I’ve found that the best place to find collectible postcards is at art auctions. I was at an art auction in Westlake,CA looking for stained glass and found them auctioning a lot of vintage collectible postcards. I bought the lot at the art auction and it contained almost three thousand beautiful collectible postcards.
About thirty percent of the collectible postcards were pre-linen. These are postcards that were all made before 1930. The linen collectible postcards were made from 1930 to 1945 and the lot I won at the art auction had thirty percent linen cards as well.
Forty percent of the lot I won at the art auction was for early chrome collectible postcards. Most of them were from the fifties and sixties. There were also collectible postcards from the British museum series from the seventies.
The collectible postcards that are my favorite are all turn of the century and were sent for holidays. Valentine’s Day collectible postcards from the early 1900s are very romantic. The Christmas postcards have some really nice artwork. I was really fortunate with the purchase at the art auction because the assortment was so varied.
I like the non-US cards. I found an art auction that had a shoebox full of these postcards and they were from places like Bermuda, Zurich, Rio de Janeiro, Dresden, Germany, Ireland and even Istanbul.
People who do not collect vintage collectible postcards just don’t understand their value. They are usually not even mentioned as being part of an art auction.
I am always so pleased when I find linen ere collectible postcards at an art auction. The auctioneers at most art auctions don't usually announce the lots as linen postcards; they usually just announces it as vintage or old collectible postcards. A lack of knowledge of the subject can usually work to your advantage.
The holiday collectible postcards go to collectors of more than just postcards. I’ve seen people buy holiday collectible postcards at an art auction just to frame and decorate with them during certain holidays.
For awhile, I thought that I wanted to collect postcards from soldiers in WWI. I found a two hundred piece lot of this type of collectible postcards at an art auction in Lancaster. The mix of cards was British, French and German. It was interesting because some of the collectible postcards were censored. I’ve never seen censored collectible postcards before.
The most I’ve ever spent on collectible postcards at an art auction was $400 in 2005 for 4 Jean Michel Basquiat postcards. They were all from 1982 and they depicted collages . They were in very good condition. I doubt that I will ever find any more even remotely like this the rest of my life. They were exceptional.I didn't have them authenticated but,I was able to flip them for a $300.00 profit several months later.
The lot of collectible postcards I found this past year at the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach were really fun to look through. One exhibitor had a lot of things from a family that had emigrated here from Serbia. The postcards were all from either Serbia or Belgrade. This was a good lot and it went for a handsome sum from what I understood before the festival was over!
I think I may try for some Black ephemera postcards including some with offensive images because of not only their shock value but,because of their historical significance. There is a growing market for such items and even a hero of mine the late fashion designer Patrick Kelly collected mammy figurines and other such ephemera to remind him of how far American culture has come.
No comments:
Post a Comment