Research

Sizes
Continental size: 4X6 inches (15 cm X 10.5 cm) Many of the new cards you purchase today are of this size. Mostly published after the 1940's.

Regular (or Standard) size: 3 1/2 X 5 1/2 (9 cm X 14 cm) Many of the older cards are of this size.  read more »

Albumen Print - An image printed on paper using egg albumen (the white of an egg) mixed along with whey (derived from curdled milk). The albumen and whey is boiled, filtered, and then mixed with grains of iodide potassium. These prints usually show a brown, yellow, or purple tone. Almost all albumen prints are done on very thin paper and then mounted to cardboard.  read more »

Grading Postcards
When buying or selling postcards, everyone wants to know the condition of the postcard. This rating system is used for older or antique postcards.

M - Mint: A perfect card just as it comes from the printing press. No marks, bends, or creases. No writing or postmarks. A clean and fresh card. Seldom seen.  read more »

Deltiology

Deltiology, the official name for postcard collecting, is thought to be one of the three largest collectable hobbies in the world along with coin and stamp collecting.  Postcards are popular because of the wide range of subjects, with just about every subject imaginable being at some time, portrayed on a postcard.  History itself can be tracked on postcards, from historical buildings, famous people, art, holidays and more.   read more »

"MY HEART IS A CHILD". These words were taken from a poem Ellen Hattie Clapsaddle once wrote to her mother. Ellen was born January 8, 1865 in South Columbia, New York, about 200 miles from New York City. She was shy and delicate and loved to draw and illustrate.  read more »

Raphael Tuck & Sons were publishers from the mid 1800's into the early 20th Century. Raphael Tuck & Sons were proudly known to be the Publishers to Her Majesties the King and Queen, with printing houses in London, Paris and New York.  read more »

The legend of Lady Godiva tells of a woman who rode nude through the streets of Conventry, all for the sake of lower taxes. The year was 1057. Lady Godiva was the wife of Leofric, earl of Mercia, one of the three great earls of 11th century England.  read more »

1873: The first United States government postal cards are issued. There are regulations created that govern the size and postage cost for these new mailings. Only government issued post cards are allowed to be mailed; no “counterfeit” postcards can be used. One side of the card is for address and stamp; the other side is completely blank and used as a space for writing a personal message. No picture is featured on these plain cards.  read more »

The cakewalk dancers were a group of African-American slaves originating in the southern plantations of Florida about 1850. The idea came from the Seminole Indians. These dancers would walk a straight line and balance buckets of water on their heads. Over time, the dance evolved into an imitation of the mannerisms of the white, upper class ballroom figures such as dignified walking, waving canes, doffing hats, and kicking grand promenade.  read more »

Ethnic photography originally began as "objective" photography. Early photographers traveled to exotic lands, studying the people and their environments, giving the everyday person a new photographic view of worlds, previously only known through paintings. This also gave researchers a chance to perfect the negative-positive photographic process. Little more than 100,000 ethnological studies were produced in the period between 1870-1898.  read more »