In today’s world, those of us with mobile devices communicate by texting. For our turn of the twentieth-century ancestors, it was through the mail. Imagine getting multiple mail deliveries a day and the possibilities of that communication.  Postcards were a quick way of touching base with friends and family. Businesses used cards to advertise and so did realtors. Real photo postcards are my favorite, but if you think they were unique, my guest clarifies that.  My guest started writing postcards as a child and never stopped. He receives dozens of them in the mail every day.  

Related Episodes:

Episode 103: Organize, Preserve and Share with Collectionaire.com

Episode 98: Collect Photo Stories with StoryGlory.com

Links:

• The Postcardist
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About My Guest:

Frank Roche is the host of The Postcardist Podcast. Over the past three years and 110 episodes, he’s interviewed leading collectors, designers, writers, and authors about their postcard passion. A former journalist and executive communication consultant, Frank has been writing postcards since he was five. Frank is the proud owner of the world’s largest Bigfoot postcard collection.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen is a frequent keynote speaker on photo identification, photograph preservation, and family history at historical and genealogical societies, museums, conferences, libraries, and other organizations across the U.S., London, and Canada.  She’s the author of several books and hundreds of articles and her television appearances include The View and The Today Show (where she researched and presented a complete family tree for host Meredith Vieira).  She’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Better Homes and Gardens, The Boston Globe, Martha Stewart Living, Germany’s top newspaper Der Spiegel, American Spirit, and The New York Times. Maureen was recently a spokesperson and photograph expert for MyHeritage.com, an internationally known family history website, and also writes guidebooks, scholarly articles and online columns for such media as Smithsonian.com. Learn more at Maureentaylor.com

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The post Episode 140: Talking Postcards with The Postcardist appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

Dear Bridget,
Before focusing on your grandfather’s clothing, turn over your postcard and look at the stamp box. Photographic postcards were first introduced in 1900. That little stamp box is full of clues. The design changes over time and can help you date the image. There is a handy little reference tool on the Playle’s Online Auction website. You can compare the design on the back of your postcard to the one’s in this database.

As for your doing it wrong, dating clothing is full of little details. Dating those outfits worn by kids is even harder. There are very few changes in boy’s clothing between the ages of 5 and 11. Boys wore full length trousers beginning around age 12 but before that age, it’s usually short pants.

Instead of focusing on the clothes think about how old your grandfather looks in the picture. 5 year old’s can still look very toddler-like with round faces, while by age 11 they look older.

Good luck with your image and keep trying!

The post Ask Maureen: Postcard Help appeared first on Maureen Taylor.