Postcards are one of the most unique, but endearing ways of sharing what you’re up to in this age of texting and emailing. As in some cases people send them to others for a wide assortment of reasons such as, telling them they’re thinking of them, wishing them good luck and health, asking what have they done lately, and asking about how things are with them and their family. However, some people have other reasons to enjoy and use postcards as some of the people who use them might be a fan of Deltiology.
Deltiology is defined as the hobby of collecting postcards. As the word Delti is from the Greek word deltos which means writing tablet or letter. The word deltiology has its beginnings from 1945 when Rendell Rhoades submitted a response on how to invent a more educational term for acquiring and caring for postcards. The origin of postcards are traceable to Heinrich von Stephan, as he proposed an “open post-sheet” made of stiff paper in 1865. This was rejected as it was “too radical” and “nobody would willingly give up their privacy.” As a result, when these cards were first being produced they weren’t as popular as they are now. However, now in comparison this is no longer the case as deltiology is the third most popular hobby in the world as only stamp collecting and coin collecting is more popular. Which shows the hobby has grown exponentially in popularity throughout the years.
One of the most prominent eras that increased interest in this hobby was during the Golden Age of postcards. That was between the years of 1898 to 1918. The reason that it was the so-called Golden Age was the postage rate in 1898 was only a penny and introduction of the divided-back postcard, which made it so both the address and the message were able to be written on the same side of the card. Which made it so people who write messages to their friends, lovers, or even family members to succinctly talk about things easily and have the name and address of the person next to the message the sender wrote. An additional great thing about postcards is they have a ton of useful resources and potentially even photos that the family or person will forever treasure or if given to a museum it will assist them in creating an idea of what something looked like if the building displayed on the card no longer exists.
Postcards are one of the most valuable items to a museum and sometimes it might not even be obvious how important they are. The reason we keep these items is not just so that we can have a glimpse into the past and see what life and time was like back then. It is mainly because we keep them to preserve the memory of important events and photographs. For our museum we have numerous postcard photos of steamboats on Chautauqua Lake, photos of the Fenton mansion, downtown Jamestown and others too. Another reason we have postcards within our collection is that it helps history “stay alive” as these might be the only photos of a specific event that happened only once or the photo of a building that burned down a month after the photo was taken and never rebuilt. Additionally, we have them in our collection so that people are able to reflect and even in some instances reminisce or remember what something once was like, and also to remind themselves about a time possibly forgotten. That is why it is said that sending postcards can result in lasting connections, as each stamp carries a piece of shared joy across the miles and a fond memory for both.
