initial hording instincts may have been food related, the odd horde of nuts, dried fruit and berries and possibly a favourite stone to crack the nuts.

As hunter gatherers man would have found it difficult to collect anything large as the energy required in moving it to follow the food would have outweighed its usefulness so whatever the caveman horded would have been lightweight, probably a favourite fur, the teeth form a good kill or a good club. All things we could wear or adorn ourselves with that had some use or link with the past.

Then we got religion. Man probably had religion from the moment he set foot on earth, we need religion to explain the unexplainable otherwise we would not be able to cope with life as we move from one disaster to another. Having religion gives us another day or two to cope, religion provides a future, a better world and someone to blame for our ills even if that person is ourselves because we failed to follow a certain ritual that if we follow it in the morning when the sun rises life will get better.

Religion needed to be portable, something we could carry as we followed the food from woods to plain, experience taught us to fast when following the food at certain times of the year, we could pray to the sun, moon, stars and wind. Places on our food route could be spiritual, trees set in a certain why to form a natural cathedral or rocks providing the same service. So whatever it was man initially collected had to be portable, could be worn or hung around our neck or attached to our body burning little energy.

Perhaps those collections were a few teeth, seashells, small bones an unusual stone or piece of ore that linked us to better days, displayed our wealth and indicated to others we met that we were good hunters and providers, our display driving interlopers away without a fight or attracting new members to our clan and increasing the gene pool.

At some stage during our evolution we discovered animal husbandry and farming, built elaborate shelters and settled down, then we discovered smelting and began make metal objects. Our religion became static so we made effigies we could place in our homes to protect us against evil spirits. As a community and humans we needed to maintain our links with the past so we appointed a community historian who collated and retained our history speaking it often to the people of our clan.

Like the wheel no one is quiet sure who invented it and exactly when but the most important invention for collectors came about. It was an invention that created new industries, artists, the printing press, the retail industry, the junk shop, antiques markets, spirit level and possibly even the motorcar and certainly the flat pack industry, out of town shopping malls and Ikea, such a momentous invention was never recorded in history or attributed to one man it was the shelf. Of course before he invented the shelf he invented houses with square walls.

Man in his infinite wisdom had created something he would regret for the rest of his and his male offspring's life, something he would be nagged about for several millennium, told that it was not level or secure. The woman of the man that first put up the shelf sat for days looking at it and wondered what her stupid man had invented, what use was it? After several days she realised he had only created something to gather dust and create more work so she placed a load of junk on it that someone had given her and forgot about it.

Perhaps it was at the gods next celebration when the woman of the house invited neighbours round to exchange gifts and share food that the wives of the visiting men noticed the cheap gifts they had exchange the previous year had been given a place of prominence in the host home and felt out done.

Arriving home after a night on the mead and a good meal the men's wives began nagging their husbands to build a shelf and why had they not thought of it first, their husbands did not love them as much as so and so loved his wife. The berated men called on their friend, the man they knew as Chris the Master of his tribe, the man who had invented the shelf and explained that their wives were carping on about his new invention and offered him several dozen sea shells and selected stones to enter their homes and build shelves.

After several years of building shelves for his friends and family Chris the Master of his tribe was invited to distant villages to build shelves. To cope with the work he trained his male children and tribes children to build shelves and became known as Chris "The Man you ask to enter your home to stop carping wives". This was soon shortened to Chris the Carp-enter and then Chris the Carpenter and the wives in celebration and in remembrance of his original name named a feast day after Chris the Master of his tribe that was soon shortened to Chris t' Mas a day you invite your friends round to eat and exchange gifts for your shelf.

That small invention lead to the creation of the bookcase, the display cabinet, the dresser and even the wardrobe and so man became a collector and invented more and more products to store his collections that probably lead to the invention of the stamp and then the postcard.

I have been selling antiques and collectables online since 1999 having taken early retirement from working in the merchant banking industry. I had been collecting antique silver for several years, silver being my first love. My second loves is a tossup between books and postcards and have provided advice on postcards to several TV collecting programmes and have also written several articles on collecting and business banking for national newspapers. I am also asked by local auction houses to research unusual ceramics and marks.

My website sells almost anything that is collectable, regrettably, there is insufficient time in the day to upload all the items I buy and could also be accused of hording as my home is also full of the junk I buy and many of the mistakes.

[http://www.collectable-postcards.com]

Collecting Postcards Divided Back - Post Cards

Early postal regulations permitted only the name and address of the recipient on backs of postcards. Messages on the front often defaced the image. By 1907 the United States Postal Service began to permit the use of what is now called a divided back Post Card. The back of the postcard had a line down the middle to provide space for both the address and a message.
This new regulation and others in the early 1900s started a national obsession in this country that lasted for almost two decades. American's were buying postcards at the rate of more than 700 million a year and it seems that they were saving most of them. Often putting them in albums and scrapbooks. Most homes in the United States had a special place for postcards, usually the parlor.
A number of beautiful and pleasing postcards were made in Germany and Austria, where fine color reproduction was less expensive than elsewhere. Many postcards bearing the names of American publishers were printed abroad. Wherever their postcards were printed, American publishers continued to strive for unique topics such as town views and birthday greeting postcards. Now picture postcards were more than just a means of communication. They provided a portrait of life in America during the first two decades of the twentieth century.
In 1913, American's bought over 900 million postcards. However, by 1914 postcard usage suddenly came to a halt due in part to four reasons. (1) German printers dominated the postcard manufacturing business until the enactment of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff which in effect cut off low cost imported postcards, along with many other goods. (2) American printers did not have the same printing technology that the German's possessed. (3) The arrival and introduction of low cost folded greeting cards with envelopes. and (4) World War 1.
The end of the "Golden Age" of postcards (1901-1915) ushered in the American "White Border Era".







Glyn Farber has published a catalog of all known Hickey Brother Cigar Store Tokens and co-authored a book about Louisiana Trade Tokens. In addition he wrote several articles for The Token and Medal Society (TAMS) and The National Token Collectors Association (NTCA). Glyn has been a devoted collector of Louisiana Trade Tokens, Louisiana collectibles and Lake Charles, LA postcards for almost 40 years.
Find out more information about divided back postcards, Collectibles and Trade Tokens at his web sites http://www.most-popular-collectibles-at-auction.com and http://www.louisiana-trade-tokens.com

Collecting Postcards Post Card Era

On December 24, 1901 the United States Postal Service approved the use of the words Post Card to be printed on the backs of privately printed postcards. This USPS change of 1901 allowed postcard publishers and printers to drop the message "Private Mailing Cards, Authorized by Act of Congress on May 19, 1898". Writing was still not permitted on the back and a 1 cent stamp was still required to mail a Post Card. By 1902, the postcard industry was off and running, and so was the hobby of collecting postcards.
One popular publisher in the early 1900s was The Albertype Company of Brooklyn, NY. The company was owned by Herman L. Wittemann and he published postcards from 1890 to 1952. Wittemann used a photo process invented by Austrian photographer Joseph Albert (1825-1886). His postcards used a special process. Photographs would be taken by Wittemann's representatives and he would arrange to use photographs taken by others.
Another popular publisher was The Rotograph Postcard Company located in New York City and Chicago. This company published as many as 60,000 postcards dealing with a variety of subjects ranging from scenic views of towns and cities to real photo's.
Both The Rotograph Postcard Company and The Albertype Company made postcards during the early "Post Card" period. As mentioned above writing was not permitted on the backs. To make their postcards attractive and appealing photographs of towns views were on the front. A small space usually at the bottom of the photograph was available for a short message. If you wanted to write a longer message a USPS Postal Card was used.
Post Card users loved to send home postcards from far away places they visited or exchange postcards with friends and family. By 1907 the United States Postal Service began to permit the use of what is now called a "divided back".







Glyn Farber has published a catalog of all known Hickey Brother Cigar Store Tokens and co-authored a book about Louisiana Trade Tokens. In addition he wrote several articles for The Token and Medal Society (TAMS) and The National Token Collectors Association (NTCA). Glyn has been a devoted collector of Louisiana Trade Tokens, Louisiana collectibles and Lake Charles, LA postcards for almost 40 years.
Find out more information about the Post Cards Era, Collectibles and Trade Tokens at his web sites http://www.most-popular-collectibles-at-auction.com and http://www.louisiana-trade-tokens.com

Collecting Postcards - Private Mailing Cards

The inventor of the first private postcard in the United States was J. P. Carlton of Philadelphia, who applied for a patent on Dec. 17, 1861. He then sold his patent to H. L. Lipman, who printed postcards with a decorated border and marked "Lipman's Postal Cards".
In America the United States Postal Service published and printed its first postal cards in 1873. They were sold for 1 cent, while privately produced cards needed a two cent stamp, the same as a letter. For that reason, few postcards were produced privately because the privately printed postcards cost more to mail.
However, on May 19, 1898, Congress passed the Private Mailing Card Act which allowed private printers and publishers to produce postcards. The Act required that private publishers print the message Private Mailing Cards, Authorized by Act of Congress on May 19, 1898 on the backs of their cards. Postage required was now a 1 cent stamp.
Like Postal Cards, the Private Mailing Cards allowed only address information on the backs of the card. Many pictorial private mailing cards compensated by leaving a small blank area along an edge for the sender to write a few words to the recipient. Pictorial "Private Mailing Cards" are very rare today.
Postal Card quickly became a term reserved to cards printed by the Post Office. Privately printed cards which required stamps for posting were called "Private Mailing Cards" and later called a "Post Card". Postal Card or Postal is still a term most appropriately applied to official United States postal stationery.
In 1901 the practice of "Private Mailing Cards" was rescinded and all privately produced cards were printed using the words "Post Card" printed on the undivided backs.







Glyn Farber has published a catalog of all known Hickey Brother Cigar Store Tokens and co-authored a book about Louisiana Trade Tokens. In addition he wrote several articles for The Token and Medal Society (TAMS) and The National Token Collectors Association (NTCA). Glyn has been a devoted collector of Louisiana Trade Tokens, Louisiana collectibles and Lake Charles, LA postcards for almost 40 years.
Find out more information about Private Mailing Cards, Collectibles and Trade Tokens at his web sites http://www.most-popular-collectibles-at-auction.com and http://www.louisiana-trade-tokens.com

Collecting Postcards - Postal Cards

A Postal Card is a type of postcard that was first released by the United States Postal Service in 1873. The destination address, return address and the preprinted postage was on the back side of Postal Cards. The entire front side of Postal Cards could be used to write a message. The very first Postal Cards issued were 5 ½ inches by 3 ½ inches, which is the same size used today. In 1873 a Postal Card could be purchased for one cent. By 1879 the cost increased to two cents and then back to one cent in 1885. Up until 1956 the cost of Postal Cards varied from one cent to two cents and at times three cents. In 1956 the postage increased to 4 cents and has risen gradually ever since.
The 1873 Postal Card had a preprinted image of Miss Liberty similar to the capped bust liberty used on coins of the early 1800s. The image also indicated the postal rate of one cent. In 1875 the image changed to a more ornate Capped Liberty framed with Roman Fasces on either sides. The traditional Roman Fasces consisted of a bundle of birch rods tied together with a ribbon around an axe. The Fasces symbolize power and jurisdiction. A single Roman Fasces can also be found on the reverse of a Mercury Dime (1916-1945).
A third Miss Liberty was used until the late 1800s. In 1885 the image of Thomas Jefferson appeared on Postal Cards. Followed by Ulysses S. Grant in 1891 and then John Adams. A few months after the assassination of President William McKinley his image appeared on USPS Postal Cards. By 1911 the image was once again change, this time to Abraham Lincoln.
As you can see Postal Cards went through many phases and for many years the USPS had a monopoly on Postal Cards. However, on May 19, 1898 Congress passed the Private Mailing Card Act that allowed private publishers and printers to produce postcards.







Glyn Farber has published a catalog of all known Hickey Brother Cigar Store Tokens and co-authored a book about Louisiana Trade Tokens. In addition he wrote several articles for The Token and Medal Society (TAMS) and The National Token Collectors Association (NTCA). Glyn has been a devoted collector of Louisiana Trade Tokens, Louisiana collectibles and Lake Charles, LA postcards for almost 40 years.
Find out more information about Postal Cards, Collectibles and Trade Tokens at his web sites http://www.most-popular-collectibles-at-auction.com and http://www.louisiana-trade-tokens.com

Collectibles for Life

Did you have a stamp collection as a child? A rock collection? Or, wait, was it a coin collection? All your collections are probably still with you, or maybe they're stored in your basement somewhere. You understand the joy of running across this collection later in life and reliving your joyful moments with the collection as a child.
Now, you're the parent. What types of things do you want to help your child begin collecting? Some of the things to consider when helping your child begin a collection are the feasibility, the durability, and the lovability of the collection.
Feasibility is your first step when considering beginning a collection. Collecting pieces from ancient Egyptian ruins is probably not a very feasible collection to convince your child to begin. Number one it's illegal, as well as hard to find.
Other collections such as doll or furniture collections can begin to take up more room than you have available; thus, these are not very feasible either. Determine the amount of space you can dedicate to the collection as well as the costs that will be entailed before helping your child choose a collection.
The durability of a collection is also a consideration. The great thing about collecting stamps, rocks, or coins is that these things can last a long time when stored properly. My rock collection is still in the carton that I used to store it as a child.
Figurines and porcelain dolls are other examples of lasting collectibles. One of the greatest joys involved in a collection are the memories brought back when you revisit that collection as an adult.
Finally, the lovability of the collection is important. You are helping your child begin their first collection, and you want it to be something they will love and cherish when they look back on it in the future.
These are the times that you want them to be able to look back and remember about your relationship, so make these times special. For example, if you were to collect postcards, take special postcard collecting road trips. You will get to visit unique places while increasing your child's collection.
Most importantly, always support your child's hopes, dreams, and choices. Although collecting some types of artifacts is not very feasible, lead your child in a direction that will also peak their interest and support their dreams. Finally, enjoy your child as you help them create a wonderful collection to last a lifetime!







Janet Montie, quilter and author, contributes to FS Collectibles [http://fscollectibles.com] offering free information and resources for collectors. Articles by Janet can also be viewed at The Quilt Box and First Class Fabric

Collecting Ephemera

Do you collect Ephemera (e phem er a)? You just might and don't even know it, because Ephemera refers to hundreds of hand written or printed paper items published with a short intended life span or something short-lived and without lasting significance. The word Ephemera derives from the Greek meaning of things lasting no more than a day.

Some of the most popular items that collectors classify as Ephemera are bank checks, baseball cards, billheads, bonds, brochures, business cards, calendars, cigar box labels & bands, greeting cards, invitations, labels, letters, magazines, maps, newspapers, pamphlets, paper dolls, passes, photographs, postcards, posters, stamps, posters, programs, sheet music, stocks, tickets, timetables, trade cards, trade catalogs and vintage valentines.

Some types of Ephemera such as billheads, postcards and trade cards have been appreciated for years. In fact vintage postcard collecting has been around for a very long time and is still very popular today. Some of the other items mentioned above were generally thrown out over the years. Fortunately, there has been a few collectors with the insight to put a value on things that others did not.

So take a close look at that box of old paper items found at Grandma's house. You just might find postcards sent to her by Aunt Lucy decades ago, letters your grandfather wrote overseas defending the United States, newspapers with headlines about the death of JFK, photographs she took while on vacation, and maybe even a copy of her wedding invitation.

Twenty Five years ago antique and flea market dealers could hardly give away large boxes of paper ephemera. The very best and rarest old paper items will soon disappear from the marketplace. However, new ephemera is constantly being made. So do not miss out on this small part of Americana. Don't have any Ephemera of your own? Check out our favorite place - eBay!

Find out more information about Ephemera, Collectibles and Trade Tokens at these 2 web sites http://www.most-popular-collectibles-at-auction.com and http://www.louisiana-trade-tokens.com

Collecting Postcards of Ceylon

Why collect postcards of Ceylon? Because not many people do and it can be a rewarding hobby.

Collecting old postcards is fun - it's fun to track them down, fascinating to study them, and an intriguing way to learn about the past.

The past? Yes, for postcard collecting to be rewarding, you need to focus on a period when picture postcards were a novelty. That means the period at the turn of the 20th century, early 1900 to about 1920.

The pictures on postcards that are a hundred years old are views of a different world.

To make your hobby even more interesting, focus on a particular country or topic.

I suggest collecting postcards of Ceylon as the country no longer exists with that name. It's been called Sri Lanka since 1972, and gained independence from Great Britain in 1948.

In addition, as Ceylon was a popular port of call for steamships plying between Britain and Australia, passengers staying there for a few days (or even weeks) eagerly sought out postcards to send to friends and family back home.

That's resulted in postcards of Ceylon turning up in many countries of Europe, in Australia, and even in the USA, so there are plenty of sources to find Ceylon postcards, even today.

Antique shops generally have a few old postcards tucked away in shoe boxes. Don't expect them to be sorted in any order. You'll just have to leaf through them all.

One problem with collecting something particular is that it is so easy to lose focus and get sidetracked. It's important when confronted with a shoebox stacked with old postcards to concentrate on what you want. You're collecting Ceylon so don't bother to buy cards of the Andamans or India however attractive they might be.

In most antique shops you should be able to pick up postcards for a couple of dollars or a pound or two, unless they are highly desirable, like a postcard of a topless native girl (they do exist) which would be more expensive.

Other sources of Ceylon postcards are specialist map and print dealers. You will also find vintage postcards of Ceylon at the bouquainistes, those dealers selling from boxes perched on the parapet walls of the Seine in Paris.

You should also be able to find them in antique shops in Sri Lanka, although it is unlikely you'll discover mint stock from the 1920s. Some might turn up in the libraries of tea plantation bungalows, forgotten by the many occupants over the years. A modern source, of course, are Internet sites.

The main attraction of collecting vintage postcards from Ceylon (rather than from, say, Singapore) is the amazing number of topics available. Postcards showing tea plantations and tea pluckers are popular, while postcards of railways are rare because of demand by "theme" collectors.

Ceylon's main port, Colombo, is a common view since that's where steamship passengers disembarked in the early 20th century. More sought after are old postcards of 19th century hotels, like the Galle Face and Mount Lavinia Hotels, and The Queen's Hotel in Kandy.

Village views are good to collect, especially if they are of villages that have grown into towns today. People doing odd things that we no longer see, like carrying water on a yoke, pulling a rickshaw, or driving a 1920s car are fun to have.

Equally collectible are postcards of religious sites and ancient ruins (Ceylon has a lot of those) to see how they have changed. Beach scenes are picturesque as beaches weren't the desirable holiday spots they are today.

Postcards of the period are usually printed in black and white. If they have been hand coloured they then become a unique work of art, different from any other postcard showing the same view. Especially attractive are the "Oilette" series of colour postcards published by Raphael Tuck & Sons in England in the 1920s.

How to store your postcards? Putting them in a firm transparent envelope and keeping them in a shoebox is better than sticking them in an album. When they are in a transparent envelope, you can see both sides of the card.

Sometimes the postage stamps or what is written on the back of a postcard is as interesting as the photograph. One card on sale recently was of the Galle Face Hotel on which someone had written in classic script: "This is the only thing free in this hotel."

The best way to display your best postcards is to frame them. Because a postcard is fairly small (about 5 ?" by 3 ?"), its impact will be lost if put in a frame about the same size. Better to choose a large frame and have a huge mount with large margins of a dark colour.

That way the viewer's eye is directed to the postcard and all its glory, and it will be the pride of your collection.

Royston Ellis, author of over 60 biographies, novels and travel guides, now lives in Sri Lanka having left England, where he began as a beat poet, in 1961, age 20, for a life of travel. His latest book, The Big Beat Scene, has just been published by Music Mentor Books. To collect postcards of Ceylon he recommends this site: http://ceylonpostcards.com

http://roystonellis.com

Five Scams and Mistakes to Avoid When Buying Vintage Postcards at Auction to Resell on eBay

There's a trick played at offline auction which also works well online and it's designed to con busy people out of their cash for albums of postcards which are potentially 95% worthless. At any busy offline auction, with say three or four hundred postcard lots and just a few hours viewing time, many potential bidders will view just a few pages of most postcard albums, make a quick buying decision, then move to study another lot.
The con is where vendors include good quality cards in those first few pages and pack the rest with low value or even worthless cards. Much the same happens on eBay and other online sources and in printed catalogues for many offline and online sales, where the first few pages of an album will be photographed in all their glory and the rest - the grot - left to your imagination. Be very careful, check thoroughly at online and offline auction. Ask questions and, if in doubt, it's always better to study a handful of albums thoroughly and bid on these and pass on albums you haven't studied from start to finish.
Here are other scams and mistakes you should take care to avoid:
* Old fashioned albums designed for inserting postcard corners into cut-out hinges can present a major and very unexpected problem for novice postcard buyers. The problem can be caused innocently by past owners or deliberately by recent sellers.
Postcards newly acquired by our Victorian ancestors were often manoeuvred and sometimes manhandled as they were placed beneath hinges, and corners often got cracked or creased in the process. So today hundreds of cards may look in spectacular condition in an album that has not been touched for decades but in fact many cracked corners lie hidden and torn beneath those hinges.
* Try always to attend auctions in person, not only to view but also to bid. Opinions vary and it's not unusual for an auctioneer to describe something as 'old' in the catalogue which in collecting terms is better called 'modern'. You can't always afford to bid on items you haven't viewed, and you must not trust another person's opinion no matter how qualified that person is.
* At offline auction try to check lots immediately before bidding starts. This is because lots are sometimes tampered with, often mistakenly, usually deliberately, and what you viewed yesterday may be totally unlike the lots you'll bid on today. You'll often find postcards you viewed yesterday have since been stolen or damaged. More often postcards are moved between lots so an album that contained rubbish yesterday is packed with high value collectibles today, Consequently that previously rubbish album will go for next to nothing, and those once quality albums, now worthless junk, will be a big disappointment to someone who viewed yesterday and buys today. In cases like this you must contact the auctioneer right away, voice your concerns, suggest you should not be charged for the item. Most will agree if the lot no longer compares to their catalogue description but it's vitally important you check at least some of the expected contents while auction staff are present and can see the problem first hand.
* Sometimes high price items are concealed in old fashioned hinged albums behind less valuable postcards so all most people see is rubbish and low value pieces and bids will be low. It's hard to spot this sort of scam unless you look very closely. It usually happens in albums packed with low value cards, which in itself means this is unlikely to be a genuine collection, namely one that was compiled decades ago. That's because virtually all genuine early collections contain at least a few better specimens; they will also reveal little difference in recipient and delivery address. An album with lots of grot, lots of recipients, lots of delivery addresses, is more likely to be a dealer's rubbish stock, placed in a vintage album to look like a genuine collection and tempt inexperienced bidders. Those concealed high price postcards have been moved from better auction lots and replaced behind poor quality cards in low interest albums. The album will fetch little and might include several high price gems.







Avril Harper is a triple eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com

Good Reasons to Sell Postcards, Mainly Topographical View Postcards, on eBay

They're among the most collectable items and they virtually sell themselves. Postcards rank third most collectable item worldwide, just behind coins and stamps. They're not the bits of worthless paper many people imagine, in fact some amazing prices can be fetched for postcards, notably on eBay, where items flea market visitors consider overpriced at a few pennies can fetch double figure, sometimes three figure sums.

* In the early days of postcard collecting - called 'deltiology' - almost every family had its own album, sometimes several. These heirlooms were cherished and passed through the generations, postcards were rarely destroyed or lost. Consequently many very early postcards remain in undamaged condition today, usually still in their original albums So you can buy hundreds or thousands of postcards in just one day at specialist postcard auctions and non-specialist sales, especially complete household clearances from elderly deceased collectors. You can actually buy hoards of postcards in just a few minutes, where traders in other antiques and collectibles take weeks or months to acquire stock to even contemplate the kind of money you'll soon be making.

* Postcards are usually very small and can be stored safely, close together, side by side in boxes, boxes stacked high one on top of the other. When I traded at postcard fairs, my entire postcard stock, once the biggest in the North of England, occupied a tiny corner of a spare bedroom. Compare this to space needed by sellers of larger, more fragile, unusually shaped antiques and collectibles which need to be stored separately, surrounded by bubble wrap and plastic chips, in varying size boxes which must be placed separately on the floor, not stacked one above the other.

* Postcards are usually all the same shape, roughly the same weight, making them extremely easy to pack, very inexpensive to post. You won't have to waste time looking for boxes of varying size to pack and post your products, as happens to eBayers selling oddly shaped items. All you need are a few cardboard backed envelopes or you could make your own from empty breakfast cereal boxes. Postcards also fit into any local post box so Post Office visits are few as happens for larger more fragile items that need to be individually weighed and postage calculated. Be aware you will have to visit the Post Office to Register or Record Deliver your postcards which is usually quite rare.

* Because so few listing details vary between postcards - usually just location, age, publisher, postmark - you can create a template to suit every postcard you ever list from now to forever, where only a few details need changing each time.

* People who collect one postcard, typically collect lots of postcards, so you could develop a huge customer base of people who will watch your listings closely and buy from you again.

* Listings are easy to keep track of even over several months for items that go unsold first time round. While people selling books and prints, pottery and toys, must be continuously sorting through huge piles of stock to find recently sold items which were listed months before, you can organise the whole process using one of those modern plastic postcard albums with acid-free plastic pockets usually six to a page. Make very certain your pages are acid-free and do not leave the album in a warm or moist location, all cause damage including foxing which depreciates postcards or ruins them completely. Place the first postcard listed in the first pocket on the first page of the album; second card goes into the second pocket (horizontally or vertically, it doesn't matter much). Now when auctions end, starting first product, second product, and so on, you can open the album and begin removing cards in order they are placed in the album, leaving unsold cards in situ. Once all sold cards are removed, move unsold cards forward to fill the empty spaces. Now you can relist all the unsold items which will continue selling in the exact same order they feature in your album and you can begin adding new listings to spaces freed at the back of the album. Cards that remain unsold after a few listings can be moved forward, as before, and listed in bulk with each album page having its own illustration in your listing.

Avril Harper is a triple eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com

Great Ways to Turn a Postcard Costing Ten Cents Into Another Worth Hundreds of Dollars

People all over the world collect postcards and they are often prepared to pay very high prices for new items for their collection. Just recently I've seen postcards catalogued about 30 cents fetch hundreds of dollars on eBay.

Not every postcard offers such spectacular mark-ups but with careful planning you can guarantee that every postcard you buy will sell at a profit, sometimes just a few dollars, and once in a while they'll make hundreds of dollars.

These tips will help you get a head start in this profitable market:

* Of a great many different collecting themes within the overall postcard collecting hobby - called 'deltiology' - it's far easier for newcomers to make money selling topographical postcards, namely views of geographical locations, large and small.

Most high price postcards view cards, preferably pre-1939, of small towns and villages. The smaller the place, the fewer people visited those places so the fewer cards were created of the area, and the rarer those cards are likely to be compared to postcards depicting larger towns and cities with high tourist traffic. So a postcard of a tiny village in County Durham is likely to fetch much more on eBay than an everyday view of London, Glasgow, Edinburgh.

* Two words guarantee everyone interested in buying your postcard will find you through eBay's search engine. Those words are 'Postcard' and the name of the area depicted. Miss either from your title and you rely on potential bidders picking you out from amongst potentially thousands of postcards in any eBay sub-category. Because sub-categories contain so many items, most people search by keyword, using eBay's search engine, especially for topographical postcards. Without their collecting area in the title, potential bidders are faced with thousands of descriptions to open and read which few if anyone will actually do!

* Apart from place name, collectors also like to know about age, whether card is postally used, publisher name, condition, production process such as photographic or artist drawn. If space permits in the title, after 'Postcard' and place name, the date is the next most important feature.

* You should avoid buying 'unknown location' postcards, that is without place name clearly indicated, unless some other clue exists to the location, such as shop and street names, publisher address, message from the sender, postmark area. Many cards long ago were posted locally so the place on the postmark is often also the location of the view. Much the same goes for publishers who were usually local.

* Carry a magnifying glass with you to auctions and flea markets, often the sides of a photograph blur a little or margins become stained and place names are invisible to the naked eye but can be clearly seen through a magnifying glass.

Avril Harper is an eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com

Grow Your Profits 100% Selling Collectable Postcards on eBay

There's a very common oversight that means most people selling vintage postcards on eBay end up selling way below their products' potential value. It happens because they omit one word from the description of their postcard in their eBay title, but that one word can deter fifty per cent of buyers from placing their bids. Let me tell you how to avoid this very common problem.

That missing word typically plagues people selling topographical view postcards on eBay, the type that depict places from bygone years, such as villages and towns, cities and even whole countries.

The reason fifty per cent of people who desperately want to bid on a particular topographical postcard don't even see it on eBay is because the seller copies the caption directly the card and ignores the fact that many places have changed their names or their spellings have varied across the decades.

So the place where I live and for which I collect vintage postcards, called 'Monk Hesleden', is often featured on postcards under its old name of 'Low Hesleden' or even 'School Hesleden' as it was known in the early 1900s. And that means if I search for 'Monk Hesleden', I'm going to miss postcards for my home village bearing one of its earlier names in eBay titles.

Also, people wanting collectibles for places like Persia are more likely to search for 'Iran', or vice versa, and others collecting topographical postcards of, say, 'Middlesbrough', will miss listings for the alternative spelling of 'Middlesborough'.

It won't take long to search Google or other major search engines for alternative spellings and names for views depicted on postcards you're selling on eBay and the effort can double or further increase their value.

Learn more about making big profits selling vintage TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS on eBay at http://www.sellpostcardsonebay.com.

How To Find the Best Deals on Collectible Postcards

In my experience the best deals on collectible postcards are found at auctions, specifically art auctions. One day I stopped by an art auction in Dallas, Texas to shop for some paintings but instead I discovered a large amount of antique collectible postcards. I purchased a giant collection of postcards which consisted of about four thousand cards.

In this large collection almost 20 percent of the post cards were pre-linen. This means that all of these pre-linen cards were created before 1930. Approximately 40 percent of the collection was linen cards. Linen postcards were created between 1930 and 1945.

Finally, the remaining 40 percent of the postcards were chrome collectibles. These cards were created sometime between 1950 and 1960. I also discovered some collectible postcards from a special British museum series.

It took a long time to sort all of the postcards but I finally did it. My favorite postcards were the ones that were designed for holidays. Christmas cards and Valentine's Day cards were especially my favorite as they all featured very nice artwork and messages. I was extremely lucky that my purchase of collectible postcards were so wide-range.

It is very pleasing to find collectible postcards at art auctions. Most of the time, the auctioneer does not really know the true value of the cards. Their lack of knowledge can really work in your favor. I have purchased some amazing collections at very low prices. It is important to be able to distinguish between the different types of postcards like pre-linen, linen and chrome.

The author of this article has developed websites on snake camera and snake video camera which you might find fascinating.

How To Get Into The Hobby Of Collectible Postcards

One hobby that may be underrated is that of collecting postcards. Collecting postcards, especially vintage postcards or those from another country can be educational, fun, and financially rewarding as well. You will be amazed at some of the places that collectible postcards may be found. The most valuable of these are those that were made before 1930 which are called "pre-linen" Cards from that time to the mid 1940s are also in demand. One place to find postcards like these is art auctions.

Another time period that features some relatively valuable collectible postcards is the period from the 50s and 60s, many of which were very brightly colored and were the first to make use of what was known of as the "chrome technology" in printing. Surfing was really popular during the latter part of this period and one can find a diverse collection of postcards from Hawaii and California featuring surfing.

Another great category of postcards are those that were sent for holidays which were made back in the early 1900s. These old cards that depicted things like Santa Claus for Christmas and romantic depictions for the celebration of Valentine's Day. These old postcards often have very detailed and colorful artwork which is why they are in demand as collectibles.

Personally, I like collecting postcards from all over the world. It is so interesting to see how different cultures depict certain things and also the differences in artistic interpretation. As an avid surfer it is fun to me to get postcards from some of the many surf spots we travel to in locations such as Indonesia, Costa Rica, Panama, and of course Hawaii. You can do the same with whatever hobby or interests you may have and collect postcards from countries you visit. Of course one doesn't have to go to a country in order to get the postcards, you can always pick them up on eBay as well or as mentioned you can find them at art auctions. You may be lucky enough to find some at estate sales or even yard sales.

Unless one is very well versed and trained in the art of collecting postcards they may have no idea of how valuable the items may be and in the case of buying them at art auctions they are usually not even announced as part of the available items for sale. This is great for you if you are knowledgeable since you will be able to reap the benefits of knowing what the postcards are actually worth and potentially pick up a great collection for pennies on the dollar.

If you want to get into a fun and very educational hobby then collecting postcards may be for you and if you have children they may find it fun as well.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about collecting postcards as well as postcard collectibles at http://www.actionfiguresandcollectibles.com

Introducing A Four Letter Word eBay Postcard Sellers Swear By!

That four letter word is 'topo', short for 'topographical', and it represents the most popular of all postcard collecting types.

Topographical postcards (sometimes simply called 'view cards') depict geographical locations like towns, cities, villages.

There's a very easy living to be made selling vintage topographical postcards on eBay, especially if focus on buying low cost topographical postcards at flea markets and boot sales, and resell those postcards on eBay.

This does not mean you should ignore other postcard types that crop up inexpensively at auction and flea markets. But I suggest you put those to one side while you learn the simple process of selling their more profitable topographical counterparts.

Look at these wonderful prices for proof of sometimes staggering profits fetched on eBay for view postcards that are not unique and not all that rare:

* 1903 EALING Singapore to Hong Kong & Hainan Postcard - £170.35.

* MONTANA Marsh School, Evelyn Cameron c.1910 RP Postcard - £165.34.

* RPPC New Salem Kansas Santa Fe Railroad Depot Postcard - $424.95 (at the time of selling approximately £216.18).

RP and RPPC in two of those listings stand for 'Real Photographic' and 'Real Photographic Postcard / Post Card'. Real photographic postcards are among the most collectable and expensive of all, in fact some collectors seek purely RPPC cards. Real photographic postcards are much rarer than their printed counterparts and were created individually and required constant attention during the development process, unlike most printed postcards that emerged from machines and required little physical attention.

I always spell out 'Real Photographic' in my listing for people unused to the many abbreviations used for the phrase, including R/P, RP, RPP, R.P. and, of course RPPC.

Avril Harper is a triple eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com

Know a Postcard Is a Potential Best Seller on eBay Before You Even Buy It

Ask this question before you buy any postcard to resell on eBay!

How often could this view have been created since postcards first appeared about 1870 and up to 1939? (At the advent of the Second World War postcard collecting fell into decline and only in the past thirty years has it regained popularity). Most collectors consider 1939 the deadline between what should be called 'old' or 'vintage' and what is better called 'modern'. In time that 1939 deadline will shift, to the 1960s, or 1970s, but with a wealth of really fabulous postcards still existing from the late 1800s and early 1900s I recommend you stick to that 1939 deadline at least until pre-1939 cards run dry. If they ever run dry which is very unlikely!

Here's that question again:

How often could this view have been created since postcards first appeared about 1870 and up to 1939?

And here's the answer:

* If the view could be captured hundreds of times, even thousands, the postcard is not rare and could even be worthless. So churches, parks and beaches that look almost exactly as they did in the late 1800s will not fetch high prices unless some other profitable factor exists alongside.

It's an altogether different matter if the view could be captured just once, because this picture depicts the day the church caught fire, or it shows the Royal Family who visited there once, or it shows police arresting an infamous criminal or an eminent suffragette being released from prison. In reality a really rare view may have existed for minutes or seconds only and few artists and photographers were likely to be present to record the event. On occasion you'll find the card is very rare, even unique, as where something unusual and very unexpected happened which only photographers close to the scene may learn about and record the event. Good examples are railway accidents, colliery disasters, tram crashes.

Avril Harper is a triple eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com

Learn About Postcard Ephemera

Postcards

Looking for something interesting and fun to collect? Try postcards. They're perfect for someone who wants to get "into" ephemera but doesn't know where to begin. The goal, of course, is to become a deltiologist. That's the name of someone who collects and studies postcards. But you can just enjoy your collection without knowing any of the particulars of vintage printing. Maybe you just like photos of Main Streets or travel cards from National Parks.

A brief history of postcards

The postcard was patented in 1861 by Philadelphian John P. Charlton. Charlton sold his patent. The US Postal Service, in 1873, started selling postcards printed with stamps. This gave patrons a quick way to send a short message. These were the only legal postcards made until 1898 when Congress passed a bill allowing private companies to print the cards. Within ten years of their introduction in the US, European printers began creating and marketing postcards.

It could be said that the picture postcard (PPC) was born with the passage of the Private Mailing Card Act. The PPC market expanded and the public demanded a diverse range of subjects. In fact, PPCs were so popular from 1898-1918 that many deltiologists call this the "Golden Age of Postcards". PPCs can be "dated" by various means from the most obvious (the send date), whether or not the back is divided, the presence of borders, and of course, the type of paper and ink.

Why collect postcards?

Postcards do not require very much storage space. A couple shoeboxes will hold hundreds. In the United States, the postal service requires postcards be 3.5" - 4.25" high and 5" - 6" long and no more than .016" thick. Or course, once you're hooked on collecting them, the cards may fill up your spare room and attic. It's cheap to begin a collection. Chances are, you already have a few either on your refrigerator door or in a desk drawer. No doubt your friends, family, and people at work have postcards. Odds are, unless the message is risque or too personal, they'll be more than happy to give them to you. Most homes in the Victorian Era had an album full of postcards in the parlor. Maybe you'll luck out and your MeMaw has one tucked away in a box in her attic. Also, when someone you know goes on vacation, ask them to send you postcards of their destination. See? You already need a shoebox to hold the cards, don't you? Vintage postcards are relatively inexpensive when compared to other items. Think of the cost of Rookwood pottery versus postcards. Or autographs of famous 18th century politicians... Vintage postcards can sell for hundreds of dollars, though. The most popular ones are holiday related, especially Halloween and Christmas cards from the early 20th century. Cards are frequently reprinted so it pays to learn about what's vintage and what's not from online sources or books about postcards. Price guides are available. You can learn something from your collection. Postcards are historical documents as well as present day chronicles. Trace the evolution of handwriting through the messages, check out interesting stamps (you might even become a philatelist), or compare photos of towns in 1915 to those of 2008. Document urban sprawl. You can tailor your collection to fit other interests. If you're also a Trekkie, there are Star Trek postcards. For those who collect military memorabilia, there are numerous possibilities from personal cards sent home from the troops to picture postcards of towns in which they served. How about postcards of landmark buildings? Or of your hometown? Frame postcards for an instant art gallery.

Go ahead. Start your search. Check your home for postcards. Tomorrow, at work, ask around and see if anyone there will bring you some cards. Call your Mom or your MeMaw and ask if they have an album from yesteryear. Shuffle through some collectibles websites and see if any particular topic interests you. Holiday postcards? Cats? Dogs? Airplanes? Chances are, there's a postcard for just about everything.

Val MacEwan, perhaps best known for helping folks buy ephemera, is also an administrator of the Ephemera Network, a leading forum covering the subject of Ephemera.

Make Money With Postcards

Have you ever thought about trying to make money with postcards. There are several ways, and I am going to briefly explain one of the ways.

First you will have to find someone willing to part with a large number of postcards, or a Lot. This could be a mixed lot or a lot of postcards dealing with a single subject such as realphoto, , Transportation, or anything that you have an interest in and feel that you could sell.

You could easily find this assortment of postcards on eBay. From there you can go to postcards and search through the lots. Find something you like and place a bid on it. If it has a buy it now price you can purchase the cards outright.

Once you have your cards you are ready to make money with postcards. Go through your cards and separate the cards you think will sell and the ones that may not sell quickly as a singular item. During this process you may come across cards that are your personal favorite, and just wish to keep. Go right ahead, now your a collector.

Now that you have separated your cards into two groups (or three) you can start figuring out what to charge for your cards. Say you have a postcard of an old gas station. Go to eBay and look up postcards, then go to gas stations and you will get an idea of what to charge for your card. Scan your card and insert it on eBay. See, that was a snap.

So now your wondering what to do with all of your leftover cards. Well, you just combine them in a lot a sell them as such. You can pretty much keep this wheel turning forever, and in the meantime create quite a nice personal collection of cards. I hope this helped. The main thing is to enjoy your new hobby.

For more information go to [http://www.realpicturepostcards.com]

[http://www.realpicturepostcards.com/Postcards/Real-Photo]

What You Should Know About Vintage Postcards

There are many people who like vintage postcards, and even more who tend to collect them; some of them are not avid collectors, but they tend to buy postcards from the places they visit and keep them forever. Those who are lucky enough to travel a lot end up with huge and very nice collections. Some of them can be very unique, especially when featuring places that do not exist anymore, or are not as they used to be.

There are though the professional vintage postcards collectors who follow auctions or search in antique and specialised retail shops for their pieces of art. There are though many scams and many traps related to postcards collection, so let's take a look at some of them. Here is what you should be aware of, when building a postcard collection.

Postcards sold in auctions need to be evaluated prior to buying. When it comes to the term old, opinions may vary. Some auctioneers tend to increase prices too much, justifying the high starting price with the age of the postcard. The opinion of other people is not to be trusted especially when you spend a small fortune to buy your cards.

As with all vintage items, such as classic records and musical instruments, there are cases and boxes specifically designed for vintage postcards. When buying an album you should be very careful because there might be some unexpected problems, especially when you are a beginner. Cut out hinges and sharp edges could prove to be really problematic. Corners of postcards tend to get cracked or creased with time, so you need to make sure that the album you buy can actually keep the postcards in perfect condition. If you are buying an already made album, you need to make sure that the postcards are in good condition and safely preserved, otherwise their value might drop significantly.

Sturat is article marketer, copywriter and enjoys writing on topics like Vintage Postcards and Classic Records. For more information on these topics , please visit us.

Old Postcards For Sale

The hobby of collecting old picture postcards is finally starting to get some serious recognition as one of the most pleasurable pastimes you could partake in. It does not matter what age you are or what interests you have, you may find that the very same subject or interest you are passionate about was covered by the postcard publishers over 100 years ago.

Stamp collecting has been at the forefront of home based hobbies for decades and certainly kept postcard collecting out of the limelight. While some postcard collecting enthusiasts have been quietly building up their collections in the past by visiting antique fairs, car boot stalls and the specialist postcard fairs, the Internet and online auction web sites have by chance thrust the hobby well and truly into the limelight and finally it is now getting the recognition it deserves.

More and more people and acknowledging the fascinating postcard hobby as a means to collect something of real historic interest. Collecting postcards will probably never catch up the stamp business for popularity or for prices but this is to it's advantage for many reasons.

Where else can you pick up a genuine antique for less than the cost of a short bus ride. Many shrewd collectors have researched the postcard collecting market as a whole and have focused on specific areas they feel are seriously undervalued. In many cases their gamble has paid off handsomely with many collectors now selling the postcards they paid pennies for a few years ago through online auctions for massive profits.

Postcard collecting is not just about collecting for profit hoping that your investment will increase in value over a period. It's all about collecting a topic, subject or location you have a real bond with, something you are passionate about. This maybe subjects like Military, Shipping or it could be topographical and social history interest of your local town of village. In many instances postcards have found to be unique when they show areas and buildings that no longer exist or have changed over the years. They are a special day in history when the local photographer captured an image where time simply stood still.

There must be hundreds of subjects and topics you can collect old postcards in. My only advice is to ensure you have genuine interest in that choice for whatever reason. Maybe it was a regiment that a relation was serving in and you want to backtrack to find out the history. This is something you can do in detail with postcard collecting.

Some of the best places to find old postcards for sale is from specialist web sites. Some web sites provide a good subject selection while others focus on topographical. Online auctions are another good place to look for old postcards for sale. The antique fairs are still a good place to find postcard dealers along with the specialist postcard fairs that are to be found on every weekend of the year.

I hope you have a look at postcard collecting as a hobby choice. Once you get your first few postcards you may find that you are hooked and can't wait to continue finding those illusive cards that will build up your collection into something to be really proud of.

Vilma Ladaga has an interest in collecting old postcards and finds many cards for her collection online. You can find old postcards for sale

Postcard Collecting and Exchange

Postcards come in different sizes and there are so many types to collect. There are therefore different categories and some people choose to collect as many as possible while others prefer to limit their collection according to specific requirements.

There is a wide variety of card types: animal cards have pictures of animals on them, and view cards show scenery of cities and places. Other postcards include flower cards, paintings cards, limited edition, set or special event cards, public announcement cards, comic or cartoon cards, free advert cards, etc. It is up to you to choose whether or not you want to collect as many as you can get your hands on, or if you would like to collect one type of category that is closer to your field of interest.

Although some people collect purely for fun and for the sake of getting a hobby, postcard collection like any other item can also be a business-hobby. More than a handful of collectors have been lucky enough to obtain rare and invaluable postcards. Such examples include genuine vintage cards that were made decades or even centuries ago and cannot be replicated.

Other valuable cards include those that are considered limited-edition and are only available in certain events, like the Olympics of a specific year, or celebrating the turn of a millennium and cards from a country that has changed name, unified, etc. The condition of the postcard is also very important when determining its value. If it is in an excellent or mint condition, the seller can increase its price. Some buyers are interested in torn postcards or cards in bad condition as someone's trash may be another's treasure.

There are printed postcards, which are the most common. However, there are also laminated cards, glossy cards and photo cards. The most creative however are the handmade postcards and it is the most unique as artists carefully spend time ensuring that the quality and content of the card is worthy of selling
.
Some collectors prefer unused and unwritten postcards. These are postcards that have been normally store-bought purely for the purpose of exchange and these are mainly for viewcard collectors who exchange cards with other collectors from different places and countries. However, there are many postcard collectors who prefer stamped and written cards, as they prefer the date, a piece of history and sentiment on the card.

Whatever a collector's preference, there are postcard categories for everyone and the types are practically unlimited. Postcards can be stored anywhere as long as there is not too much humidity and heat (as they are made using paper card in most cases). Have fun and enjoy postcard collecting!


Sabrina Sabino - Internet Enthusiast

Postcards, Postcards Everywhere, Yet Not One Drop Of Ink

It is difficult to talk about postcard collecting in anything other than generic terms unless we get specific. This is not because postcard collecting is a vague subject. It is because it is a VAST subject.

There are literally thousands of niche subjects to choose from. Then there are the niches within niches.

Where postcards are concerned, what you decide to immerse yourself in is very much a matter of personality and personal interests. Forinstance, you may decide that you are interested in collecting "Railway" postcards. Or you may think that "Signed Artist" postcards is the way to go. Ah yes. But which railway postcard era?

Which artist or artists?

Sooner or latter you just have to make a decision and leap in. That is the beauty of postcard collecting. Although it covers an awful lot of acreage, once you decide to knuckle down to a particular subject (or two), you will become very focused.

I started by collecting old photograph postcards. Any old photo postcards, just because they were real photo's and they were old. But as time went on, I became more selective and chose only cards between the two World Wars. Photo postcards containing people in their normal walks of life. But you can choose anything you like and you are not limited to just one subject or niche.

I know someone who collects seaside postcards. No, not those naughty ones. Not that there is anything wrong about collecting naughty seaside postcards, but the person I am talking about collects only seaside postcards that have a pier in them. So you see just how focused you can become if you wish.

There can be no doubt that whatever you choose to collect, you will find this hobby thoroughly absorbing and you will be amazed at how knowledgable you can become in your chosen subject.

Another advantage of this hobby, and not one to be dismissed in these days of financial downturn, is the very reasonable prices you need pay. You can easily add to your collection for ?1 per card. Often a lot less. It will depend on your sources and of course, the condition of a card will play its part. The better the condition, the more you pay, is the general rule. Some people not only don't mind a card with writing on the reverse - they actually prefer it. And why not? 'Whatever turns you on', is the name of this game. But personally I like them with not one drop of ink - when I can get them, that is.

I should mention that this is also a great hobby for children on a limited income. Yes, I know that they have computer games and all the rest of it, but unless I am very much mistaken, children can find this hobby very absorbing no-matter what technological age we are living in. This is especially true when a parent will share the interest with a child.

So go ahead and plunge in. There is a universe of interesting discoveries to be made.


Mark Sonderby runs the Postcard-Post website where you can find his postcards being auctioned on eBay.

The Joy of Collecting Postcards

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, delitology 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 postcard 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.

The Joys and Profits of Deltiology (Collecting Post Cards)

I'vde always loved postcards. At first, I was interested in the messages. Postcards provide an incomparable glimpse into the society during the period they were used. Some messages were funny, some sad, and some just plain strange. One, showing a donkey on the front read, "When are going stop being an a** and write to me?" Another, "This is a photo of the town. The place I marked with an X is where a father and his two sons were killed when a train stuck their haywagon. We're holding a memorial service on Wednesday." The strangest one I ever read was: "Ellen thinks you're a lobster. I think you're cute. Doris." It sounds to me as if Doris had an interest in the recipient. What she meant about him being a lobster, I don't know.

I also loved the images. Postcards were in some cases minitaure photographs of a bygone era. Real photo postcards can be found showing town streets, families, motorcycles, circuses, deep-sea diving equipment, nudes and just about any other topic you can imagine, including lynchings. I once purchased a horrendous collection of six cards that showed scenes of the 1916 genocide of Armenians in Palestine, including one with soldiers showing off the heads of three of their victims. Fortunately, most cards deal with happier topics.

Non-real-photo cards abound and show can show just about anything.

Pretty women are a common topic and are very collectible. Some artists such as Beaulieu and F. Earle Christie, are extremely popular and can bring in the hundreds of dollars.

Holidays were by far the most popluar subjects and literally millions of Christmas postcards can still be found. Most are of little value, but Santa Clauses are always collectible. Find one in a yellow or green suit and you have a minor treasure. Ones that have been manufactured to light up when viewed are known as hold-to-light or HTLs. Most of these are very collectible and some are worth in the hundreds of dollars. If you ever find a HTL with Uncle Sam as Santa, you have one that is worth in the thousands of dollars. Easter is probably the least-favored topic. The most favored by far is Halloween.

Halloween cards were popular at the time they were sent. Collectors avidly put them aside, and for this reason, a large number of the cards are still available. Today, the creme de la creme of the Halloween card are the ones by the Winsch Brothers of Germany. The quality of the cards and beauty of the designs have always made them popular. Today, they are worth in the hundreds of dollars in top condition.

So far we haven't mentioned condition. As with all collectibles, condition is the main concern besides content. Tears, missing corners, creases, any of these can reduce a valuable card to next to nothing. I have seen more rare cards with these problems than I care to think of. Anyone interested in collecting cards must keep condition in mind at all times.

Fads can affect price, too. At one time, real photo postcards were considered so undesirable that a purchaser would pull them out and discard them as worthless. Now they are among the most valuable. In the early 1900s, cards showing flowers or woodland scenes were the desired one. They were also the most common. During the heyday of the postcard, more than a billion were delivered in a single year. Today, woodland scenes and flowers are worth next to nothing. The despised real photos showing main street will always bring at least five dollars in good condition. Long sets showing carnivals or circuses are worth in the thousands.

If you are starting a postcard collection, go after the ones that you have an interest in. If you live in a particular neighborhood in a city, you can usually find cards to collect. Nearly every important building in every city has been photographed and made into a card at one time or another. If you have a hobby, look for cards dealing with Chess or gardening, or whatever else your fancy. If you have no idea where to begin, eBay or a local postcard show are your best bets. You will get an idea of prices and what's available. Plus you'll meet some great people while you're at it.

Finally, in a single word: ENJOY!

John Anderson has sold collectibles for more than three decades. At present he is retired and is a full-time free-lance writer. His first novel, The Cellini Masterpiece, was published by iUniverse under the penname of Raymond John (ISBN 0595328059). John welcomes correspondence. If you have a question or would like to contact him, please log on to http"//http://www.cmasterpiece.com

What Potential Bidders Need to Know About Vintage Postcards Selling on eBay

Two words, 'postcard' and 'place name' are actually sufficient to generate most early bids on vintage postcards offered on eBay. But there are other things many collectors need to know which influence their decision to bid and to buy.

They include:

* DATE: You should be looking for old postcards, the older the better, preferably pre-1939, so there's more chance that places have changed appearance, or changed name, perhaps they no longer exist or the postcard feature events and people that are little known about today, all of which increase demand and stimulate high finishing prices.

* PUBLISHER: Some people collect by publisher, especially firms that specialised in their own local topographical area and rarely, if ever, created postcards of views more than twenty or thirty miles from base. So you'll find people collecting postcards of Newcastle and Gateshead but only those created by Johnston and Son of Gateshead who were renowned for quality, highly detailed postcards under their trademark name 'Monarch'. Other famous publishers include Brittain and Wright who worked in Stockton-on-Tees and were famed for the 'Phoenix Series' and have a popular following today.

* CONDITION: Condition is important to purist collectors, people who collect postcards per se, but less important to people seeking 'view cards' for whom the scene depicted, not the postcard per se, is the main motivation to buy. To satisfy both collector types you must give an assessment of condition backed with a clear and detailed image of the card.

* PRINT AND PRODUCTION TYPE: Some people collect only photographic postcards, some accept printed items, others seek artist impressions of their topographical area. This should not over concern you right now because plentiful collectors exist to buy whatever topographical postcards you list of whatever production type.

* FORMAT AND SIZE: The earliest postcards were 'Court' size and smaller than most postcards printed from about 1900. Very early postcards were undivided back, that is devoid of line down the centre to separate message part from address section and this also helps date a card in the absence of other clues. Postcards were and still are produced in other sizes and formats, such as bookmark size, giant postcards, lettercards like a concertina of pictures, and others you'll learn as your knowledge grows about selling vintage postcards on eBay.


Avril Harper is an eBay PowerSeller and author of BANK BIG PROFITS SELLING VINTAGE TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW POSTCARDS ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.sellpostcardsonebay.com and MAKE MONEY TEARING UP OLD BOOKS AND MAGAZINES AND SELLING THEM ON EBAY which you can read about at: www.magstoriches.com. She has produced a free guide - 103 POWERSELLER TIPS - which you can download with other freely distributable reports and eBooks at www.avrilharper.com