Postcard collecting is a well established hobby and has many different avenues that can be explored. Postcards began to be published well over a hundred years ago.  The Golden Age for postcards in Great Britain and probably many other countries was during the Edwardian age from about 1902 -1910 and almost every type of topic can be found on them.

The postcards I list on my site against part exchanges, etc, are mainly postally used vintage or old postcards. Numerous boxes of old postcards can be browsed through at Postcard Fairs and  Collectors Fairs etc.

If you are a newcomer to Postcard Collecting there are many ways they can be collected. We will start from the current times, and we have the modern  size postcards of the types that are sent of holiday scenes, but they also include a wide range of various topics such as animals, pop stars, film stars, ships, aircraft and possibly most other topics. The size of these is mainly 6 x 4 inches, but there are some larger sizes.

Working backwards in time we have the standard size. These are a bit smaller than moderns 5.5 x 3.5 inches approx. and this is the size for vintage and old postcards up to about 1970 but I think some of this size are still available as modern cards.

The three main categories for postcards are Topographical and views, Social History, Subjects and Topicals. Some categories have become very expensive and other can be very common.

The reverse messages on the backs of vintage postcards can be quite interesting as a point in time is fixed on  postally used postcards, and glimpses of the events of that day and "atmosphere" of the times can sometimes be seen. Another interesting feature is that we can see what things looked like,  such as the buildings, houses, horse drawn transport, and the docks and ports and the types of ships berthed in them. Many of the old cinemas, theatres, and even churches have long since been demolished. Even some of the Lighthouses and Windmills have been turned into houses I think.  Many of the upper docks  in Liverpool and probably other ports and docks have been filled in and developed and built over. Topographical postcards show us what existed in those times and sets the scene of the era, and the lives of the people in a past, that is really only "yesterday".

From the postcards there are scenes of sailing ships which  can still be seen in the ports and harbours,  horse drawn barges which were is use I think up to about the 1940s and same applies to all the horse drawn wagons and horse drawn buses, later to be replaced by the (bone shakers) trams, and then the car and buses.  

Just a little introduction of a glimpse of bygone times through vintage postcards.

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