Many postcard collectors like to collect vintage postcards. You can find some really unique cards that were produced before 1950 such as wooden and leather postcards. We will take a look at the different types of vintage postcards below.
Wooden Postcards:
Postcards made from wood fall into three different eras: the early era, the vintage era and the modern era. Many different wooden postcards were made especially for the St Louis World's Fair in 1904. Most of these cards were humorous with puns on woods that are associated with wood. Other wooden postcards commemorated the Lewis and Clark Exposition as well as the Jamestown Exposition in the early 1900's. When shopping for vintage wooden postcards, you need to be aware that some postcards of the early era might be advertised as wood even though they are probably made from heavy cardboard.
Wood burning was a very popular hobby during the golden age of postcards. Therefore many wooden postcards were made at this time and the buyer would burn them after purchase. Most of them were burned over designs or copied from patterns. Some were burned onto the wood by the manufacturer. Flemish Art was the most well known pyrographic postcard manufacturer of the time.
Leather Postcards:
Leather postcards were also popular during this period and were actually more common than the wood cards. They sometimes had a printed or burned design often used to depict buildings. Brown ink was often used which made the postcard look very similar to a burned design. Since these postcards were not made from stock paper, they had to be mailed at letter rate which was 2 cents at that time.
Letter Card:
The letter card was pretty much confined to use in Canada. It was made by Folkard which was located in Montreal. A letter card was a letter sheet which was pre-printed and then it was folded closed and glued so it could be mailed as a postcard. To read the postcard, one would tear off a perforated edge and open the letter back up.
Moonlight Effect:
At the time when moonlight effect postcards were popular, the technology was not there to photograph by moonlight. Therefore postcard manufacturers devised a way to shoot the photo during the daytime being careful not to catch any shadows in the picture. Then they would darken the sky and paint in details such a moon in the sky and a candle burning in a window.
Multi-fold Panoramic:
This type of postcard was printed in a horizontal format and usually was of a panoramic view of some city. The postcard was folded for mailing.
Sunken Center:
This unique vintage postcard was a real photo card that was made with a wide border which was raised with embossing which gave the appearance of the photo being framed.
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Postcard Collecting: What Determines The Value Of A Postcard?
There are many different aspects which come into play when determining the value of collectible post cards. Some of them include the condition of the card, its age, the subject matter, whether it is printed or a photo and the postmark. Postcards are made for thousands of reasons and there also many reasons for collecting them. Some cards are devoted to holidays such as Christmas, Valentine's Day, or Halloween. Some collectors specialize in certain animals such as all alligator cards. Other collect postcards dedicated to specific regions such as Florida postcards, or postcards of the worlds most well known buildings. There are many postcards out there to suit all collecting interests and price ranges from a few cents all the way up to thousands of dollars.
Postcard collectors collect postcards of all ages, but usually the older the card is, the more valuable it is. Postcards made in the United States before 1907 are easily recognized because they had un-divided backs so the only thing that was written on the backs of these cards was an address. After 1907, postcards were divided into two sides on the back so an address and message could both be written. From about 1910 up until the 50's photo postcards were very popular. During the depression linen postcards became popular and were used up until the early 50's. In the late 1940's photo chrome cards made an appearance and are still in use today. These photo chrome cards were made on a wide variety of subjects and are quite popular among collectors today.
Besides age, the condition of the card also has an effect upon its value. Tears, folds, creases, dirt, water damage and postmark bleed through will all decrease the value. When considering a photo postcard, the quality of the photo will affect its value. Such qualities taken into consideration include the contrast, exposure and sharpness of the photo.
Certain types of postcard subject matter seem to be more preferable among collectors and therefore usually make the card more valuable. Railroad and occupational images, Main Street scenes, state views and interior views are usually more expensive to acquire and harder to find. Greeting cards that are popular are Halloween related, full size Santas, 4th of July and Art Nouveau. Of course a lot of it has to do with individual taste and interest, but collectors do like to own some of the rarer cards.
If you are just getting started with postcard collecting, you may want to carry a good postcard value book to guide you when you make your purchases so you will have a good idea as to the value of a particular postcard.
Postcard collectors collect postcards of all ages, but usually the older the card is, the more valuable it is. Postcards made in the United States before 1907 are easily recognized because they had un-divided backs so the only thing that was written on the backs of these cards was an address. After 1907, postcards were divided into two sides on the back so an address and message could both be written. From about 1910 up until the 50's photo postcards were very popular. During the depression linen postcards became popular and were used up until the early 50's. In the late 1940's photo chrome cards made an appearance and are still in use today. These photo chrome cards were made on a wide variety of subjects and are quite popular among collectors today.
Besides age, the condition of the card also has an effect upon its value. Tears, folds, creases, dirt, water damage and postmark bleed through will all decrease the value. When considering a photo postcard, the quality of the photo will affect its value. Such qualities taken into consideration include the contrast, exposure and sharpness of the photo.
Certain types of postcard subject matter seem to be more preferable among collectors and therefore usually make the card more valuable. Railroad and occupational images, Main Street scenes, state views and interior views are usually more expensive to acquire and harder to find. Greeting cards that are popular are Halloween related, full size Santas, 4th of July and Art Nouveau. Of course a lot of it has to do with individual taste and interest, but collectors do like to own some of the rarer cards.
If you are just getting started with postcard collecting, you may want to carry a good postcard value book to guide you when you make your purchases so you will have a good idea as to the value of a particular postcard.
Friday, 26 March 2010
Postcard Collecting: Some Valuable Postcards To Watch Out For
There have been literally millions of postcards produced over the decades and most of them are not valuable in a monetary sense. However, there are some which are highly prized by collectors and have become quite valuable. Prices for some of the rarer postcards can go as high as thousands of dollars. Lower prices are much more common. In fact it is not uncommon at all to find one or two cards worth $5 to $50 when flipping through a pile of old postcards. Listed below are some postcards which are worth keeping an eye out for when you are looking through old postcards.
Generally speaking, postcard collectors favor cards that were made during the years of 1898 to 1918. It is the topic of the image or the photographer or artist that establishes the exact value of the card taking into consideration other factors such as condition. Post card collectors are interested in postcards on all subjects.
Fore example, holiday cards are fairly popular. Card for the major holidays such as Easter, Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving and Valentines are fairly common. Cards made for holidays like Labor Day, Groundhog Day and Halloween are not as common and therefore more valuable. Some of the most sought after holiday cards are Halloween cards created by Ellen Clapsaddle. Her mechanical Halloween cards have sold for around $1500.
Postcards which have been signed by the artist are also strongly sought after. Popular artists include Rose O'Neil for her Kewpie postcards, Louis Wain for his cats and paper dolls, Alphonse Mucha, Florence Upton, Arpad Basch, and Grace Drayton.
As mentioned earlier, Christmas postcards are fairly common but certain types of Christmas postcards are valuable. Look for unusual depictions such as a black Santa or a Santa wearing a color other than red. A Santa in a purple robe might fetch $200. A Santa in a blue robe with brown fur might be worth $400. While a regular Christmas postcard might not have much value, a hold-to-light postcard might be worth $75 to $100. A hold-to-light postcard is one that has something such as a fireplace or windows that appear to light up when the card is held up to light.
Another type of old postcards to keep an eye out for are real photo cards of actual historical events or small towns. These can become quite expensive since very few of each of these cards were likely printed. Real photo cards that are highly sought after can bring in $5000 or more and even real photo postcards of golfers playing on a famous golf course can be worth $350.
To bring in these top prices, the postcard must of course be in good condition and have no folds or creases. The corners mustn't be dog eared. They should not have stains or water marks and the fronts must be free of writing. Writing on the back of the postcard is okay.
Generally speaking, postcard collectors favor cards that were made during the years of 1898 to 1918. It is the topic of the image or the photographer or artist that establishes the exact value of the card taking into consideration other factors such as condition. Post card collectors are interested in postcards on all subjects.
Fore example, holiday cards are fairly popular. Card for the major holidays such as Easter, Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving and Valentines are fairly common. Cards made for holidays like Labor Day, Groundhog Day and Halloween are not as common and therefore more valuable. Some of the most sought after holiday cards are Halloween cards created by Ellen Clapsaddle. Her mechanical Halloween cards have sold for around $1500.
Postcards which have been signed by the artist are also strongly sought after. Popular artists include Rose O'Neil for her Kewpie postcards, Louis Wain for his cats and paper dolls, Alphonse Mucha, Florence Upton, Arpad Basch, and Grace Drayton.
As mentioned earlier, Christmas postcards are fairly common but certain types of Christmas postcards are valuable. Look for unusual depictions such as a black Santa or a Santa wearing a color other than red. A Santa in a purple robe might fetch $200. A Santa in a blue robe with brown fur might be worth $400. While a regular Christmas postcard might not have much value, a hold-to-light postcard might be worth $75 to $100. A hold-to-light postcard is one that has something such as a fireplace or windows that appear to light up when the card is held up to light.
Another type of old postcards to keep an eye out for are real photo cards of actual historical events or small towns. These can become quite expensive since very few of each of these cards were likely printed. Real photo cards that are highly sought after can bring in $5000 or more and even real photo postcards of golfers playing on a famous golf course can be worth $350.
To bring in these top prices, the postcard must of course be in good condition and have no folds or creases. The corners mustn't be dog eared. They should not have stains or water marks and the fronts must be free of writing. Writing on the back of the postcard is okay.
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Your privacy is important to us. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices and the choices you can make about the way your information is collected and used. To make this notice easy to find, we make it available on our homepage and at every point where personally identifiable information may be requested.
Our Commitment To Data Security
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
Our Commitment To Children’s Privacy
Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. For that reason, we never collect or maintain information at our website from those we actually know are under 18, and no part of our website is structured to attract anyone under 18. Under our Terms of Service, children under 18 are no allowed to access our service.
Collection of Personal Information
On visiting this site, the IP address used to access the site will be logged along with the dates and times of access. This information is purely used to analyse trends, administer the site, track user’s movement, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. Importantly, IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information.
Links to third party websites
We have included links on this site for your reference. We are not responsible for the privacy policies on these websites.
lterations to this Privacy Statement
The content of this statement may be altered at any time.
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