Attended A Postcard Collectors Gathering

i noticed in the Sunday paper that there was a special open meeting of the local postcard club to try and gain new members...we attended and it was informative..learned something about postcards going back to 1870...but the postcard person collects very differently than the stamp collector...they have no interest in the stamp or the postmark if there is one on the card...the card itself is their focus...there were a few postcard dealers in attendance but their stock was almost entirely New York State or local Hudson Valley postcards..it seems to limit things for me...i Want the World !

I thought it was interesting that back when you could not write a message on the address side..people would just send a card to a friend or relative with no message...it was a way of keeping in touch and saying..i am OK !

What you say philby is correct for the most part.

What I am noticing is, at the postcard shows, you see a lot of the same dealers that also attend the stamp shows as well. It is mostly these dealers that price according to the inage of the card and for the postal marking(s) as well.

I think it is also safe to assume that these dealers pass the information on to the general postcard dealers and they start to revise their pricing.

My opinion of course.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Chimo, Til then I will continue to pull nice postally used foreign and sometimes U.S. cards out of the quarter box..This old orchard beach maine card has a Scott #328 5 bucks used...8 dollars on cover..of course you can't sell them for that...but not bad for 25 cents !!

I love attending the local Stamp shows where Postcard dealers show up and take all the Postcards and turn them around. I probably have over 200 postcards and only know what is on the Picture side on less than 10 of them.

LOL philby

I don't blame you one bit. I would be doing the same. Hope you find more goodies too.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I like the whole picture..a card from a area I am interested in plus the stamp and postmark...i think I am getting the post card bug..starting to look at the names of the printers on the cards..there must have been many thousands !!

Philby

There are loads of publishers out tere.

I know for area alone there are lots. In my collection alone, I have close to 100 different publishers and that does not take into consideration what is in other people's collections.

Then you have to consider all the publishers across the continent that photographed everything across it and those publishers that made al iving out of images from their areas alone.

What I find interesting are identical images that have different publisher's names on them or series numbers.

It is a whole new field alright.

Chimo

Bujutsu

I too have been taking an interest in the postcards but for BOTH the stamp, C.D.S. & Cancellation and the picture on the other side! Hard to display though. I need to see if vario makes a clear 2 way divide page? LOL That may be the easiest for me to display both sides?

Jeff I pick up clear two pocket pages that fit either covers or postcards at the local hobby shop...they cost 25 cents each..so for a quarter you can display two cards or covers front and back !

Hi philb

Here is one good reason that would support your claim

Chimo

Bujutsu

That is an interesting duplex postmark from Cottage City, Mass. As a lifelong Massachusetts resident, I actually had to look up "Cottage City" and found that it was formerly a part of Martha's Vineyard now known as Oak Bluffs, MA.

According to Jim Forte's Postal History website, a post office was only active there from 1880-1907, so the marking on the above postcard is one of the later uses.

I sure wish Phil had shown us the Orchard Beach, Maine card. My old military buddy (we were in the cold war) lives in Maine and vacationed there last summer.

I shall show the card tomorrow !! As a stamp collector my priority is the stamp and postmark side !

Interesting to know about the Cottage City, Mass. cancellation.

I am not up on US postal history so that is new information to me. I got the card out of a dealers box for only a few dollars. I was interested in the card because of the ship, since that is one of my specialties on postcards. I collect ocean liners and military ships, preferably pre 1950 but certainly have newer ones as well.

Interesting thread.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Cynical, Well I guess we are both cold war vets...i almost got extended for a year when the Berlin wall went up...interesting times, I would not have been very happy as I had been counting towards my discharge for 444 days..heres the other side of the card....