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?

Storing and Organizing Postcards: A Tip Sheet!

So, you’re building up your postcard collection, eh? How many do you have? 50? 100? 1,000?

I’ve experimented with several different ways to store and display my ever-growing stash of awesome postcards. Each way has its’ advantages and disadvantages.

Method One: A ‘Treasure” Box
Advantages: Portable and Accessible. Cost-efficient.
Disadvantages: As your postcard collection grows, you’ll run out of room! Also, not much room for creativity.

I quickly outgrew using my fairy box for storing cards I received. For a 10-dollar box, it was only able to hold about 50-75 average-sized postcards. Now I put it to better use storing my stamps, stickers, and to-send cards. For beginner collectors, this is a nice method though, because investing in a scrapbook that might involve long-term upkeep is committing to something you might not necessarily get in to for long. But if you’re someone who does it for a child (many people I’ve sent cards to do it on behalf of their young children…how cute!), a box may just be the perfect way to go. It’s simple and easily accessible to a child. Plus, it’s ideal for show and tell!

Method Two: A Scrapbook
Advantages: You get to express your creativity. Scrapbooks usually can be adjusted to fit more pages.
Disadvantages: Can get pretty costly and time-consuming.

I tried going this route because my close friend inspired me to. She showed me her first binder full, and wow, was it gorgeous! I quickly realized, however, that I am of a much lazier sort, and I would rather pop the cards in somewhere and be done. So my first binder is all fanci-fied, and the rest are not. So much for continuity.

But if scrapbooking is your forte, you can have a LOT of fun with themed pages based on your card’s location, cut holes so the backs can be read as easily as the fronts, and create a really masterful and elegant way of showing off not one, but two of your favorite hobbies!

Method Three: Photo Albums 
Advantages: You’re able to remove postcards you want to re-read.
Disadvantages:  Photo albums that have the removable plastic covers instead of the pre-cut sections can be hard to find to accommodate oversize cards. Plus, they can get pricey depending on where you find them.

Most albums these days come in the kind that is pre-perforated to fit 5-by-7 photographs and cards. If you know anything about postcard collecting, you know this won’t do at all. I get more odd-shaped, oversize postcards than ever, and I refuse to cut them to fit a standard album. Your best bet is to go hunting for the kind of album that comes 8-1/2 x 11, and consists of thick, pre-glued pages with a plastic, peel-able cover that can be lifted and replaced over and over. These albums usually have plainer covers. While you might think you’d be better off looking for these in hobby stories near the scrapbook supplies, you’re actually wrong. It seems counter-intuitive, but I have had the best luck finding these albums in drug stores like Kinney’s or Rite Aid.

As for organizing postcard, I actually don’t. The one thing about this hobby I don’t like is arranging and re-arranging of cards by date sent/received, country, etc. If I did, I would go bonkers. But feel free to do with your collection as you will. Just remember: the point about this is relaxing and fun, not stress! If organizing isn’t your cup of tea, don’t drink it!

What to Send? What to Send?

It’s actually pretty hard choosing which postcard you want to send out. I think anyone would be surprised when I talk about how much time I take thinking about this every time I go to write a card.

I think the first thing that makes the task hard is people on Postcrossing can be so picky. Once I’m assigned an address, I can look at the receiver’s profile, and most of them list at least a few preferences of what they’d like to get in their mailbox. Most are pretty open to anything, or request something easy like ‘images from your hometown,’ or ‘I like art cards.’ It’s really when people start asking for some pretty specific cards, or set up these criteria that go above and beyond a normal suggestion (‘no multi-views!’ or ‘I like Rodin but not Degas!’).

I’m very tempted to tell these people to be grateful I bothered to spend fifteen seconds thinking of them in choosing a card I think they would appreciate, even if it doesn’t fit in with their expectations. I never do, of course, but I also don’t languish for hours on it either. I like people respecting my suggestions (I do have some of my own, after all) so I try to respect theirs. But this is only the first problem I encounter. There are also the people I am assigned that have absolutely NO preferences. I still want to send them something I think they will enjoy, but I also feel like sending them a more generic ‘Syracuse!‘ card would suffice.

I’m pretty sure this appears next to ‘generic’ in Webster’s Dictionary. 

I have to admit, the pickings around here as far as local postcards go are pretty slim. Most are multi-views, which a lot of people don’t like (I guess because it makes the images too busy to really appreciate). If it isn’t a multi-view, it’s a simple skyline (boring) or a close-up of a place on the SU Hill (frankly, who outside of the US would even care about a state school?). I want it to look like an effort was made, and I want to fairly represent my city!

Aw, come on! They didn’t even try!

Admittedly, I cheat sometimes. I travel a lot for work, and in the winter months I commonly take the train. Train stations I stop at usually have a small gift shop with some pretty cool New York City-centric cards. I’ll send some of these. Sure, it implies I’m from one of the most exciting cities on Earth instead of Mehh-It’s-Ok, NY. But these cards are much more exciting and generally better-received than the Syracuse-based ones.

I’ll even pick a few cards up on vacation elsewhere and send these. For example, last year I went to Seattle for a few days, and ended up acquiring and sending out nearly fifty cards that show off how cool Seattle is.

I mean, I don’t expect Syracuse-based cards to be Rembrandts or anything, but I do feel that twinge of jealousy when I get cards from Nowhereland, New Zealand that are cooler than the ones I send.

On the flip side of this little rant, I have to admit that this aspect of the hobby is as enjoyable in some respects as receiving the cards. If you’re genuine about the collection, you develop a sense of caring about your fellow collectors and want to try and contribute a favorite or a stand-out piece to their own stash. When I receive a card I especially adore, I will PM the sender (an option on the site) and tell them so. It’s flattering when someone does the same for you.

A quick note before I end this post: if you have questions you would like me to discuss or a related topic you wish for me to bring up, let me know! I’m open to requests for guest-posts as well! Until next time!