Featured Went to the York Pennsylvania Postcard Expo

As the title suggests I recently went to the postcard exposition in York, PA. It is the largest assemblage of postcard dealers in the country with about 80 vendors attending bringing untold numbers of postcards probably numbering in the millions. Mary L Martin is the show promoter and has other smaller shows throughout the year in various states mainly on the east coast.

Several friends of mine and I made the trip from Southwest Ohio taking about 8 hours by car. We attended the show on both days spending about ten hours sifting through boxes of postcards. We stayed in a hotel nearby the fairgrounds allowing an easy journey to the show both days.

There were tons and tons of postcards. Literally, millions of them. Some of the dealers only had higher-end cards with lots of real photo postcards or binders of Halloween or Christmas cards. Other dealers had only dollar boxes where any card was 1 dollar or even 50 cents. Lastly some vendors had some of each with part of their tables devoted to displays of higher end cards and then some tables of cheaper cards.

I would recommend bringing a bag or briefcase with you if you plan of making lots of purchases. Also bring your own loupe or magnifier to see the small print and details on the postcards. It also would be helpful to bring a small flashlight since lighting conditions are not always optimal. Lastly try to bring cash since most smaller dealers only accept the green stuff. There are ATMs nearby and some dealers may accept credit card or check but you don't want to have to walk away from a deal due to not having enough cash.

I heard many folks talking about how they were just overwhelmed by the number of postcards available and not knowing where to start first. I would recommend planning to stay for at least several hours since it is impossible to get a good gauge of what is available if you are only there for a short period of time.

Hope you consider going to a postcard, ephemera, or paper show. They are a sight to behold and can totally open your eyes to the vast possibilities to collect or resell.

 

I can see how it would be overwhelming. If you collect, show some of your favs.

 

I sure would have been OVERwhelmed!!! AND wondering how many great ones I probably missed.....!

 

Wow. That's a lot of postcards.

 

Oh a new word. Thank you.

 

Sounds like big fun! I have a friend who would go crazy at a show like this.

Observation from the photos above. Are postcard collectors mostly men??

 

Wouldn't surprise me. A lot I've known over the years are guys. Some women do too, but the ones I know aren't specialists. They want anything related to a particular subject matter. I've picked up a postcard here or there, but only when the image means something to me.

 

Here are some of my favorites. Picked up many postcards for my collection - It is hard to choose!

I'd say about 70% of postcard collectors are men. There are certain subject matters that attract female collectors like Christmas Postcards and some of the more intricate artist made cards.

 

My dad would have collected the last one - anything with a train in it. I've been known to nab orphaned doughboys, i.e. WWI induction photos printed on postcard paper.