1908 Mexican food in San Antonio Texas

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I ran across this postcard yesterday when I was adding items to Moody's Postcards and was really impressed with the image. While San Antonio Texas has LOTS of different postcards, you should take your time and look through all the common ones for the diamonds in the rough that are overlooked by many. The postcard title, "Mexican Chili Stands" is the tip off that this one is different. In the background is the huge beautiful post office and on the right is an advertisement for " 'Lion Brand' collars, They are 4 ply. 15 cents-two for 25 cents". Below that is a delivery wagon with a sign on the side that says "Henry C. Rips, Moving Packing Shipping,Vacuum Carpet Cleaning". But best of all in the center foreground are the Mexican chili stands, benches and eating tables set with white table cloths, glasses turned upside down, and large candle lamps (7 on the first table) for light during the night. Behind each of the 3 large "U" shaped tables is a vendor with a table on 2 saw horses where the food is prepared. The printed description on the back says "For the sake of olden times the Mexicans are still allowed to set up their tables and camp stoves on the Plazas and serve their native dishes in the open air; Chili Con Carne, Tamales, Enchiladas, Chili Verde, Frijoles and Tortillas, etc. As the day dawns and the lamps show dimmer, these hotel keepers put out their fires and folding their tables 'silently steal away' until another night." This postcard is listed in TEXAS section of Moody's Postcards.

Mechanical Postcards

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Mechanical postcards fall under the broader category of novelty postcards and are highly desirable. Not only do they incorporate various mechanical mechanisms but they usually are of high printing quality as these were originally sold at premium prices. The postcard below is an example of a rotating wheel postcard with the red, white and blue colors on the wheel rotate to give the turkey's tail a lively look. You can see other mechanical postcards at Moody's Postcards.

Easter Postcards

Welcome to Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards! My name is Richard Moody and I started the company in 1986 and we have been accumulating "old" (otherwise known as "vintage collectible") postcards for twenty years. We specialize in United States view postcards but we also have thousands of antique foreign views, topical postcards and trade cards. Our goal is to exceed your expectations and provide a superior selection of the collectible postcard you are searching for.
Easter is just around the corner so I thought I would highlight an Easter postcard to give you an idea of what is available. In the early 1900s postcards were used much like the phone and emails are today and this gave rise to "Greeting Cards" which were exchanged by the millions on most holidays including Easter. Just like everything else now and then, there are the great, the good, and the bad. The better publishers such as John Winsch and Raphael Tuck produced great postcards illustrated by some to the best artists of the time. The results are often breath taking, beautiful, sometimes full of fantasy with dressed rabbits and chickens as well as the religious theme. This is a great area to collect as the greeting cards are plentiful and reasonably priced for just about any budget. You can see more Easter postcards at Moody's Postcards.

LARGE LETTER Greetings from ? postcards

Welcome to Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards! My name is Richard Moody and I started the company in 1986 and we have been accumulating "old" (otherwise known as "vintage collectible") postcards for twenty years. We specialize in United States view postcards but we also have thousands of antique foreign views, topical postcards and trade cards. Our goal is to exceed your expectations and provide a superior selection of the collectible postcard you are searching for.

Large letter greeting cards are a very popular item and inexpensive to collect with the majority being produced from the 1930s into the 1950s. Popularity increased significantly when the post office released Large Letter stamps for the states a couple of years ago as the general public was introduced or reintroduced to these beautiful postcards. While the state Large Letters are the most common, there are also cards of military bases, colleges, cities, national parks and there is even one on Havana Cuba. Generally speaking though, these cards usually cover a geographic location but there are some on stores, hotels and even businesses but these are more difficult to find and usually are more expensive and rightly so based on their availability. In addition to the example below, be sure see a representative example of state LARGE LETTER postcards at Moody's Postcards on my state index pages. Be sure to view all six state index pages to see LARGE LETTERS from all states.

Books on View Cards

Welcome to Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards! My name is Richard Moody and I started the company in 1986 and we have been accumulating "old" (otherwise known as "vintage collectible") postcards for twenty years. We specialize in United States view postcards but we also have thousands of antique foreign views, topical postcards and trade cards. Our goal is to exceed your expectations and provide a superior selection of the collectible postcard you are searching for.

Books on view cards in general just do not exist as far as I know however you can find some information in books such as James L Lowe's "Standard Postcard Catalog" that I mentioned in my last blog. In that book under "Sets and Series" you can find mention of Raphael Tuck series on St. Augustine Florida, St. Louis Missouri etc. Also, the "Detroit Publishing Company Collector's Guide" by Lowe and Papell which was done in the 1970s and Nancy Stechschulte's 1994 book "The Detroit Publishing Company Postcards" have extensive information about the postcards (estimated to exceed 17,000) produced by the company, many of which were view cards. You can also find information in books such as "Baseball Stadium Postcards" by Tom Crabtree, "Nevada Post Card Album" by Robert Greenwood, and the large number of books published by Arcadia Publishing in "The Postcard History Series". The Arcadia books are done by individual postcard collectors who share their collection and knowledge of specific towns or areas. There may very well be an Arcadia book that will cover the area you are interested in so check out their website at Arcadia Publishing and the price is less than $20.

When shopping for postcards on you favorite town, remember that content is king and availability and condition are close behind. The first card below shows a nice view of the Galesburg Illinois Burlington Railroad Depot but has the big plus of the California Zephyr in the station.

The second card shows the interior of the French Market in New Orleans. While exterior views are common, this scarce interior view with tables built around the columns with ornate mirrors on the columns and stools for the patrons increases the value of this card substantially.

Postcard Reference Books

Welcome to Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards! My name is Richard Moody and I started the company in 1986 and we have been accumulating "old" (otherwise known as "vintage collectible") postcards for twenty years. We specialize in United States view postcards but we also have thousands of antique foreign views, topical postcards and trade cards. Our goal is to exceed your expectations and provide a superior selection of the collectible postcard you are searching for.

"Buy the book before the coin" was the slogan of a book dealer for coin collectors over 30 years ago and that is still good advice today and also applies to postcards and any other collectible. Just about every hobby has books to help the collector and postcard collectors have a wide range of helpful books. If you are just beginning, I would suggest "The Postcard Price Guide" by J. L. Mashburn which he updates every few years. This is a great general review of postcard collecting and covers most of the major categories, dating postcards, grading postcards and gives price ranges for the various grades of the many postcards listed. I would also suggest buying each new addition since he not only updates prices, he uses different postcards for illustrations giving you additional exposure to what is available. Mashburn also publishes postcard category specific books including books on Sports, Artist Signed and Blacks. These books can be found on Amazon, Books A Million and Barnes & Nobles as well as the author's website Colonial House Publishers, www.postcard-books.com. Another book that is considered the bible for postcard collectors is "Standard Postcard Catalog" by James Lewis Lowe which was published in 1982. Long out of print and very hard to find, it is worth the search if you can find it because it has 288 pages of very detailed information. Needless to say the prices given are way off now but they can be used to determine the better cards. One place you might try to find this book is the Gotham Book Mart or you might run across it on eBay. One area you will not find much help on is view postcards as they are so diverse and have many different traits that drive their price. I will cover view cards next time but for now there are hundreds of great books to help you with your collecting interest so just get on the Internet and search them out. Get the basics down first and the fine points will come with time and exposure to the postcard world.

More on Real Photo Postcards

Welcome to Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards! My name is Richard Moody and I started the company in 1986 and we have been accumulating "old" (otherwise known as "vintage collectible") postcards for twenty years. We specialize in United States view postcards but we also have thousands of antique foreign views, topical postcards and trade cards. Our goal is to exceed your expectations and provide a superior selection of the collectible postcard you are searching for.

I wanted to add some more information on real photo postcards today just to give you a basic understanding of their background. First, you need to know that real photo postcards came on the scene as early as 1900 and still flourish today. Initially, they were used primarily as advertising vehicles and sepia tones and vignettes dominated through 1906. Then Congress allowed for the message to be included on the back and the entire front of the postcard became the photographer's pallet. The arrival of the "Folding Pocket Kodak" camera around 1906 was produced to satisfy the real photo postcard market and produced negatives that were postcard size allowing the user to record their surroundings and mail them to their friends and family. The camera even had a small thin door on the back which could be opened so the user could write information on the negative. The result was thousands of people becoming recorders of history in the making but the real key to their future value was that many were one of a kind photos rather than the massed produced printed postcards. The golden era of real photo postcards ran from 1906 to 1945 and came to an end as color photography came into the mainstream. Below are two examples of Alaska real photos with one of downtown Sakgway circa 1912 and one of downtown Wrangell from the 1930s.