Happy Birthday, President Lincoln

 

QUESTION: I’ve been collecting postcards for years. Recently, while searching eBay for cards to add to my collection, I came across a unique card depicting Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. I’ve never really pursued cards from particular presidents and would love to know more about this card and perhaps others. What can you tell me about it?

ANSWER: The New York City postcard publishing firm of E. Nash published a series of cards issued for Lincoln's Centennial celebration in 1909, of which this one was a part. The six-postcard “Lincoln Birthday Series” was specifically intended as a “Lincoln Centennial Souvenir.” A pattern of stars and stripes form the background of each card, the American flag and eagle figure prominently, and each includes a portrait of President Lincoln and a quotation from or text about him. Four of the postcards depict Lincoln the rail splitter, Lincoln the Great Emancipator, Lincoln at Gettysburg, and Lincoln delivering his Second Inaugural Address. The final two postcards in the series focus on Lincoln’s character.  He was “a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief,” as illustrated by his letter to Mrs. Bixby. And he was a man whose “zeal and personal worth” allowed him to rise from his “humble origins” to the “highest pinnacle of fame…as the Champion of Liberty.”

E. Nash Postcard Set (above and below)

Avid postcard collectors seek anything concerning Lincoln and bearing his name, even local view cards. Topics range from Lincoln Park in Chicago to a view of Lincoln Drive in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, and even include hotels bearing the famous Lincoln name.

Lincoln Portrait

Less than two generations after his death, Abraham Lincoln emerged as one of America's most heroic legends. As the turn of the 20th century dawned, Americans were caught up in the fad of picture postcard ex-changing and saving. So, it is not surprising to discover how fond the public was of cards honoring the 16th president. Indeed, Lincoln's Birthday became a national holiday, and sending patriotic greeting postcards on the day was an enduring custom for many years.

Along with Uncle Sam, Santa Claus and George Washington, Abraham Lincoln's image and life soon dominated American postcard publishing. Old cards of Lincoln help us to understand just a little bit about the optimism and joy people felt back then. It was a time when Americans, under President Teddy Roosevelt and William H. Taft, felt a surging patriotism and veneration for our country and its past. There was a feeling of security in the present and an anticipation of the future.

Typical Lincoln Birthday Card

People avidly saved and exchanged Lincoln postcards. Parents and teachers also used them  as educational tools to inspire and motivate young people. To meet this demand dozens of publishers produced numerous designs of Lincoln's Birthday greetings and memorial souvenirs. During the first two decades of the 20th century many embossed and imaginatively conceived postcards were published. Most were artist illustrations, but a few displayed old photographs of Lincoln. Lincoln's Birthday cards offered a perfect blend of patriotism with the historical and holiday greeting style.

The best effort may well be International Art Company's series number 51651 of six cards, which was illustrated by artist C. Chapman. Considered by many collectors as among the finest Lincoln cards, these went through several distinguishable printings.

The London-based company of Raphael Tuck Si Sons printed and exported into this country, a six card set. While attractive, it does not fully measure up to Tuck's usual standard. The series showed vignettes from Lincoln's life, as well as his birthplace and statue. For the serious collector one version of this set came glazed. 

MW Taggart of New York City sold a 11-card set featuring scenes not commonly available elsewhere. These included The Lincoln Family Group," "Lincoln and Douglas Debate in 1858," and "Abraham Lincoln Entering Richmond:" A unique touch was added by the inclusion of the assassination scene at Ford's Theater.

Lincoln Postcard Set by Paul Finkenrath

Other publishers of cards for Lincoln's birthday were Paul Finkenrath of Berlin, easily identified by their "PFB" logo found on the address side; M.T. Sheahan, which printed 20 different designs on thick stock; P. Sanders, whose two sets, number 415 and number 416, are excellent and engrossing; and Julius Bien, producer of three singles.

Lincoln Postcard for Minnesota Prairie

In 1909, the centennial year of Lincoln's birth, proved beneficial to postcard publishers, who cashed in on the public's devotion to the slain president. It was also celebrated by a pair of special postcards sets, both of which undoubtedly were sold as packaged, complete sets throughout America in the hundreds of postcard shops that dotted the landscape.

E. Nash Company published one of the centennial sets, as stated above. The other set, by Fred C. Lounsbury, had four cards, all of which featured an imitation silver and bronze medallion of Lincoln. Scenes pictured included Lincoln's Kentucky birthplace, young Lincoln splitting rails, and the president delivering the Gettysburg Address. Lounsbury also issued these as plain-back souvenirs.

Lincoln Postcard Set by Fred Lounsbury

However, many companies produced Lincoln patriotic postcards. Among them were Majestic, Oldroyd and Century. Those by Century are particularly interesting because they used some of Matthew Brady's photos.

Postcard Showing Lincoln's Funeral Train

In 1909 a photograph of Lincoln's funeral train, long lost and forgotten in the home of the Lamson family of Toledo, Ohio, was discovered and used for a postcard design. As a promotional for the Lamson Brothers Department Store, it was handed out to Union veterans attending the 42nd National Encampment of the G.A.R. in Toledo that year.

There are so many Lincoln postcards on the market—over 7,000 have been identified from 1,000 publishers— that its impossible to collect them all.  Currently, prices range from a couple of dollars each to about $10, making the postcards one of the best Lincoln memorabilia bargains around.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Celebrating an Olde Fashioned Holiday" in the 2020 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Greetings to the New Year

 

QUESTION: I collect greeting cards. And recently while searching for some old Christmas cards I could purchase for my collection, I discovered some New Year’s greeting cards. I never knew that people sent cards at New Years. What can you tell me about this tradition?

ANSWER: People in the 19th and early 20th centuries sent greeting cards for a number of holidays, including Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, and yes, New Years. That was before modern communications made it easier to pick up the phone—or today a cell phone—and speak directly with the another person. Also, mailing greeting cards was inexpensive since the U.S. Post Office hadn’t begun its wild ride of price increases. And today, it’s also possible to send a digital greeting card through the Internet. But let’s take a look back at how the practice of celebrating the New Year began.

New Year's Day, also simply called New Year's, is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar. But it wasn’t always on that day.

In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named. As a date in the Gregorian calendar of Christendom, New Year's Day liturgically marked the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus, which is still observed as such in the Anglican Church and Lutheran Church. The Roman Catholic Church celebrates on this day the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

The practice of celebrating the New Year whenever that occurred dates back to 2,000 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia, when people celebrated it in mid-March around the time of the vernal equinox.

The early Roman calendar designated March 1 as the first day of the year. The calendar had just 10 months, beginning with March. That the new year once began with the month of March is still reflected in some of the names of the months. September through to December, the ninth through to the twelfth months of the Gregorian calendar, were originally positioned as the seventh through to the tenth months. Septem is Latin for "seven"; octo, "eight"; novem, "nine"; and decem, "ten.” Roman legend usually credited the second king Numa with the establishment of the two new months of Januarius and Februarius. These were first placed at the end of the year, but at some point came to be considered the first two months instead.

But in 567 C.E., the Council of Tours formally abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year. At various times and in various places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the new year was celebrated on December 25 in honor of the birth of Jesus, March 1 in the old Roman style, March25 in honor of Lady Day and the Feast of the Annunciation, and on the movable feast of Easter. No wonder the world seemed confused.

It was the custom among 7th-century pagans of Flanders and the Netherlands to exchange gifts on the first day of the new year. But as it turned out, European Christians also celebrated the new years on that date because  New Year's Day fell within the 12 days of the Christmas season in the Western Christian liturgical calendar.

However, it was the Japanese who originated the custom of sending written New Year’s greetings during the Heian Era, lasting from 794 to 1185 C.E. During that time, the nobility started to write such letters to people who lived too far away for the usual face-to-face New Year greetings.

Though the use of the Gregorian Calendar dates from 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII declared it to be used, it wasn’t until 1752 that Britain adopted it. 

The practice of sending New Year’s greeting cards probably didn’t begin in the United States until the 1870s. It took several decades before the practice of sending Christmas cards had caught on, and soon sending greetings for other holidays followed. 

The first cards were simple postcards, with a greeting printed on one side and a place for the receiver’s address on the other. But it wasn’t until 1915 that folded greeting cards, first created by Hallmark, began to appear.  

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Celebrating an Olde Fashioned Holiday" in the 2020 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Postcards from the Attic

QUESTION: My grandfather collected postcards for years. Now I have his collection. While it’s great to look at, I have no idea of where to start finding out about the hundreds of cards he collected. Can you please help me?

ANSWER: To begin, deltiology—postcard collecting—is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world. Most people collect postcards for four reasons: (1) Nostagia. Many older collectors seek out pictures of “the good ole days” or "the way it used to be.” Younger ones seek out the places or characters from their childhood. (2) Cost. Many items have soared in price, but postcards can still be obtained for from 10-cents to $10 each. (3) Investment. Postcards that sold for 10 cents less than 10 years ago now bring $1 to $5 and more. (4) Art and printing. The art on a postcard often determined the printing process and vice versa, from the lithochromes of the 1890's to the photochromes (photo cards) of today.

There are still many millions of postcards packed away in attics. Many, neatly tucked away in albums for the last 90-100 years, are in pristine condition. When postcards sold for 1 cent to 10 cents each, not very many people thought it worthwhile to search a dusty attic for them. Today, that’s all changed.

You’ll find postcards for sale at garage sales, flea markets, antique shops, and stamp shows. The most popular ones are the “hometown views.” Many show main streets with gas lights, trolleys, horse-drawn vehicles, store signs, sidewalk sales, bustles, hoopskirts, knickers, hightop shoes, and Model-T Fords. Those who collect for nostalgic reasons love these.



Then there are those from family vacations and foreign tours. Those who travel frequently often bring back views of the places they’ve been on postcards to put into albums either in place of their own photographs or in addition to them. They could pick up free cards from motels, hotels, resorts, and restaurants and, of course, purchase many scenic view cards of popular vacation spots. In fact, the act of sending picture postcards to the folks back home began as an American pastime.

And you shouldn’t ignore the greeting postcards, sent by Victorians in the latter part of the 19th century to express holiday and birthday greetings.

Postcard collecting was a huge craze in the early 20th century, with peak years running from about 1907 to 1913. People used these cards to keep in touch with friends and family, much as people use Facebook today. Couples courted using postcards and strangers met other strangers in foreign countries. By the end of the peak period in 1913, people had sent over 968,000,000 postcards. If even a fraction of all those cards have made it into the hands of dealers, the supply would be overwhelming. In fact, because so many have come into the market, the price for most postcards remains relatively reasonable.

Most collectors seem to collected cards for their pictorial value and not as much for their condition. During the peak years, many seemed willing to pay a few cents for old cards, focusing on topics like bridges and courthouses which are of little interest today. And with over 120 different topics to choose from, it’s no wonder that the hobby has grown so much.

Many collectors refused to consider any card made after 1920. They especially liked photographic postcards for their historical significance. Mid-20th-century roadside and local views have now increased in popularity and price. And it’s become difficult to find city views from the 1940s and 1950s.

Dating used postcards is simple—just check the postmark on back. However, it can be harder to figure the date of unused ones. Early cards from before 1900 to 1918 have good detail and no border.

Those with a white border date from 1919 to 1932. Most of the cards were view cards which were often pale with low contrast. Paper stock at the time had a coated surface, resulting in a flat non-glossy appearance. 

Linen texture-cards dominated the market from 1933 until the early 1950's. The majority of view cards from this era are boring and unattractive, especially those featuring scenery. Real photos of tourist areas were also fairly common in this era because the linen texture actually took away from the picture. Photographic cards from this time are generally glossier and more contrasty than earlier ones and have titles in white letters close to the bottom of the picture.





As with postage stamps, the condition of a postcard falls into one of six categories—mint, near mint, excellent, very good, good, and fair. Cards in the last condition aren’t considered collectible unless they’re very rare.

To find out more about your cards and to maintain and grow your collection, you might want to join one of over 70 postcard clubs in the U.S. Most of these clubs issue bulletins that have valuable postcard information, stories, and pictures. Even if a club isn’t close enough to make it convenient for you to attend meetings, it’s worth joining, if only for the bulletins and membership rosters, so that you can begin trading with other members.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Article section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 18,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about western antiques in the special 2019 Winter Edition, "The Old West," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques & More Collection on Facebook. 

Hurray for Liberty Bonds

QUESTION: I grew up with Liberty Bonds. Back then, we called them just savings bonds. I received one for each of my younger birthdays and paid for some of my college education with them. They were a favorite gift to kids at birthdays and other major events. Recently, I saw a collection of items related to Liberty Bonds at a local antiques show. I never realized that there were so many things associated with savings bonds. Do these things have any value? And what sort of items can I collect?

ANSWER: Your experience with savings bonds is a common one. Although people rarely discuss them, there are probably thousands sitting in safe deposit boxes right now. In fact, these bonds have been around for over 100 years. A Liberty bond was a war bond that the U.S. Government sold to support the allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time.

These bonds were a direct and unconditional promise of the U.S. Government to pay upon a certain date a specified sum of money in gold, together with interest at a specific rate, payable at specific dates until the bond matured Only by holding a bond to maturity could people collect the amount they paid plus interest.

“The Great War,” as World War I was known at the time, was an emotional issue. Not everyone was for it. The federal government knew that to wage a massive offensive against the Germans would cost a great deal of money. One third of the cost came from the revival of the personal income tax and an excess profits tax for businesses. The balance was to be raised by the sale of treasury bonds. The government would be asking people to dig deep into their pockets and purchase billions of dollars worth of Liberty Savings Bonds, as they came to be called.

But to get all Americans to buy these bonds took a Herculian advertising and promotional campaign which began in May of 1917. The various Federal Reserve Banks formed committees, on a state-by-state basis, which in turn organized vast numbers of volunteers. Entertainers, politicians, clergymen and persons from all walks of life took part in selling Liberty Bonds.

People couldn’t avoid the bond salesmen. They stood on street corners. The Boy and Girl Scouts went door-.to-door. Volunteers sold bonds in every movie house, theater and concert hall, and during lunch breaks at thousands of factories. They came to be called "four-minute men" because of the length of time they spoke, appealed, pleaded and lectured on the necessity of buying bonds. From the war front came wounded heroes, especially fliers, to tour the nation and to attend mass public rallies. Banks even offered to lend money for bond purchases. Celebrities conducted frequent public rallies, usually in theaters. Movie stars came out solidly to lead many of them.

It all began on April 25, 1917 when Congress approved the Liberty Loan Act which gave authority to the Secretary of the Treasury to issue $2 billion of 31/2-percent convertible bonds for sale by public subscription. Interest rates were raised to 4 1/4 and 4½  percent in later offerings. In all there were five subscription drives, the first four being numbered consecutively.

The First Liberty Bond Drive commenced May 14, 1917, the day the United States declared war on Germany. Others followed in October of that year, and in April and October 1918. A Victory Liberty Loan subscription bond drive, the funds of which went to aid our exhausted Allies, took place in April 1919 and it, too, was a success. People could purchase bonds in denominations from $50 to $100,000. The five drives of from 1917to 1919 resulted in 22 million bonds sold.

The sale of all these bonds also produced a lot of memorabilia, mostly ephemera. Collectors became interested in the late 1970s.

Posters were the first items to become popular, followed by pinback buttons and postcards. Soon all ephemera, including handbills, magazine covers and advertisements, postal slogan cancels and promotional literature was being collected.

A federal agency headed by Charles Dana Gibson organized the nation's illustrators and painters to churn out patriotic posters, including many for the Liberty Bonds program. James Montgomery Flagg,  J.C. Leyendecker and Haskell Coffin were just a few of the hundreds lending their talents and donating their time.

War Savings Stamps booklets, used to hold 10, 25, or 50-cent stamps, that when filled were turned in for a bond, delight many collectors as do the various booklets the government furnished to its army of volunteer salesmen and speakers.

The U.S Postal Service issued postcards to dramatize the appeal. Various artists contributed their skills toward creating many fascinating poster art cards. A special effort was a seven-card sepia set that was used to bombard the mailboxes of most every American. Each card began "Liberty Bonds Guarantee.. "with a different listing of objectives, such as "Liberty Bonds Guarantee Unlimited Aeroplanes. ..our Flyers must control the air." This card showed a dozen military biplanes in flight.

The U.S. Army printed another sepia set, taken from photographs in the field, which they gave to doughboys to mail back home. Inscribed "U.S. Army Post Card" on the address side, the pictorials pictured the various implements of war that Liberty Bonds were buying, such as howitzers, tanks and food. Captions emphasized the need to buy bonds: "Liberty Bonds will keep these howitzers thundering at the Huns," etc.

Volunteers handed out small pictorial stickers to bond subscribers who proudly displayed them on their front door or living-room windows. Buying a bond also earned purchasers a special pinback button to wear. Several different varieties issued; some for specific drives, others for general use. Different companies manufactured theirs for the government, including Animated Toy Company of  New York, American Art Works  of Coshocton, Ohio, Ehrman Manufacturing Company of Boston, and Manee Company of Malden, Massachusetts.

Volunteers also distributed small poster stamps so people could paste or glue them on to stationery, envelopes and postcards. These usually had patriotic motifs, especially flags, shields and the American eagle. There were also 10-cent savings stamps that could be purchased and glued into booklets.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Article section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 18,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about Colonial America in the Spring 2018 Edition, "EArly Americana," online now.  

Ways to Say I Love You

QUESTION: I’ve loved Valentine’s Day ever since I was in the first grade and my new best friend gave me a valentine card at our class’s party. Every year I would go out of my way to give really different cards. I became so inspired that I began looking for valentines all year round. I’ve amassed quite a collection of old valentine cards, but I really have no idea how the tradition of giving valentine greetings began. Can you help me put this in perspective?

ANSWER: Sending valentine greetings actually began during Roman times. Legend says that Valentinus, a Roman priest who encouraged young couples to many, sent the first valentine in 270 A.D.  Unfortunately , the reigning Emperor, Claudius II, disapproved of Christianity, and of marriage, in general. It was the Emperor's belief that married soldiers would soon forget that their primary allegiance should be to their Emperor, rather than to their wives.

The Emperor ordered Valentinus beheaded for disregarding his orders to cease his actions. Legend also says Valentinus befriended the blind daughter of the jailer, and apparently restoring her sight. In turn, the young woman brought food and delivered messages to him during his incarceration. On February 14, the eve of his execution, he wrote her a note of appreciation, signing it "From your Valentine."

A forerunner of the valentine greeting began in the 16th century with religious mementos of the Sacred Heart created in convents in France, Germany and Holland. Carefully crafted on parchment or vellum, the designs emulating the hand-tatted lace of the period.

The custom of Valentine's Day as an occasion developed gradually as the techniques of making paper advanced.  In 1834, the English made improvements to lace paper, originally  made in Germany and Austria in the early 19th century. The openwork, cameo-embossed lace paper allowed English publishers to publish elegant love letters, romantic stationery and valentines for an increasing number of customers.

These were miniature works of art which incorporated the use of ribbons and scraps, pearls and Dresden die-cuts. Some were movable or perfumed, while others had tiny mirrors attached to them to reflect the image of the beloved.

People made most early American valentines by hand. The influence of the immigrant German cultures resulted in folk-art paper items known as scherenschnitte, meaning paper cutting, and fraktur, or paper designs incorporating German calligraphy and imagery.

By the early 20th century, several publishers of lithographs and wood engravings began making  valentines in New York City. But it was Esther Howland who many consider the mother of the American valentine.



The Howland family operated the largest book and stationery store in Worcester, Massachusetts. As a student at the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, Class of 1847, she had been exposed to annual Valentine's Day festivities, which were later banned by the college for being too frivolous.

After graduation, Howland received an elaborate English valentine from one of her father's business associates. She convinced her father to order lace paper and other sup-plies from England and New York City. With these she made a dozen samples, which her brother added to his inventory for his next sales trip. When her brother returned with more than $5,000 in advance sales, she established a cottage industry where ladies would have materials and samples delivered and picked up at their homes, thus allowing them to mass-produce valentines.

While Esther Howland was not the first to create valentines in America, she did popularize the lace valentine, enabling her to earn $100.000 a year. In 1881, she sold her valentine business to an associate, George Whitney, whose company patterned many of their cards on the Howland model.

Another Victorian passion was the postcard. Publishers produced popular designs in huge quantities, since Valentine's Day was a big card-sending holiday at the time. But despite the availability of a wide variety of valentine cards, the demand for beautiful and unusual images has driven up the price for collectors. Ordinary postcard valentines can sell for $5 or less, but quality valentine postcards tend to sell for $8 to $10 each.






Production of valentine postcards ceased by World War I. It wasn’t until the 1930s that folded cards were became popular. The 1960s produced cards with red satin hearts, sachet centers, and simulated jewels and lace.

Today, Valentine's Day is the second largest holiday for giving a greeting card, with approximately 180 million cards exchanged. About 30 percent of all modern valentines are for meant for romantic love relationships. Valentinus would be proud.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 18,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about the Victorians in the Winter 2018 Edition, "All Things Victorian," online now.

Postcards From the Attic

QUESTION: My grandfather collected postcards for years. Now I have his collection. While it’s great to look at, I have no idea of where to start finding out about the hundreds of cards he collected. Can you please help me?

ANSWER: To begin, deltiology—postcard collecting—is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the world. Most people collect postcards for four reasons: (1) Nostagia. Many older collectors seek out pictures of “the good ole days” or "the way it used to be.” Younger ones seek out the places or characters from their childhood. (2) Cost. Many items have soared in price, but postcards can still be obtained for from 10-cents to $10 each. (3) Investment. Postcards that sold for 10 cents less than 10 years ago now bring $1 to $5 and more. (4) Art and printing. The art on a postcard often determined the printing process and vice versa, from the lithochromes of the 1890's to the photochromes (photo cards) of today.

There are still many millions of postcards packed away in attics. Many, neatly tucked away in albums for the last 90-100 years, are in pristine condition. When postcards sold for 1 cent to 10 cents each, not very many people thought it worthwhile to search a dusty attic for them. Today, that’s all changed.

You’ll find postcards for sale at garage sales, flea markets, antique shops, and stamp shows. The most popular ones are the “hometown views.” Many show main streets with gas lights, trolleys, horse-drawn vehicles, store signs, sidewalk sales, bustles, hoopskirts, knickers, hightop shoes, and Model-T Fords. Those who collect for nostalgic reasons love these.

Then there are those from family vacations and foreign tours. Those who travel frequently often bring back views of the places they’ve been on postcards to put into albums either in place of their own photographs or in addition to them. They could pick up free cards from motels, hotels, resorts, and restaurants and, of course, purchase many scenic view cards of popular vacation spots. In fact, the act of sending picture postcards to the folks back home began as an American pastime.

And you shouldn’t ignore the greeting postcards, sent by Victorians in the latter part of the 19th century to express holiday and birthday greetings.

Postcard collecting was a huge craze in the early 20th century, with peak years running from about 1907 to 1913. People used these cards to keep in touch with friends and family, much as people use Facebook today. Couples courted using postcards and strangers met other strangers in foreign countries. By the end of the peak period in 1913, people had sent over 968,000,000 postcards. If even a fraction of all those cards have made it into the hands of dealers, the supply would be overwhelming. In fact, because so many have come into the market, the price for most postcards remains relatively reasonable.

Most collectors seem to collected cards for their pictorial value and not as much for their condition. During the peak years, many seemed willing to pay a few cents for old cards, focusing on topics like bridges and courthouses which are of little interest today. And with over 120 different topics to choose from, it’s no wonder that the hobby has grown so much.

Many collectors refused to consider any card made after 1920. They especially liked photographic postcards for their historical significance. Mid-20th-century roadside and local views have now increased in popularity and price. And it’s become difficult to find city views from the 1940s and 1950s.

Dating used postcards is simple—just check the postmark on back. However, it can be harder to figure the date of unused ones. Early cards from before 1900 to 1918 have good detail and no border.

Those with a white border date from 1919 to 1932. Most of the cards were view cards which were often pale with low contrast. Paper stock at the time had a coated surface, resulting in a dull, flat  appearance. 

Linen texture-cards dominated the market from 1933 until the early 1950's. The majority of view cards from this era are boring and unattractive, especially those featuring scenery because the linen texture actually took away from the picture. Real photos of tourist areas were also fairly common. Photographic cards from this time are generally glossier and more contrasty than earlier ones and have titles in white letters close to the bottom of the picture.

As with postage stamps, the condition of a postcard falls into one of six categories—mint, near mint, excellent, very good, good, and fair. Cards in the last condition aren’t considered collectible unless they’re very rare.

To find out more about your cards and to maintain and grow your collection, you might want to join one of over 70 postcard clubs in the U.S. Most of these clubs issue bulletins that have valuable postcard information, stories, and pictures. Even if a club isn’t close enough to make it convenient for you to attend meetings, it’s worth joining, if only for the bulletins and membership rosters, so that you can begin trading with other members.

Eating Above the Clouds

QUESTION: My father used to fly a lot on business, and each time he flew somewhere, he’d keep a souvenir of that flight. Sometimes it was just a timetable or a ticket jacket, but at other times, he’d bring home a cup or a silver spoon or a menu with the logo of the airline on it. Are these items worth collecting?

ANSWER: People who traveled by plane, especially internationally, during the 1930s to the 1970s often kept a souvenir of their flights, including decks of playing cards, flight wings, timetables, postcards, flight bags, silverware and dishes. During that era, flights served full meals to all passengers, not just those in First Class. To fly anywhere was a special experience. People dressed up in their Sunday best and expected to dine on fine china using silver flatware on most flights.

There are lots of collectors of airline memorabilia out there. Propelled by personal memories and an eternal fascination with flying, these collectors seek the well-crafted and designed implements used on those mid-20th-century flights. And when some airlines like Eastern and Pan Am came upon hard times in the late 1980s, the market for airline dinner and silverware became speculative. Some, like Pan Am, were in operation from the early days of commercial aviation in 1927 to its shut down in 1991.

Airline collectibles consist of a wide variety of items, including timetables, crew wings, safety cards, barf bags, trays, liquor miniatures, plasticware, swizzle sticks, playing cards, safety cards, seat occupied cards, inflight magazines, overnight kits, flight bags, soap, hat badges, patches, buttons, service pins, hats, uniforms, ticket jackets, boarding passes, annual reports, posters,  brochures, ashtrays, pins, badges, toy and model planes, advertisements, games, watches and coloring books. Collectors particularly covet china, glassware, silverplate, flatware, salt and pepper shakers, and menus bearing the airline’s name or logo. Also, the older the item, the more valuable. Likewise, the more renowned or limited the airline's history, the more collectors are interested in them.

Some airlines first began serving meals on board aircraft about 1930. But the earliest marked china which they used dates from the mid 1930's. Generally, any china pieces from before WWII are rare and highly sought after by collectors. Prices likewise reflect the rarity and some pieces from that era are nearly $1,000. Not only are these pieces valuable because of their age, but also due to their scarcity. Today's airlines have fleets of several hundred planes each carrying a hundred or more passengers, but in the 1930's even the majors had only maybe a couple dozen planes each holding a few dozen passengers.

American and PanAm had some of the earliest examples of nicely marked china. PanAm flew its famous Flying Clippers across the Pacific, so the china used on them is quite rare. Most of the early china was very lightweight so as to not overload the planes, but there are several exceptions with both American and PanAm.

While the postwar era found most of the larger airlines, both domestic and foreign, having china, some of the smaller carriers didn’t start using it until the jet era. Both Delta and Continental, for example, used plastic dishes in the prop era.

The early jet era was undoubtedly the Golden Age of fine airline china. Each carrier competed with the others for speed and service. The service often included luxury dishes like steak or lobster.  Many of the small foreign carriers got their first china on their first jets.

Airline dinnerware is probably the most commonly found collectible at the airline memorabilia shows, and the variety is often astounding.

Much of the china seen at the shows comes from legitimate sources. When airlines change their logo or their china design, they sell off the older material or give it to their employees. Depending on the quality, quantity and condition of these items, they may have value perhaps in the hundreds or the thousands. Those airlines who also fly internationally use different china on those flights. China used by foreign airlines is often made by the best manufacturers—Wedgewood, Spode, Royal Doulton, and Noritake. Generally any pre-World War II china pieces are rare and highly sought after. Prices likewise reflect that rarity and some pieces sell for nearly $1,000.