ephemera – The Committed Collector

Posted on October 20, 2018 by admin

12 Tips for Collecting Antique Postcards

If you haven’t heard, the Western New York Postcard Club has been holding its show and sale for 40-some years, and this time, it’s moving closer to Rochester, so it should be more convenient for many of us hunters and gatherers.

With the sale running from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 21, I thought it would be a good idea to review my strategy for making the most of my time and money. I thought my plans might be worth sharing with you, too.

To enjoy the event, score some deals, and come home with a few (dozen) more treasures for a (growing) collection, follow these tips:

1. If you already collect postcards, and have the time, look through your collection or your inventory to remind yourself of which ones you already have. (Okay. If your collection is already huge, you might not have time to do that.)

2. If you know you’re looking for something particular, like cards by a certain artist or the last in a series, spend some time searching the Internet first (if you don’t already do that regularly). If what you want is available online, you can do some comparison shopping.

3. If you have a small collection or a small series to complete, consider filing these cards in a pocket photo album and bringing it along with you. That way, you can make sure that your new purchases are indeed new to you or fit your collection. There’s rarely reason to duplicate cards or buy the wrong ones.

4. If you have identification guides, try to find the time to flip through them or bring them along, so you can remind yourself of different series, styles, and features that make some postcards worth more than others.

5. Plan to spend a few hours (or more) at the postcard sale. You probably won’t look through all of the hundreds of thousands of cards for sale, but if you stop at each dealer and look through each category you’re interested in, you could be there for a long while.

6. Remember to ask each dealer about the topics that you’re interested in. In addition, ask if the subjects you want might be filed under related categories. Each dealer knows his or her filing system better than anyone else, so they can direct you to the boxes that are most likely to have something you’ll like.

7. In addition, ask each dealer if he or she specializes in any particular subjects or has a particularly large number of a certain category. Sometimes dealers are drawn to specific topics, have access to certain postcards in their area, or recently acquired a particular collection. Knowing this will often allow you to choose from some special cards or ones that are scarce in your area.

8. If you think you’re finished at a booth, take the time to browse through the category cards and consider what similar subjects there are (or discover some new ones). Chances are a category or two will surprise you.

9. If you find a lot of postcards you like from one dealer, but know you really shouldn’t buy them all, find an area in the booth to spread out your choices and compare them to each other. Seeing them side by side often makes it easy to determine which ones you simply can’t live without.

10. If enough postcards have caught your eye in one booth, and you have a nice stack, ask the dealer if he or she can give you a bulk discount of sorts. When it comes to antiquing, we all believe in the more the merrier.

11. If a booth has some cards that are your second choices, write down which dealer, which category, and which cards have tempted you. Then, after making the rounds, and if you still have time and money left, swing back to the ones you left behind earlier. With your notes, you’ll be able to find them quickly and easily.

12. Most important, talk to the dealers. Ask about their interests and their suggestions. Listen to what they have to say about the artistry, style, or history of the postcards you’re interested in. The dealers are experts and can be a wealth of information to us.

Well, I think I’ve managed to talk myself into going to the postcard show (as if I needed to do that).

Of course, I’m planning to go, even though I’m still a beginner in this field and my postcard collection is still minuscule by most standards—all the more reason to go to the show, right?

I have to admit that I’d love to find more postcards with classic renditions of roses and some with handsome portraits of dogs as well as a few more pastel Easter cards and then a few more Christmas cards in red and green and maybe even some…

Hopefully, I’ll raise my head from the boxes of postcards long enough to see you there.

The show and sale is being held tomorrow, Sunday, Oct. 21, at Perinton’s James E. Smith Community Center, 1350 Turk Hill Road, Fairport.

Admission is $3 a person, but free for members, so you should probably think about joining the club. For more information, visit the club’s website at www.WNYPostcardClub.com.

Patti
The Committed Collector

So will we see you there? Is ephemera a category of collecting that interests you? Do you appreciate graphic arts or the nostalgic sentiments of snail mail? If so, please leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you.

Posted on October 13, 2018 by admin

Collecting Postcards

I don’t know how it took me so long to discover antique postcards as a collectible.

Both my father and grandfather were printers, so I was raised to appreciate printed materials. The artistry on postage stamps, paper money, and even sale ads were the kinds of things that Dad pointed out to me.

I loved the clip art in the grocery ads that Mom checked out each week. I knew the caricatures of bunnies and reindeer weren’t photos or paintings, but I couldn’t figure out what they were, artistically speaking. Nonetheless, I cut them out and glued them into a scrapbook just as my Victorian ancestors might have pasted trade cards into albums.

However, it wasn’t until I was nearly 30 that I discovered antique postcards. By then, I was fully committed to collecting china and glassware, but I still hadn’t noticed postcards at garage sales or flea markets. Ironically, I always bought postcards on my travels, but it didn’t occur to me that vintage ones existed, too.

Thankfully, a friend introduced me to the beauty and variety of antique postcards. We had planned an entire weekend of antiquing, and first on her agenda was the postcard show.

I had never been to a postcard sale before, so I didn’t know what to expect. My friend, however, brought enough cash and patience to keep us there for several hours.

She diligently stopped at each booth and asked about cats, horses, trains, and Halloween—the four categories that she and her husband collected. Then she pulled out a chair and sat down to look methodically through every one of these groups of cards. Then she changed chairs, so she could look through every card in every miscellaneous box.

At that point in my collecting “career,” I was used to walking from table to table and checking out a variety of wares. Sadly for us visual types, there often isn’t a lot to see at a postcard sale because the dealers organize their thousands of postcards in small cartons that look a lot like shoe boxes.

That means the sales tables all look pretty much alike—unless you take a seat and get comfortable. Then, there are wondrous sights to behold.

I only learned this after milling around for a couple of hours. Finally, and, I have to admit, out of boredom, I followed my friend’s lead and asked a dealer if any of the postcard might depict flowers, something I’ve always loved.

“Of course, there are cards with flowers,” he boomed. “What kind are you interested in,” he asked. “Bouquets? Gardens? Roses? Lilies? Or advertising cards—how about trade cards with pretty girls and bunches of posies?”

Initially overwhelmed by all the kinds of flowers I could consider on antique postcards, I blurted on the one that registered with me—roses. Mom loved roses; I loved roses, too, and I still do, so that was a fortuitous choice.

The dealer ushered me over to the box that had the “Flowers-Roses” tag and kindly pulled out a chair for me. Soon, I was lost in a rose bed of artistry.

Some antique cards had classically done renditions of lush, romantic roses. Vintage postcards had more stylized depictions of pink, red, and yellow blooms. Newer ones were made from color photos and showed the grandeur of places like the Hershey Rose Garden.

I was so engrossed that another hour or more went by as I decided if I preferred postcards with single blooms or full bouquets (both), pink roses or red ones (pinks), and just how many I should/could buy (more than I needed).

Eventually, it was my friend who was ready to leave and come looking for me.

She was buying for two (for herself and her husband), so she left with hundreds of postcards—and I mean hundreds. I might have left with only a dozen or so, but I had begun another collection—one that reflects all my father taught me about the artistry of printed materials.

Ever since, I’ve always managed to be selective and leave postcard shows with relatively few cards—even though I really don’t know why since I fully believe the more the merrier when it comes to collecting.

Perhaps next weekend when the local postcard show moves closer to town, I’ll finally become certifiable and leave with bags and bags of beautiful postcards.

I’ll be sure to try my best.

Patti
The Committed Collector

How about you? Do you like to pick up postcards as souvenirs of your travels? Are you among the few who actually send postcards to family and friends? If so, we’d love to hear from you—so please leave a comment.

Posted on July 4, 2018 by admin

Patriotic Collections

Happy Fourth of July!

I love the Fourth of July and all of its trappings. That’s why I’m dismayed to realize I have only one box of decorations suitable for July 4th and the other patriotic holidays—and I’m known for my excess of holiday decorations.

Although I’ve obviously been remiss in my collecting, I love the Fourth of July for many reasons. Of course, there are the bits about fighting for democratic principles and achieving our national independence that are so very worthy of celebrating. There’s the appreciation and pride so many of us feel for our military and veterans and the nostalgia evoked by happy childhood experiences as well as the continued opportunity and hope that exists today, yet for me the Fourth of July is all about family.

For a good decade, between the time I was 12 and 22 or so, our Independence Day celebration included a family reunion after my older brother and sister-in-law made the long, hot drive from Upstate New York to Northern Florida to spend their summer vacation with us.

Mom and Dad devoted weeks to getting the house ready and stocking the pantry, especially as the number of grandchildren increased. One of my summertime chores was to give the picnic table a fresh coat of stain, so it would be ready for Mom’s red-checked tablecloth, classic white paper plates, and bowls of farm-fresh blueberries.

Most years, this visit was during the first half of July, so their stay usually included at least one All-American cookout complete with a red, white and blue color scheme, sizzling hot dogs and hamburgers, glittering sparklers, and exciting firecrackers.

With the house full, and friends coming and going, the work increased, too, so the women often opted for grilling out, rather than heating the house, and picnics on the patio with paper products instead of washing the dishes.

A natural-born collector, I loved it when Mom bought paper products printed with patriotic motifs for our holiday table. Unbeknownst to me, I was already drawn to a popular category of collecting—ephemera—which covers a great variety of items, like party napkins, wall calendars, and fast-food packaging, that are meant to serve their purposes and be discarded afterward.

A natural-born party planner, too, I longed for more than flying the flag out front. I wanted Old Glory in all her guises everywhere possible. I tried to convince the menfolk that hanging bunting from the eaves would be easy, but I had to settle for small handheld versions of the Stars and Stripes.

I suggested to the womenfolk that bouquets of red, white, and blue flowers from the grocery store would be prettier on the table than the bright yellow marigolds from Mom’s garden, but I often had to settle for stacking the buns in baskets lined with red cloth napkins as a way to bring more holiday color to the party.

For me, the weeks when my whole family was around were often the best of the year. They also included outings to the beach, trying new recipes, playing board games, and going to the movies or renting videos together.

Over the years, I’ve collected the recipes that fit our American color scheme, such as fruit salad with strawberries, honeydew, and blueberries, and my sister-in-law’s Black Forest cake topped with bright red cherry pie filling and served with white whipped cream on blue paper plates, of course.

My big brother’s a movie buff, so we always rented several family favorites, like Yankee Doodle Dandy, American Graffiti, or Patton. Dad was a Marine and fought at Guadalcanal, so we also always watched any WWII documentaries shown on our local PBS channel.

If I had the space today, I’d put together a video collection of patriotic movies and documentaries, but I don’t, so I rely on the fine selections available through the Monroe County Library System. Stopping into our branch library to borrow a DVD is a bit like going to Blockbuster to pick up a VHS tape or two, so the errand brings back fond memories.

If I had even more space today, which I certainly don’t, I would collect a variety of Americana including vintage ads, signs, and posters depicting icons like Uncle Sam, the American Eagle, and the Stature of Liberty. As it is, I barely have room to house the single Fourth of July postcard and trio of Liberty Bell statuettes I’ve picked up over the years.

If I had unlimited space, or the resolve to let go of things, which I definitely don’t have, I would also collect contemporary patriotic decorations. I still like to host picnics and cookouts for family and friends, and I love the trimmings of patriotic celebrations, so I could easily amass a collection of All-American accessories and party goods to help set the stage.

Now that I, the committed collector, consider my strong patriotic feelings, fond childhood memories, and continuing love of the American colors, I’ve forgotten why I don’t collect Americana and go all out with my decorating for Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.

Oh. Actually, I do remember why: I simple don’t have the space for any more collectibles.

If I want to maintain our home as comfortable living space, which I do, I have to hold off on building a collection of Americana and accept using disposable decorations, practical but thematic vinyl tablecloths, and cross-over pieces like red glassware that I can also use for Valentine’s and Christmas as well.

Perhaps when The Collectors of Western New York opens, and my existing collections are out of storage and on exhibit, I’ll have more room to house a new patriotic collection, but please don’t tell my husband. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?

Happy Birthday, America! Happy Collecting!
-from Patti, the committed collector

How about you? Do you collect any Americana that reflects your national pride and patriotism or gives the holidays more meaning? Do you have an assortment of decorations that make your celebrations more festive? We’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment and let us know.