Collecting Vintage Cards

Does anyone else collect older Lighthouse postcards? One of my favorite things to do with vintage postcards, is to frame them next to a recent photo of the same lighthouse. I have a postcard from 1908 of Scituate, Mass. It is pretty much abandoned with no lantern room, looking rather shabby. I framed it next to a picture I took of it, looking beautiful. It's a nice reminder about how fragile, and nearly lost some lighthouses tend to get , and it just takes a little preservation. I collect mostly New England postcards.

Roxie, I think there are a few of us in here that also collect the older cards! I agree with you, it's really cool to compare the old cards with an up-to-date picture. In many cases, the light and the surrounding area is completely different! I have many cards from the early 1900's, but they are getting harder and harder to come by as time goes on. I have a few postcards where the lighthouse no longer exists. I have a Scituate like yours where the lighthouse is almost gone. It's great to see they were able to save it! Happy hunting!

I also collect old postcards. I got into it when I decided to make a scrapbook of my lighthouse adventures. I don't have great handwriting so I hit on the idea of using new postcards with the name of the lighthouse printed on them. I had several that I couldn't find so I found the old ones on Ebay and I've been hooked for several years now. I have been to a few postcard shows and can usually find some good ones for a reasonable price. The best that I have been to is in Portland four times per year. They have one coming up April 6th. It is sponsered by Brewster Harding Mgt and their phone number is (207) 828-8065. Happy card hunting! Terry

Aha, so here are some of the guys bidding me up on ebay! lol
I collect local lh cards and lights I've been to.
My latest quest is old Hawaii Lighthouses.
It's fun to see what some people say in the messages about what there doing a hundred years ago.
Bob

I'm working on a rapidly growing collection of old cards myself. That is when Bob doesn't bid on the cards I want!

I keep mine organized in binders by state then region (ex. Hudson River, Long Island... for NY lights) and then each specific light gets it's own section (ex. Tarrytown, Stony Point...). I do keep both old and new cards together to see how things have changed over time. I try to focus on the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast but every now and then a card for a light I've visited outside that region strikes my fancy so I go for it.

shirin

I never thought about collecting cards, but after reading this forum, it seems like an interesting idea. Any advice on how/where to get started?

I have many extras of my older cards. I have been to many postcard shows in the past, and for some reason, got extra cards of a few lights! Maybe if or when we have another reunion, we could do a swap?

Peter,

My best resource for starting my collection has been Ebay. I've found a few decent cards in antique shops but I would only suggest that route if you are willing to sort though boxes of cards from all sorts of different subjects. And then there are the trade shows. I've not been to one as of yet but am trying to get to that later this year. Also, you will find many website of indivual collectors/sellers selling their cards without the ordeal of going through an auction. Make sure you see scans of the items you are looking to purchase first.

Good luck with starting your collection.

shirin

thanks for the help

And it's addictive and could get expensive. Look at completed auctions before jumping in with both feet. Lots of dealers have lotsacards of the same one which they throw out weekly or bi-weekly.

I also peruse eBay. I have found them at Flea Makets, too. There's one near me, that has older postcards for 50 cents each. It takes some time to shuffle through them, but it's kind of like a treasure hunt! Then sometimes when I buy more then a few, he sells them to me for 25 cents. Not a big investment. They look great matted and framed. I also have some first day issue Stamp covers with lighthouses, those can be gotten inexpensively as well. I especially like postcards where the lighthouse has had a dramatic change. I have 2 of Gay Head, MA where the house is standing along with an observation tower. All that is left now is the light tower, both of the other structures are gone. HAVE FUN!

I know there are others on these Forums who are (or were) BIG TIME card collectors (one has 20,000+)

I have about a dozen older post cards of Fort Gratiot lighthouse in Port Huron MI. All obtained from ebay.

ebay makes the hunt too easy. I like to go to antique malls and shows and browse the hundreds of old cards that are always somewhere to be found. In addition to the prized old lighthouse card, I am always amazed at the vast variety of subject matter. Along with lighthouses, I collect the old nostalgic restaurants in the many "Odd" styles and themes you used to see along the highway. Also the old military cards are especially interesting.

I've had the opportunity to check out e-bay for collecting cards. I think it's a case of buyer beware on some of the offers. I also see that many cards go for around 50 cents each, that descriptions may be misleading especially when there are no pictures. My question is, for those who have had more experience than I, are the scanned images that are posted with the descriptions usually pretty accurate?

I've personally had good luck with ebay auctions. Usually the scans of the cards I've won are representative of the card itself or in some cases, the scans were not as good as the card. However, I am sure it could go the other way around. And in some cases where a scan was not posted, I emailed the seller and they sent me a scan of the card. It never hurts to ask.
shirin

I've been collecting old lighthouse postcards for about 15 years now. It is a great hobby. There is a lot of history in some of these older cards. I have somewhere around 2000 in my collection. The best place to buy them is at a postcard show. The prices there are better then Ebay. Ebay can get rather expensive for some cards.

Here is a list of upcoming show dates. Oops, missed the one in Tarrytown. Guess I should have looked at this list sooner!
Show Dates

shirin

I have a few guidelines I follow with eBay. I do not bid on anything I can't see. I have found that most sellers are pretty accurate with their description. I also find that sellers who are in the business (I check their past sales) of selling postcards are usually good. I don't usually bid high, because I have seen sometimes more than 4 or 5 of the same postcard, often with different prices. I don't trust a lot of the "vintage" photograph sales, I have come to find that many of them are scanned copies, and printed out on a home printer. I am not saying everyone, because I have sold some genuine photos I have taken on there. But read the fine print. And when in doubt, it may be okay to wait, it could show up again at a later date! Best of Luck!

Shirin,
Thanks for the listing. I see one is in CT and few are in MA so I should have an opportunity to get to one.

I'm going to try to make it to the one in Greenwich since it is so close to me here in Norwalk. We'll see though. My calendar is filling up quick with lighthouse trips!

shirin

from reading this thread, I've learned that it is important to know for sure what one is buying. As a result, I saw something listed on e-bay, but the description didn't match the pictures. The description was referring to cards of the 70's or earlier, but the pictures looked like digital camera work. I e-mailed the seller and received the reply that the cards were based on pictures of the 70's but were a recent print. So I agree that for the novice, it is important to begin less expensive until one gets the feel for the hobby and what is out there. I'm beginning to think that novices should also attend card shows because they get to see and touch. This builds a sense of what really is available.

I was looking for some information using Google and came upon a page that tells how to identify and date older post cards. This page seems to be potentially very helpful to those who collect older cards. I know that somewhere along the line someone posted some information about how to tell the era a card came from. Looking for it, I came across this thread and the following threads dealing with older post cards.

Lots of interesting reading and pictures in these.

Old Lighthouse Postcard thread

Continuation of Old Card thread

Chrome cards

An early discussion about antique post cards

I've been collecting old/vintage cards, some on Ebay, when the price doesn't go sky high, and at antique shows or antique shops. But, as everyone says, you have to have or want to take the time to sort through a lot of boxes. But, sometimes that really pays off when you find a beauty for a cheap price. At the shows, most postcards dealers will have them sorted by lighthouse, then state. It's really fun to find the real old ones with lights as they were many, many years ago.
I keep mine in a binder with the new ones so you can compare the changes.

Joyce

Thanks Dave, for the informative article on dating postcards! I printed it out for my future reference. I also enjoyed re-reading the previous postcard threads.

I also collect old postcards, but mine include some lighthouses and only places we have visited or where we live now or where we grew up.

I found it fun to find the vintage linen cards depicting the parks, seashore and just plain local landmarks. I've only purchased them at flea markets. Don't frequent antique shops, although I might try if the opportunity presents itself and the shop has postcards. Never really looked on E-bay although I sell there every week. I think the E-bay route could be addicting. :rolleyes:

I never really knew how to date the cards if they were not postmarked, now I do.

Of course my buying only what I had visited is how I started with HLs and we all know how that goes!

Donna