To Vintage or Not to Vintage?

I will be the first to admit that I’m pretty selfish. Sometimes I stumble across a postcard that I myself don’t want to part with. About a year ago, I got this gorgeous, genuinely vintage postcard from artlover.

It got me thinking about how someone could willing send a gorgeous, rare card like this one to a complete stranger halfway around the world, let alone allow it to be tainted with stamps, writing, and postmarks! Granted, I’m very glad artlover did just for me, because this is one of my top 5 favorite cards I’ve ever received. But it puts into perspective what to do if you find or buy a postcard for your ‘To Send’ pile, but find yourself loving it so much you just can’t bear to send it off.

The obvious answer would be to keep it for yourself. After all, your collection doesn’t just have to be of cards sent to you, right? But I also have the dilemma where I WANT someone else to get this card and call it their favorite. I want the enthusiastic reply I get when someone sends a ‘thank you.’ For someone who invests way too much time emotionally into this hobby, it’s truly a conundrum.

Last year in Seattle, I visited the Asian history museum, and picked up a bunch of cool cards with ancient art on them….I bought ten and I still have seven because I just HAD to keep so many of them! I figured that I don’t know if I’ll ever make it back to the Asian History Museum ever again, so why not keep my own souvenirs of the lovely time I had there? I suppose the same goes for vintage cards too….vintage postcards are so rare as it is! Why send them away?

I do find a few very lovely vintage cards in second hand bookstores that I can pick up for a quarter a piece. Some are even fascinating because they’re either local vintage, or used cards with someone else’s writing and dates on it. How cool is that? Holding a piece of genuine dated history in your hand. For a geek like me, it’s pretty damn awesome, I have to say.

So, if you want my advice, keep your favorites for yourself and be selfish! After all, what are the odds that you will stumble on the same card twice?