Collecting vintage postcards is a fun hobby for anyone who loves art, history, paper, ephemera and/or has the time and money to invest in a relatively inexpensive hobby. One way to start is to pick a theme or type of postcard you would like to collect. Vintage holiday postcards are colorful cards that were usually designed in sets or by popular illustrators of the day. Vintage postcards can be embossed, glittered, or be novelty cards such as the popular Victorian "squeaker cards." Some cards were made of fabric, linen or balsa wood.
Collecting holiday vintage postcards is a good way to start. While Halloween vintage postcards in good condition are rare and therefore demand a high price, other holidays like Valentine's Day, Christmas, New Year's Day and Thanksgiving seem to be plentiful on the vintage postcard market.
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
Love of vintage postcards
Vintage postcard resource book
Time
Money
Acid-free postcard sleeves
Postcard storage
1Welcome Spring vintage postcard
Because there are so many varieties of vintage postcards, most collectors choose a theme such as holiday vintage postcards to begin a collection. While Halloween postcards are the top collected vintage postcard they are also the most expensive, so to start a holiday collection you may want to start on the low end with a less popular collectible such as New Year's Day, Easter or Thanksgiving. Some collectors collect illustrators, themes, or series.
2Vintage Easter postcard
Because vintage penny postcards were so plentiful and popular there are a lot of vintage postcards in the collectible market. But for the same reason, many of the cards are not in very good condition. When choosing cards look for clean cards that have no creases, stains, or damages. Postcard collectors use a grading system for collectible vintage postcards.
3Mother's Day postcard
Look for cards at flea markets, garage sales, antique malls, and on online auction sites. If you're serious about collecting it's a good idea to buy a reference and a price guide. Postcard prices can be as low as .05 and as high as hundreds of dollars for rare or highly desirable cards. Buying postcards in bulk or in auction lots is the best way to get a collection started. You can then trade or sell the cards that don't fit into your collection.
4The most popular postcard is a vintage Halloween postcard
Store vintage postcards in acid-free postcard sleeves.
