POSTCARDS OPEN A WINDOW ON THE PAST The owner of Postcards and More discovered the value of postcards in historical research. You can discover it, too! See the hundreds of postcards available at Postcards and More.
News-Antique.com - Nov 30,-0001 - A shoebox of old postcards opened a window on the past and changed my life. The postcards were pre-1920 and revealed part of the history of the Walter family, the former owners of my house. If you are doing historical or genealogical research, you may find some of the answers in vintage postcards. My own obsession with postcards has led me to hundreds of postcards, many of which are offered at Postcards and More, the online store at www.peacocksgalore.com.
Postcards appeared on the scene in the late 1800’s and became a fad in the first 20 years of the 20th century. Anyone could have a postcard made from a photo at the nearest corner drug store. That explains why there are so many real photo postcards of unidentified people and houses in my collection.
Everyone sent postcards for holidays and special occasions or for no occasion at all. And fortunately for the historian, many people saved the postcards they received. In my collection there were several greeting cards sent from the Rockwood post office to the residents of my house -- a mere three miles away. The messages varied. A little girl scrawled a hello to the young boy of the house. One wonders if she were a bit sweet on him. Another card, sent in the morning, informed the Walters that she would be arriving for dinner at 4:00 that afternoon. Apparently the mail service was more reliable in those days.
The postcards that intrigued me the most and have become a part of my life are the historical cards. The oldest Walter boy died in France during World War 1, but try as I might, I could find very little information about him. I turned to postcards to gain an understanding of army life during World War 1. Hundreds of postcards were printed depicting military training at army camps in the United States, and the Chicago Daily News Postals provide intimate glimpses into life in the trenches -- English tanks fight alongside American troops, soldiers don gas masks during a gas attack, and soldiers from both sides lie dead in the Belleau Woods.
Postcards also preserve the history of American life. My little community was home to the Markleton Sanitarium for the first few decades of the 20th century. It’s hard to believe this rural area could host a popular spa (and later army hospital). All remnants of the building have been gone for more than 70 years, but the Markleton Sanitarium still lives in the form of postcards in my collection.
Fill in those gaps in your family and community history with vintage postcards. Real photos of people and places, early white border postcards, lovely full color linen postcards with scenic and town views, and more recent chrome postcards provide a glimpse into the past. You’ll find more than 200 of these postcards at my ebay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Joys-Flea-Shop.
