Postcard Collection

Somehow I became a repository for postcards. I imagine that I have nearly one thousand, more or less. The first cards came into my possession because I’m frugal, even though my kids call me cheap. It was less expensive to buy postcards while my wife Cindy and my family went on vacations to buy cards than to take photographs and have them developed. The angles and lighting was nearly perfect, probably much better than me taking the pictures. They were a less expensive to gather souvenirs and memories of places that we visited. Many cards were collected on the tenting trip out west. It was a whirlwind tour with little time to take photos, but most places had a shop that sold cards.

When my mother-in-law Retha Morrison traveled, she would send cards to Cindy or to our kids. We have quite an assortment of cards from the many places that she visited. We also have postcards that were sent to her. Many of them were when she was a Miss Retha Johnson and there are some that she sent to her parents.

I have a smattering of postcards that came from friends and workmates who knew that I had a growing collection of cards. Some are from foreign and exotic places. My collection grew with the help of friends. I gathered a few when cards were sent to nursing units. I would ask if no one wanted them, not to toss them out, but save them for me.

Missionaries have sent postcards to our church and I collected them too. A majority of the cards, especially the vintage and antique cards were given to me when my parents died. My grandmother Rebecca Rugg Miner had quite a few sent to her. Some passed down from my grandparents Miner. Many were from relatives who wrote to them and were tucked away and saved. Other cards were from my grandparents Beck. The older cards were sent to my grandfather Edson Thomas Beck or my grandmother, Miss Anna Nichols Kalp.

I’ve bought a few at antique shops, thrift shops, or yard sales, but not many. The last additions to my collection were given to me by a friend. She decided to clear out things after her husband died. She didn’t want them any longer and decided to entrust them to my care. My thanks to all of my friends and family who have given me such a collection. I try to share a different one on Facebook rather than to let the silverfish destroy them.