What is Deltiology?

Affordable.  Compact.  Plentiful.  Beautiful.  Artwork.  Historical pieces.  Souvenirs.  So many words can describe a postcard.  They are one of the most collected items in the world.  In fact, they are third only to coins and postage stamps. 

Today I learned the accurate word for postcard collecting: deltiology.  I wouldn't consider myself to be a hard-core collector.  In fact, I'm rather picky.  I'm not out to gather as many as possible.  I'm not trying to get one from every state or every National Park.  As most people who collect things knows, it's not the quantity of items you possess in your collection, but the significance of why they were collected, how they relate to eachother, and the greater number of items within a category that you own.  Personally, I just buy and/or keep the ones that strike my fancy.  It may have been a place I've lived.  Maybe it's a place from which my ancestors came.  Or perhaps it's just a beautiful picture on the face of the card. 

There is one thing that you will notice about every single postcard I own: they are older "view" cards, as they are known, since they are snapshots in time.  They oftentimes show buildings, streets, and towns which no longer exist or have changed significantly over time.  They offer historical reference and show us how things used to be in a given place or time.  I prefer them from the early to mid-1900's, a period which happens to include cards from the Undivided Back Era (1901 - 1907), the Divided Back Era (1907 - 1915), the Early Modern Era (1916 - 1930), and the Linen Card Era (1930 - 1945).  Of course, there's also the Photochrome Era that represents the period from 1939 to the present (most postcards are now photographs printed in color on the face of the card).

    There is also another component that I look forward to whenever
    I am considering the purchase of a card (consignment shops, flea
    markets, and antique stores are good sources): the card's story. 
    Most postcards for sale have been used.  Most of them have a few
    lines inscribed upon their reverse side.  Many of them contain a
    fragment of a story of which we know nothing more.  Yet, you can
    undoubtedly get a feeling from the messages scrolled across the
    card, regardless of its age or the identity of the people between 
    whom the words travelled.  Maybe I'm just real nosy, but I love
    to read the messages and learn about the strangers into
    whose world I am allowed to peek, if only for a brief moment.

In spite of the fact that I own less than 30 postcards, I still consider myself a collector.  After all, it's been said that if you own more than 3 of something, then you're a collector!  I have greatly enjoyed the little time I have gotten to look over cards for sale, knowing I can't possibly bring them all home.  I have concentrated on our immediate area more so than my original home in San Diego since I've done so much of my husband's genealogy here on the East Coast.  When I started little did I know that postcards from small states, like Delaware, seem to be worth more than most since there are so few of them in existence.  Now I'm definitely proud to have adopted a few of them for my collection!  More, importantly, I look forward to sharing some of them with you.  We can more fully appreciate our future when we learn of our past.

To learn more about the history of postcards, please CLICK HERE

To learn more about grading postcards, postcard preservation, & terminology CLICK HERE

There's also a great article available through About.com CLICK HERE

AND there's a great group here on Gather just to share your postcard adventures.
It's called Postcards from the Past and we'd love to have you share your cards with us.

PS - It's a great, inexpensive hobby to start as a family or with children as they can get postcards just about anywhere they travel AND postcards are probably the most inexpensive souvenir you're going to find available in tourist locations!