[F12] New York in Postcards: Bringing Deltiology to your Genealogy!

Hi everyone -

Welcome!

I'm packing for Albany as we speak, but for anyone who's viewing from home - feel free to share any comments/questions/resources/etc. in this forum - and I'll try to reply as soon as possible. I've started watching some of the other on-demand presentations and there are some amazing topics and speakers this year.

Looking forward to chatting about genealogy and *deltiology* in days to come! And if you have any postcard finds or cards from your own collection/research - feel free to share descriptions/links to them here.

I am in my eighties and have collected postcards since I was a child. Should I decide to sell my collection, what method would you suggest? In addition to my own cards, I was fortunate to receive a few older collections from some other people.

I've been collecting cards since I was a child too. There are places that specialize in selling vintage postcards, like one that sells only postcards of sports stadiums. If you want to donate them, historical societies want vintage cards of their areas.

October 1 is National Postcard Day! Postcards are a wonderful way to keep in touch.

One week after the Covid lockdown started I began sending my mother-in-law (who was in assisted living in another state) and my not-living-at-home children a postcard a day. I used extras from my collection. I'm still doing it, but have gone online to museums and interesting places all over the US to buy them, always getting an extra one for myself.

I inherited my great-aunt's small collection, which I have added to over the years, but some I could never part with, as they are the few communications I have of family from the early 1900s. Real picture postcards have become my favorite to search for. I discovered that my great uncle, who had a general store, also took photos of the surrounding area to sell, and I hope to find some of those photos!!

Depending upon where you're based, the best resource may be a local postcard club. Many clubs hold monthly or semi-annual auctions - or they're able to connect you to dealers who may be interested. While prices are down in general - be sure to ask around to get a fair offer. You could also try an auction company (online or otherwise) with good connections to collectors and dealers. Wishing you luck with whatever you decide!

The early COVID lockdowns were a very important time in the world of postcards, I think! I started buying more for my collection on eBay just as a little means of connection with the outside world; it was great to receive mail! I'm sure your mother-in-law and children very much appreciated the mail they received!

How awesome, Ruth - hopefully some of those RPPCs from your great uncle do turn up. The hunt can be thrilling, but nothing is as exciting as actually finding the cards we seek! So nice to finally meet you at the conference this week - until next time.

Hello Michael, Loved both your presentations so much! Probably going to watch both again and again! Thanks so much for sharing all your brilliant ideas for collecting, researching and resourcing. You mentioned that you also collect old photos, a passion I've also had for the last 40 years. I am wondering if you have ever done a presentation specifically about 19th century photos? Many of my photos only have the name of the photography studio and I always wondered if there are resources for identifying the persons in the photos through the photography studio records? It has been my plan, when I retire, to try to match photos with identified persons to possible family trees. Your talks have spurred me on. I always thought it so sad that a photo of someone's loved one had become discarded to or lost in the universe. Thanks again.

Thanks, Diane - appreciate your comments. I've never presented on 19th century photos in particular - although I've enjoyed reuniting many (with descendants and others) over the years. I did give a mini-talk for RootsTech on that topic, and it's still up on their site: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/putting-things-in-their-… - I have a "full-length" version of this talk that I give for societies, virtually and in person. I've never been able to match something up (to an identity) via photography studio records - but sometimes you can use city directories, etc. to determine the years that photographer was at a particular address (the address appearing on the cabinet card) and pinpoint at least the date that way. I hope your retirement leads to many exciting discoveries and reunions!

Thank you for your presentation! Good info for me to use in sorting my grandmother's old postcard collection. I'm also very interested in the New York Photo Detectives. Unfortunately, I am not a Facebook user. I'm wondering whether there is any other access to this group (for those of us Luddites from the mid-twentieth century). I have a photo of the Empire State Building that my father took in 1930 from the window of his rented rooms somewhere on the lower west side. I've tried using Google Maps street view, but things have changed so much in nearly a hundred years! Or can you recommend any other source of help for me? I think there is a collection of NYC photos at the NYPL. Do you know particulars about this? Thank you.

I enjoyed watching this presentation today On Demand and had never thought about incorporating postcards into my family research. I am looking forward to beginning the "hunt" for postcards, particularly those that may illustrate places of interest in Brooklyn, NY neighborhoods that my German and Polish immigrant ancestors lived in. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in this wonderful presentation!

Hi Karen - thanks for your comments, I'm glad it was able to spark some ideas for you, and I wish you well in your pursuits! If you're in the NY area, the Metropolitan Postcard Club's fall show is November 12th and 13th at the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan. Lots of dealers will be selling lots of relevant cards there, and there will also be a speaker on suffrage postcards! http://www.metropolitanpostcardclub.com/

Hi Michael - I'm cramming on the last 2 days of on demand access and am SO glad I watched your Postcards program. I have a fun find to share with you, so I'm going to send you an email with the story. It involves a mysterious human flag postcard from Kingston NY - let's just say it's no longer mysterious! I LOVE digging for stories behind postcards. Cheers, Anne

Thanks for the information about the Metropolitan Postcard Club's show next month, Michael! Sounds interesting and I may be able to check it out.