Postcard Questions

Hello, I recently purchased a large lot of postcards. Most appear to be linens with some chromes and also some white borders (I think). This is my first postcard lot purchase. Most of my postcard knowledge is of RPPCs, although I don’t consider myself all that knowledgeable about postcards. Included in the lot were some postcard packets?, that have moisture damage. I think the packets are from around the 1930s/40s, with some earlier. I’ve isolated these from all the other postcards. My questions cards:

1. For old postcards (and ephemera in general), what do you do to eliminate the further growth of mold and mildew from the water damage? For instance, I laid all the water damaged packets on the floor (opened accordion style so all the cards were exposed) in the sun (thru a window) hoping it would kill any active mold/mildew and dry out the paper (the water damage appears old, not recent). I’ve done this twice in 1 hour spurts. I’m not too concerned about the card photos fading or wrinkling a little. My goal is to keep all these and store them in archival plastic pages in binders. Some of the packets have what looks like red mold, but it’s hard to tell because there are areas of red on the card photos that could have bled (some of these are linen so I assume they were touched up with coloring, unlike most RPPCs). Also, some of the cards are stuck together (from the water damage). I was hopeful that exposure to sun might help unstick the cards, but most are still stuck. Is there another way to unstick these cards? I’ve included some photos below.
   
   
2. I think the oldest packet is the Boston Folding Postcard packet included in my photos below. Can anyone help me date this packet? I think it is from 1916 only because that is written in pen on the packet, in what looks like the correct style/ink for that period. But I’m not certain. The postcards in these packets appear to be similar to the “white border” postcards I have read about. Plus there are other white border postcards (not in packets) in this lot.
   
   
3. The postcards in the packets are on a thinner cardboard/paper stock than normal postcards. And of course these cards were intended to be sent as a packet, not individually. Were these packets common between 1910-30? Most of the packets I’ve seen were from the 1940s-60s, I think.
   
   
4. Is there a website specific to non RPPC postcards made between say 1915-1940? Basically about postcards made between the RPPCS and linens? Lastly, this lot has mostly linens postcards with a smattering of what I think are “white border”, plus some foreign postcards. Is there a website specific to foreign postcards during the period 1900-1940? I haven’t been able to find a lot of info about postcards made between the RPPCS and linens. Thank you!

 

Here's a resource I use to date postcards. Lots of other info here too.

http://www.metropostcard.com/metropcpublishers.html

Debora

 

Another resource you may find helpful if you don't already use it.

https://www.playle.com/realphoto/

Debora

 

I think those postcards with the bleeding color are pretty much toast. I can't imagine how you could recover them, and they're don't look remarkable in their own right.

 

I concur. Unless rare, I would think water damage would render them unsaleable. Just my opinion.

Debora

 

Maybe @Joe2007 has some ideas?

 

Thank you for the replies and links. I wasn't intending to sell these water damaged cards. I thought I might keep them if I can store them safely without exposing them to my other postcards and ephemera. I store all my ephemera on books shelves in plastic archival pages in binders. Perhaps if I decide to keep these I'll just put them in a box elsewhere. After reading the info from your links, it appears that the white border postcards are a bit harder to date because white borders were used quite often, besides during the period just before and after WW1. For instance there are quite a few white bordered linen postcards in this lot, among all the non white bordered linen postcards. I'll start using your link to research the backs. Thank you.

 

The post cards themselves should provide lots of clues for dating -- cars, clothing, etc.

Debora

 

Just a stated postage amount will provide you with a window.

Debora