National Postcard Week: May 1-7, 2009

Every year the first full week in May is designated National Postcard Week (NPCW). Many postcard collectors design and publish their own postcards to commemorate this week, and, they trade with other collectors who make NPCW postcards.

National Postcard Week began in 1984 with the idea that different clubs would make a postcard to celebrate postcards.

To celebrate the week, postcard collectors, also called Deltiologists, either make their own postcards or purchase them to mail to friends and family. Always being sure the words National Postcard Week and the date are on the postcard.

National Postcard Week began as a way for sellers and collectors to promote the hobby of postcard collecting. Some of those Pioneers were DeeDee Parker, John McClintock and Richard Novick..

If you need more specific directions, please check out NPCW.multiply.com There is some history, guidelines and hundreds of examples.

A Guide to Postcard Faults

Corner/Edge Wear: This postcard has softened edges and rounded corners. This comes from a card being unprotected by a postcard sleeve. Not as severe as a corner crease but may lower a postcard's value.





Corner Crease: This corner has been bent and then straightened leaving a fold in the card. Be very careful with your postcards because severe creases may significantly lower their value.





Missing Corner: It looks as if a rat has gotten a hold of this one. This is a rather extreme example of a missing corner. The entire corner of the postcard is completely gone.

A missing corner can be repaired with archival tape (provided you have the missing piece). Using any other type of tape only makes things worse as acids from regular tape will damage the postcard further.


Writing on the Face: Someone has written a message on the face side of the card. There can also be "proper writing on the face". This term is used for cards where the message was only allowed on the face side of the card before the divided back was used.

Anything on the face of a card that takes away from the image may lower a postcard's value.

Stamp/Cancel on the Face: A stamp was placed on the face side of the card and then canceled. Anything on the face of a card that takes away from the image may lower a postcard's value.

However, I was recently told that this stamp on the face signified a different postage rate in Europe and meant that the writer could include a message on the back next to the address.

Pinhole: Some naughty person stuck this card to the wall with a pin at some point. While I'm sure they got lots of enjoyment from seeing it hanging there every day, they didn't help it's value at all. They are usually found near the edges of the card.

This is different from a registration hole. In rare cases postcards were punched and used for registration in the process of printing the post cards.

Others:

Face/Back Thin: A piece of this card has been pulled off leaving a "thin" on its surface. These lower the value more when on the face side of a card.

Corner Album Marks: After being kept in an album for years this card has become discolored because of acids in the album's paper. These old fashioned albums are not safe for postcards and can eventually ruin them. These lower the value more when on the face side of a card.

How can I date my American postcards?

The identification of a postcard's time of production can be a difficult task, due to the fact that postcards, unlike stamps, were produced in a decentralized, unregulated manner. That being said, there are some general rules to dating when a postcard was printed.

Postcards are generally sent within a few years of their printing so the postmark helps date a postcard. If the card is original and not a reprint, a postcard's original printing date can be deduced from such things as the fashions worn by people in the card, the era in which the cars on the street were made, and other time sensitive clues.

Another way to get a rough estimate of the year a postcard was printed is to determine the postcard era in which it was printed. The following list should help you get started dating your postcards.

1893-1898 Pioneer (P)
During this time only the government was allowed to use the word "Postcard" on the back of the postcard. Privately published postcards in this era will have the titles "Souvenir Card", "Correspondence Card", or "Mail Card" on the back.


1898-1901 Private Mailing Card (PMC)
In 1898, by an act of Congress, private printers were granted permission to print and sell cards that bore the inscription "Private Mailing Card". Postcards of this era have undivided backs. During this period around 1900, Real Photo postcards (postcards on film stock) began to filter into use.

1901-1907 The Undivided Back (UB)
Cards from this era have the word "Post Card" printed on the reverse. Written messages were still restricted to the front side, with the entire back dedicated to the address. This "undivided back" is what gives this postcard era its name.

"At the end of this period in time, the picture postcard hobby became the greatest collectible hobby that the World has ever known. The official figures from the U.S. Post Office for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1908, cite 677,777,798 postcard mailed. That was at a time when the total population of the U.S. was 88,700,000."

1907-1915 The Divided Back (DB)
The divided back card, with space for a message on the address side, began the Golden Age of American postcards, which lasted until about 1915, when World War I blocked the import of the fine German-printed cards.





1915-1930 The White Border (WB)
After WWI, the German publishing industry was never rebuilt. Most locally available postcards were printed by U.S. publishers during this period. On view postcards, to save ink, a white border was left around the view, thus we call them "White Border" postcards.





1930-1945 The Linen (L)
New American printing processes allowed printing on postcards with a high rag content. The rag content gave these postcards a textured feel. They were also cheaper to produce and allowed the use of bright dyes for image coloring. They proved to be extremely popular with roadside establishments seeking cheap advertising.




1945-1970 The Chrome
A new type of postcard, the color Photochrome (called Chrome) appeared around 1939. These "Chrome" postcards started to dominate the scene soon after they were launched by the Union Oil Company in their western service stations in 1939. They were easily produced, of high photo quality and most importantly, they were in color.


Image Source

How can I Start Building my Postcard Collection?

A quick question from Scott: "I am a new postcard collector. Can you give me any advice on how to start building my collection?"

1. Buy Bulk Lots - Some postcard dealers offer lots of 50 or so cards in a certain category like holidays, or animals. This is a great place to get started if want to collect broad categories. Cards are usually sold cheap and it will give you a general feeling for each category.
   
2. Buy at Postcard Shows - Postcard shows are a great place to learn and pick up cards because there are thousands of postcards for you to look at and many of professional dealers to question.
   
3. Buy at Auction - Auctions, like Cherryland Auctions, are a great place to get better quality cards at reasonable prices. This is where you will find many of the best cards.
   
4. Buy on Approval - Some postcard dealers offer their stock to customers on an approval system. You can pick a topic and receive a group of cards in the mail. You can pick and pay for the ones you want to keep and send back the rest.
   

How Can I Recognize Real B&W Photo Postcards?

People often ask how to recognize Real B&W Photo postcards. The easiest way is to look at the card under slight magnification. Actual photographs don't have the dot pattern seen on modern cards under a magnifying glass.

Most printed cards will have this dot pattern, much like a photograph printed in a magazine. Additionally, Real Photos can be identified by the photographic paper used. This is often indicated on the back. Also, the captions were often "scratched" or marked on the negative in some other way that leaves the text white in color.

http://www.cycleback.com/photoguide/postcard.html
http://www.madinpursuit.com/Tutorials/Postcards/PostcardRef2.htm

How can I care for my postcards?

There are some definite things to avoid:

1. Don't store postcards in plastic containers for long periods of time.
2. Never keep them in the film & sticky back kind of photo album!
3. Keep them away from old craft/pulp paper style albums. These inexpensive papers contain high amounts of acid.
   

"Postcards should be kept in acid-free, archival quality storage materials, away from light. Many serious collectors keep at least their best cards in Mylar (a polyester film) or polyethylene sleeves or in special archival storage boxes or pages."

"In general, most archivists consider polyethylene, polypropylene, and Mylar stable storage media. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a cheaper plastic, but contains plasticizers that can migrate, leaving an oily residue on your postcards over time. One can recognize PVC by its distinct "plastic" smell. Archival quality materials generally have very little (if any) odor."

http://www.overanalysis.org/postcards/faqsec1.htm