Picture Postcard Collecting (sometimes called deltiology) was not a pastime I considered earlier in my life. I went through phases of collecting stamps and cigarette cards as a child and teenager, but gave them up as more active pursuits took over my spare time – first at school (fives, rugby union, cricket, tennis, squash); then at university (squash, cricket, tennis); and then in Hong Kong (squash, cricket, swimming and golf).
Why collect postcards?
This Valentine souvenir postcard, which dates from about 1910, represents for me the combined pleasures of collecting postcards and their rather obvious humour.
Well-known collector and dealer (and busker) Brian Lund has described the basis for the fascination of postcard collecting very well: “(P)ostcards are history, art, culture and travel – a miniature art gallery of astonishing images …. delivered by the magic of an incredibly efficient universal postal service.”
Following our return to the UK and settling in Sutton Courtenay, Sue and I became increasingly involved with the Sutton Courtenay Local History Society – Sue as Treasurer and I as Webmaster.
Through my work as SCLHS Webmaster and particularly when assisting the Chair and Secretary of the Society with the preparation of their talk on the early history of the schools in the village, I developed an interest in early (late 19th and early 20th century) pictures of the village and its environs and village life as reflected mainly in postcards. My interest initially focussed on collecting examples of these postcards like this one.
My collection has since expanded to include topographical postcards of Abingdon and its neighbouring parishes, including Sutton Courtenay, Magdalen College and other Oxford-related cards and views of Bedford – all published from the late 19th to the mid 20th century. Further my collection has extended to include postcards showing scenes and characters from the novels of the great Charles Dickens as well as other cards, dating mostly from the early years of the 20th century, on a wide range of topics that interest me or have captured my collector’s imagination.
More recently, an increasingly significant part of my collection consists of a large number of more modern (post-WWII to present day) cards, that I find interesting and/or attractive.
Also, since our move to Audley Wycliffe Park, near Stokenchurch and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, another collecting area has opened up for me viz early topographical cards showing Stokenchurch, High Wycombe and their environs, like this one.
As a means of recording and keeping track of my postcard collection, I scan them and store the digital images in online photo albums here (and, as relevant, on the SCLHS web-site).
Anyone interested can see these albums via the following links.
Topographical postcards of places where I have lived plus cards related to my literary hero, Charles Dickens :
Any information about these images (or corrections to any captions I have added) would be welcome and may be addressed to me via the email address at the bottom of the page.
Some specific questions arise in relation to the locations shown in these cards.