Vintage postcards are one of my loves, but I don’t really collect them. I’ve inherited several albums and lots of loose cards. An old album came home with me at an estate sale 3 years ago, and I wanted to have it evaluated by someone in the know. In all this time, I haven’t decided how to approach selling it…Ebay? Etsy? Sell as is or remove the cards? Luckily, there is a postcard dealer right here in my hometown. Gary and I visited him and his fascinating shop recently.
I will be doing a post about that soon.
An Instagram postcard dealer strongly discouraged removing them. Taking them out is not a good idea as they are all glued in. To remove would likely mean destroying the cards in the process.
Every time I decide “THIS TIME I’m going to sell it,” I pore over it, and know I can’t do it. Follow along with me as I give you a little tour of these pieces of history~
Worn and frayed, the larger is at a disadvantage with no cover. It contains place postcards, greeting cards, paper dolls, and pictures cut from magazines. What’s of special note is that everything is glued into an old “Hotel Ware” catalog probably dating from 1910-1920. That in itself would be desirable if untouched. The below pictures are some of the pages in the back…
How about these fancy coffee mills?
The 140 lb “Cutlery Renovator” machine for polishing and grinding blades???
or the “Day Dough Mixer”??? Can you imagine working with such a contraption??
These are just a few of the fascinating catalog photos, but back to the postcard album.
How to determine value?
HOW TO DETERMINE VALUE OF VINTAGE POSTCARDS
- Condition is everything. Creases, corner bumps, rubs, and wear devalue cards
- Postmarks devalue cards (Personally, I love postmarks…it gives me an idea of age and I like the look).
- Cards sought after by collectors date from 1898-1940. However, the 1910 era was the heyday for vintage postcards. There were more made then, so this amount of age is not necessarily a determinant of value.
- Vintage Birthday postcards are not as sought after because there were more of these made.
- Subject matter and rarity determine value. Some people collect war cards, Christmas, Halloween, linen cards, Curt Teich postcards.
- Real Photo Postcards (RPPC) are desirable if unusual. (I recently sold 2 photo postcards. One was a photo of an amputee sitting on the ground beside a covered wagon goat cart, and the other was a photo of convicts on a railroad track.)
For more info on determining value, click here: http://antiques.lovetoknow.com/Value_of_Old_Postcards
http://www.postcardguy.com/store/WsAncillary.asp?ID=2
CONCLUSION:
I was offered $150 for both albums. I decided not to sell because I’m not ready to part with them yet! Am I crazy or not? Sometimes I think I am….
PLEASE PIN!
Florence
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What a collection of fabulousness! I love vintage postcards. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Thank you Jann! Appreciate your stopping by!
Oh, I wouldn’t have sold them for that amount of money either. You will know when the time is right to sell them. Thank you for sharing at Snickerdoodle Create, Bake, & Make.
Thanks Sharon! My pleasure to enter the Link Party!
WOW what a beautiful collection of vintage postcards! I don’t blame you for not wanting to get rid of them! It must be so much fun to go through them!
Hi Sam! Yes it is always fun to go through it! Seems like I always see something new. I never even noticed the “Hold to Light” cards.
This is so fascinating. I can imagine you would pour over these and wonder about the people who bought them and the ones who received the postcards. I would be creating such stories in my head about them all. Hang on to them.
Yes! That’s right! I do wonder about who received the cards, and who compiled the album. There must be some fascinating stories in it if we only knew.
Very interesting, as always. I loved the photo above of the “Manor House” hotel and the word Leamington, so I looked it up. It is still a hotel, and luxury spa: https://ixquick-proxy.com/do/show_picture.pl?l=english&rais=1&oiu=http%3A%2F%2Fyourlocalweb.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2F02%2F56%2Fthe-manor-house-hotel-24980.jpg&sp=1035c8edb90ab97cc417cc2fdf6e8266
Wow, really? I’ll have to go look that up too. I had no idea.
Looks exactly like the photo! I always wonder if these places want the cards, but I’m not going to ask! I wan’t to keep it myself.
Gasp! Those are wunnnderful! That first book….. Sigh. If a dealer offered you $150 you know you can get more.
I once thought I’d like to be a postcard dealer. But it’s too hard to find the desirable ones. I do still love to find nice ones though.
Yes, it is hard to find the desirable ones. I’m by no means educated on this subject, which is why I went to visit the dealer. So what he actually said was that the big one was “worthless” because it was glued in, but then he said I might get $40-50 for it. To my mind, that’s not “worthless.” So the other little album must be where the bulk of the worth is coming from. In any case, I’m not quite ready to part with them.
Florence, your collection is WONDERFUL–I would have a hard time parting with it too 😉
Thanks Cecilia!! It’s nice to know I’m not crazy after all!
Loved seeing your albums, Florence–so many pretty cards, and interesting ones, too. I’m not sure I could have passed up the $150(!)…Thanks for linking up your post with Vintage Charm 🙂
Thank you Diana! Love to be in Vintage Charm!