Garden State Show Recap

The Garden State Postcard Club Show was as always alot of fun. Saturday turned out to be the busiest of the two days, with sales steady throughout the day.

Sunday was quite a bit slower, even with the rain (you would have thought it would drive more people indoors?). I'm told attendence was somewhere around 400+ for the two days combined.

As always, it was nice to see many dealers I do not often see. Sunday brought in some new dealers that were not set up Saturday.

Popular topics were: Foreign, NJ views, nudes, Real Photos, misc. states, 50s chrome and linen postcards.

Thanks go out to Dan Herzog and the Garden State club for another great year!

Getting ready for this weekend two day postcard show in Parsippany NJ! This is not one to miss with almost 50 dealers of great old postcards, vintage photographs and other memorabilia.

I'll have over 60 boxes of cards there from all states and collectable topics. Email me ahead of time so I can bring something specific for you.


Show hrs are Sat. 9/26 10-6 and Sun. 9/27 10-4.

Hope to see everyone there!

Mainzer Cat Postcard Collection

I just purchased another nice old collection of postcards. These are from a west coast collector of Mainzer Cat postcards! Each has a cute imaged of dressed cats doing things like getting their hair cut in a barber shop, going on a cruise, driving cars, playing carnival games etc.

Check out my site now for the best selection of vintage Mainzer Cat postcards, as they will not last long at $2.99-$4.99 !

Thanks, Kevin

Tuckerton Clamtown Show

Just finished this weekends Tuckerton NJ Clamtown Antiques Flea Market. We were disappointed that we got rained out on Saturday, but Sunday turned out to be a much better day!

The ground was wet and slippery, but the crowds did come out to shop. Notice I said "shop" and not buy! Money continues to be tight, with many of the sales being between $5-$20. I did notice alot of people carrying items, so it was not a bad day for some dealers.

Postcard sales were a bit slow. But local memorabilia sold ok. Inexpensive general antiques also sold well. I did not do much buying, as prices seemed pretty high, with many delaers not budging on price. There were a few items I had my eye on, but their selling price with no discount left no room for profit. Even at the end of the day, a few dealers would not negotiate.

Overall it was a fun day, sharing conversation with other dealers and friends coming by our space.

We're getting ready now for another event this month, our Parsippany NJ two day show up North. Hope to see everyone there!

Kevin
www.postcardguy.com

Vintage Red Star Line Ocean Liner Postcards

I've just acquired a super collection of early Ocean Liner postcards. Each has hardly seen the light of day in over 90 years! They were nicely preserved in an album, and almost every card was produced by the Red Star Line Company.

Click on the blog title above to visit the cards currently up for auction.

The Art Deco style artwork is quite beautiful, and they resemble their larger cousins, the vintage travel posters of the day. This poster art can be quite valuable, especially with the travel posters. The postcards are miniature works of art!

The postcards were "official" premiums given away. They could have been obtained back then when you booked passage on one of the Red Star liners. A few of the postcards even describe how to receive these cards!

Check out my latest offerings on eBay under seller id Postcardguyantiques, on Delcampe and also on my own website at http://www.postcardguy.com/

Vintage Circus Photographs

Every now and then a vintage photograph comes along that begs further investigation. Such was the case of the one shown above. At first glance, it seemed like just a random photo of a happy couple. But closer examination shed some light on the couple.

The image was taken by a photographer probably during the 1890s-1910 era. The cabinet photo measures approx. 4" x 6". It pictures a super view of a young man and woman, but both of a very large size! The back of the photo read "Chauncey Morlan, Age 25, Wt 602, Wife age 22, Wt 526". A quick "google" search revealed that they were a circus side show attraction of some type. The photographer turned out to be famous circus / sideshow / freak photographer Wendt of Boonton NJ. He was famous for his rare images of midgets, giants, fatmen, sword swollowers, jugglers and bearded ladies!

Chauncy Royse Morlan and Annie Bell were married in 1892 at Huber's Museum in New York. Afterward the couple toured with the Barnum & Bailey Circus in Europe. Upon returning to the US, they continued to travel as the fattest married couple in the world "with a combined weight of 912 pounds". During the off season the Morlans returned to their home in Indianapolis, Indiana - Chauncy's home state. Annie would die at age 31, and Chauncey at age 43.

I'm happy to offer this neat piece up for bid now on eBay. A neat old piece of photographic Circus history!

New Collection Just Purchased

I've recently purchased a super collection of thousands of old postcards. Most if not all centered around the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri. The cards were carefully cared for all these years, even though not kept in albums or protective postcard sleeves.

The collector must have truly loved their postcards! What is amazing is the sheer number of real photo postcards in the collection! I would guess probably 400-500 of the cards were RP's ! The focus of the collection was small town views, from 1920 until around 1950 or so. Some super images of storefronts, cars, factories, lighthouses, steamboats etc. I'm proud to be offering these in the coming weeks on eBay.

Whats interesting is that I found a handful of cards in the collection that date to the 40s, but were written on and mailed after 1970! They apparently collected them, held onto them for many years, and then pulled them out and mailed them later!