I have become the friend of a new Gather member, Honore Montgolfier, who enjoys postcard stories.
Unfortunately, my warm, friendly regard is challenged by my feelings of covetousness related to a wonderful postcard in the possession of Madame Montgolfier.
Honore started a new group, Postcards, and selected a lovely, luminescent postcard as the icon.
Postcards
http://postcardhistory.gather.com/
I loved this postcard so much, I asked her to send a scan to me.
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Since I began collecting postcards in earnest, about 18 months ago, I have acquired almost a thousand cards. Nevertheless, I do not have any scenes that resemble this beautifully-colored postcard that Honore posted.
Some postcard collectors specialize in images of great ships, and postcards portraying an identified ship are usually sold individually, and they can fetch a premium price.
Honore's postcard, an identified German liner embarking from New York harbor, could easily command a price of ten dollars or more.
I don't really need to "own" this card in order to enjoy it. The desire to possess what belongs to others is the sin of covetousness.
Should I spend ten bucks in order to indulge my desire to have what Honore has?
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Comments: 24
Duh!
I am soliciting opinions, Stephanie, but I am going to start looking for "Ocean Liner" postcards.
I have not found any, because some collectors are fanatical about postcards with ships.
Well, you've posted great postcards, Peter, and you have been doing so for a long time, so you have nothing to fear from a little competition...
That said, I must add this one really looks good. (Of course, I've always been a sucker for "nautical nonsense"--to quote a source as illustrious as SpongeBob SquarePants.)
There is nothing wrong with your squishy sources, Aniko.
I think the postcard is very beautiful.
It's a beautiful card Peter, the background is positively luminous. If it's worth the cost to you then why not own it?
My moral deliberation is a bit over-drawn, but I really do not need to acquire every thing that I find attractive.
The card is no less lovely when I admire Honore's than when I admire my own.
I'd go as high as eleven.
I should have begun by asking the gods.
I don't know what the others would say but I'm sticking by mine. Maybe you should ask a bunch and average it out. Or maybe you should just spend the eleven bucks.
if you feel the need to possess it then sure - if the scan is good enough for you to enjoy then no :)
Precisely, Denise.
But I think that there is an excessive need to acquire that I am trying not to indulge.
I have around 3000 books in this house, so I'm probably not a good person to advise on covetousness.
But yes, I'd spend $10.
Books and prints were, until the last two years, my weakness.
My walls are covered with framed engravings, and all the bookcases are double-shelved with books.
"Should I spend ten bucks in order to indulge my desire to have what Honore has?"
Only if it doesn't have the corner damage that Honore's has.
Only if it doesn't have the corner damage that Honore's has.
That is a very relevant point, Janna.
I have become accustomed to picking up cards for the messages and the unusual names, that I did not even consider the condition of the card.
This card could be obtained for five dollars.
Peter: If you were to purchase the card, what would you do with it? There are things I wish to own because of their beauty, but I have no use for beyond that. (That is not to say they we should deprive ourselves of possesing beautiful things.) Would this enhance your collection? Do you only want it because it belongs to another?
If I were to want this type of card then I would likely purchase it in the best condition possible to enhance a collection. I might frame it to hang on my wall if I were given to such things.
(I wonder how I came to speak so formally for a gremlin?)
"There are things I wish to own because of their beauty, but I have no use for beyond that."
That is the crux of my moral question, Grems.
Why should I buy a lovely thing in order to wrap it in a protective sleeve and place it where it will never be exposed to light?
Hey, it's just one postcard. It's not like your hooked or anything. Go ahead, get it.
Of course I'm not hooked, going to the antique fair every week-end, plotting business travel to pass antique malls, cramming my once-lovely office full of shoe boxes filled with cards.
Shoe boxes of cards are cool. Besides, you can quit anytime you want.
"Besides, you can quit anytime you want."
That's very true, Ron.
Just last year, I quit four times.
That simply proves my point Peter and you have experience.
I did not know that your regard for the postcard was so grave, Peter.
It would be a pleasure for me to present it to you.
I thank you for your kind offer, Honore, but I must decline.
Your generosity underlines what I was debating in the article -the unseemliness of needing to posess things.
I enjoy the scanned image very much.