How to Select New Postcards

Ever since postcards were invented in the 19th century as an economical way to send short messages, the public has enjoyed the process of selecting cards to send to family and friends. The right postcards will allow recipients to share in your joy as you watch water cascade down Niagara Falls or learn the hula in the Hawaiian Isles. Postcards are a vacation staple and popular souvenir, and people select them based on their own individual tastes and interests.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Select the Right Postcard for You

1. Decide if you will be sending the postcards to others or keeping them for a collection of your own. If you are keeping them for yourself, then you will want to consider how they fit in with your current collection before you select them.

2. Choose a postcard that best reflects the experience you have had while traveling. If you loved the London Eye or the Eiffel Tower, then postcards that showcase those attractions will help you remember the excitement you felt. They can also allow your friends and family to share in the wonder of your experience.

3. Make sure new postcards are made of sturdy materials. Since you want them to be long-lasting, do not choose low-quality cards that bend or tear too easily.

4. Pick new postcards that interest you. This is especially important for new collectors. Don't make choices based exclusively on potential value. If you have albums full of unattractive or uninteresting cards, you are unlikely to continue to collect.

5. Buy multiple copies of the same postcard if you really like it. That way, you can send some to friends and keep one or two for your own collection.

6. Acquire postcards that are unique and not easily found in other locations. Postcards featuring the architecture or landmarks of a specific town will not likely be available at the airport gift shop and will add to the distinctiveness of your collection.

7. Don't limit yourself to colored postcards. Black-and-white cards are just as interesting, if not more so, than the brightly colored cards most people usually buy, and they can add a new dimension to an existing collection.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are a collector of postcards, buy one of the small, reusable plastic containers found in grocery and convenience stores to hold your new purchases until you get home. In this way, you prevent the cards from becoming bent or creased until you can store them in an album or postcard box.