Today the collecting of postcards rivals
that of stamps, with
every weekend seeing a dozen or more fairs attended by enthusiasts. Dealers’ tables
are crammed with cards arranged topographically (by country or, in the case of Britain, by
county) and covering a very wide range of subjects.
Old cards of holiday resorts and large
cities are plentiful
and many cost only a couple of pounds each. Those
showing a royal visit, flood or a tram crash, sell for much more. Few newspapers and
magazines printed photographs a century ago, so this “newsy” type of card is
much sought after by local historians. Good photographs of old local shops are also
pricey. A real treasure for collectors is to
find a supply of cards by an “official” photographer - often a resident of a village or local area -
who built up his archive of events and changes over the years. You can find cards showing almost any sport,
profession or animal. There are many
“glamour” and nude pictures, and if some were a bit — or even very — naughty when produced, most are
quaintly amusing by today’s standards.
There are some very expensive cards.
A good view of a railway station fetches £25 or £28, one of a traction engine or
other early motor vehicle £50. A card featuring a suffragette parade in Lancashire went
for £232 in a recent auction, cards of League football clubs of the early twentieth
century range in price from £40 to more than £100 in the case of Manchester
United.
Values of photographic postcards
are seldom influenced by whether or not they have been postally used, though some people
buy for the sake of postrnarks rather than illustrations. And dealers do not usually
consider the messages written on cards when pricing. Sometimes, however, messages provide
useful snippets of information on contemporary events and social customs. My own interest
is army activities in Wiltshire, and an early find was a cheap, nondescript card with a
message written from a remote farm in the middle of an army training area. Another card from a homesick soldier had the
message written in an archaic form of Welsh. It
took me a while to find someone who still understood it.
If you have expert knowledge and are a serious collector,
you may pick up an ordinary-looking card with some special feature unappreciated by the
dealer. One showing military training may
sell for £6 or £8, irrespective of whether thousands
were produced by W H Smith or just a couple of a dozen by a village photographer. Views of
churches are nearly always cheap, but a picture of a remote one, seldom visited by
photographers, would be a good find to add to a collection. Cards of Stonehenge are boring
in their numbers, but an expert could still take delight in finding one that showed the policeman who
once guarded the monument or another that depicted it at some stage in a partial
restoration.
Many of the cards published later than
the l920s, especially
those showing British localities, are not popular with collectors, though this must change
with time. If you start buying cheaply
now you will be ahead of the game. Film stars
and sporting personalities are the exception. Modern cards showing the Royal Family and of
the “wish-you-were-here” type attract very little interest.
The Postcard Traders Association’s
website, www.postcard.co.uk
gives details of some postcard fairs, though curiously this omits some of the bigger
events and includes some small stamp fairs where just one postcard dealer may attend. Many
antique and collectors’ fairs have postcard stands. Dealers are increasingly setting
up their own websites, though only a few carry details of individual cards for sale.
Auctions can be an economical way of purchasing, with most lots comprising a number of
cards of one locality or subject.
