General Help With Vintage Postcards

I was wondering if there is a resource for vintage postcards... preferably a book or website. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. We have a ton of them and we have no idea where to start the identification process...

Thanks!

The library is full of books on postcards, and you can visit www.postcardcollector.org for random information and the benefits of membership.

But it isn't clear what you mean by identification. I have 30K postcards, and doubt that I have ever identified even one of them. I research publishers and artists; I find similar cards on Delcampe and ebay to estimate value; I watch closely for philatelic aspects; and I pay attention to addressees and sometimes Google the name(s). But I don't "identify" them. If you want to establish a value, use retail pricelists and auction results, but it's a tedious process.

Another good source is www.marylmartin.com -- I have known the family for 30 years. In the past 5 years, I have sold a single card for over $300, and sold 1400 mixed cards for $125 postpaid, so there's a wide range of prices and interests out there.

Regardless of what informations you discover, I strongly encourage you to NEVER write on the card (or on the backs of stamps either).

Here is the way I advertise small lots of cards (on another website), in this case, four 1905 cards from South Africa:

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopi...f=27&t=37593

Here are suitable topics for an initial "sort" to get you started; nothing magic about this, just my opinion.

1. States and foreign countries.
2. Humor and courtship.
3. Real photos, regardless of subject or location.
4. Cards with first and foremost a philatelic feature, such as an
early 1c commemorative stamp, regardless of other categories.
5. Greetings and holidays.
6. Artist-signed cards, regardless of subject or location.
7. Cards, especially early advertising, with a postal indicia,
i.e., government postal cards.
8. Keep sets together (a standard envelope works fine).
9. No need to separate mint and used cards.
10. No need (at this point) to separate very old from very recent cards;
KEEP damaged cards, do not pitch them.

The main categories of postcard production and design are:
1. Pioneer, before 1898.
2. Classic, 1898 to 1913, i.e., up to World War I.
3. White Borders, 1914 to mid-1930s.
4. Linens, mid-1930s to late-1950s.
5. Chromes, 1950s to present.

These are approximate dates. Postcard folders (8 to 16 cards strung together accordion-fold) are not really considered postcards. The "continental" size, slightly larger than a standard card, began to appear in the U.S. in the 1960s. Few have any value.

I could go on for days, but this will get you started.

RPPC (Real Photo Post Cards) are a hot topic too. The harder ones to get are "Actual Photos" and they command more $$ but not necessarily out of reach to most collectors.

I think that I have been buying more postcards at shows than I do stamps. They are sure interesting to say the least.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Here`s a useful link, and a term: DELTIOLOGY.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deltiology

... and old Romanian litography postcards have a good market value, I saw many on ebay going for 100+$.

What about cyanotypes, hand colored and the linens? any resource for those? I'll have to find that site that sells everything from everywhere in the US. They break it down by state then counties then borough's towns. I found a lot of specialty stuff (for me anyway)in there too. Treasure-trove to be sure. I'll look for it.

Thank you for the helpful information. I guess I had meant a foot in the door to get a hold of what exactly I am dealing with. Looking for artists and popular places is a great start!