Every collector inevitably confronts the question of what not to keep. Previously, I have discussed all the reasons to keep something. That’s not the point. Ask anyone around you (or just yourself). Something you own isn’t all that valuable and it can go to the heap. Brutal, I know.
So it is with postcards, especially the ones Dad collected later in life. As a lawyer, I imagine he argued each case back and forth. Rare cards, of course. Famous people and places, yes. Every exact example of the weekly HVAC circular that came in the mail for two decades? I don’t know, Dad.
Instead of seriously sorting, I think he settled on a simple logic that made the days more joyful. Every card could be valuable to someone eventually. Enough said. If it came in the mail, it went in a plastic sleeve.
I was pretty sure the albums I pulled out today were going right in the bin, but I sat down to sort through them all the same. The postcards are still paper and can be recycled, if fated so. The plastic sleeves are very helpful and get reused if not damaged. The dusty, cracked three-ring folders will go out to the curb today. Unless you want them?
First I sorted all national advertising into a pile. No local address, no interest. But that rule flexes around brand names like Disney, or national movie promotions. If it’s lush looking tourism, I kept that as well.
Then local commercial cards get split into categories. By far, it was the dentist who was best at staying touch. They remember birthdays, send cartoons, and never forget the holiday wishes with happy teeth in festive outfits.
Some realtors are marketing geniuses, like printing the entire sports season with checkboxes for wins and losses. There seemed to be two star homesellers in this batch of postcards. The other one kept the whole neighborhood apprised of every sale, complete with address and multiple photos. I won’t post them here but I am tempted to drop them back on the same doorsteps two decades later.
The full deck is perhaps the easiest group of cards to pick out of the pile. An exact matching set, sometimes in changing colors, over a time range. No one is complaining, but the 2-for-1 massage deal has been back for a few years now.
Charity requests for clothes and furniture are also regular. Each quarter, a brightly colored card reprints the routine. Label boxes and put them curbside. We’ll leave a receipt. Call with questions. Big thanks from Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Nice to be reminded that good works never cease.
Food on postcards, especially recipes, is an entire collectible category. So, these relics stay for reasons that have nothing to do with their provenance. Except, who remembers Pampered Chef parties?
I tossed all the glossy cards that arrive as advertising inserts in everyone’s mailbox. Many are local businesses, but even I have a limit. This frog is too cute, though.
Occasionally a not-so-old card still stands out as weirdly prescient. Here’s how the Boeing Company was selling the aerospace field and the future of flight.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t pass on a message from the dentist.
