Suffragettes Postcard - $494

Postcard collecting - also called Deltiology - is very popular. It is easy to start, and allows you to grow a significant collection fairly quickly, simply because there are zillions of postcards out there, most of which are very affordable. One of the most attractive aspects of postcard collecting is that it allows you to collect specific themes, selecting only those cards for your collection that depict a certain subject.

Postcards have been around since 1870, when they were introduced in Hungary. In the few years thereafter, the rest of Europe followed suit, as did the United States. The details regarding the history of postcards are manifold, so for today's post let's just mention a few facts.

Old postcards with writing on the front are normal. The person writing on the front was not deliberately trying to destroy the image; the U.S, postal regulations did not allow for writing on the back of the card until 1907. The back of the card was only to be used for the recipient's address. Cards published before 1907 are now categorized as cards from the 'undivided back' era (1901-1907). The era prior to 1901 is the 'Private Mailing Card' era (1898-1901). Cards from this period are recognizable by the 'Private Mailing Card' printing on the back of the card. The card above is from the 'Divided Back' era (1907-1915). This period is also called 'the Golden Age' of postcards, since it was during this time that postcards became immensely popular and postcard collecting started growing as a hobby. The first world war ended the Golden Age, because many of the world's postcards were printed in Europe, mainly Germany.

Not all cards from the Golden Age sell for $494. In fact, very few do. So why is this card special? As we noted before, people collect in categories, and for some of those it is harder to find cards. Also, within specific categories, rarities exist. We will write more on that in later postings, but to give you an example, in Christmas card collecting, vintage cards depicting Santa Claus in clothes that are not red, are rare and sought after.

Back to our card. Reading the message on the card will clarify why this is a special card:

The Women's Suffrage Party of New York City - We pray you to remove your women constituents from the disfranchised class of paupers, lunatics, criminals and idiots...

This card is another classic example of cross-over collecting niches. Postcard collecting meets Women's rights historical documentation collecting. The history of women's rights in the United States is long and hard, and this card is from an era when the fight was at its high point; in 1910 the first large national suffrage march was held in New York, with 3000 attendees.

For a nice introduction to postcard history, as well as many samples of vintage cards, visit the Post Card and Greeting Card Museum. An extensive amount of information on the Suffrage movement can be found on Winning the Vote.

There are plenty of books on postcard collecting available online. If you're interested in books on the Suffrage movement, you can find those as well.