How to Enjoy and Display Your Postcard Collection

As an avid collector with over 37,000 cards, I could not rely on the old shoebox to store or present my collection. I needed a better way to access the cards and make it easy to expand. It took a visit to the photoalbums of my parents, however, to generate the idea and make it workable. Now my collection "breathes" and is exciting to view.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Good working 3-ring binders.
• Lots of photocopy paper with 3 holes punching.
• Photo corners (can be of different colors)
• Index tab sheets
• Plastic sleeves (optional)
• Page protectors (optional)

1. The 3-ring binders are the essential items in preparing your collection for storage and for display. I save money by recycling binders that are still in good mechanical shape, Newer versions have sleeves that allow the binder to be dressed up to correspond to the topic of your collection. My collection is 70% geographic, so I started with one binder for each state of the USA. Larger ring diameter binders were used for states where I had more postcards.
2. If the copy paper you are using is not pre-punched, a 3-hole punch can be used to prepunch before filling the binders. Most of the commercially available copy paper is alkaline based and is significantly less expensive than scrapbook paper. I recommend the heavier 24-lb copy paper over lighter weights - it is more durable. For cards that are extremely old, rare or valuable, it is recommended to have sheet protectors available to help preserve the card. However, take care not to store the binders near heat registers or in open sunlight.
3. Pre-plan and strategize how you wish to arrange your cards. Each page should be a subtopic of its own. My John Hancock Building postcards for Chicago are behind a tabbed index sheet where all of my cards with the same topic are displayed. A separate tab in the same binder flags my series of cards for the Sears Tower.
4. The cards are mounted using photo corners (available from my local drugstore in black, white or clear plastic). I only use two corners on my smaller cards to help save on costs. Also, if I want to review the back side, it is easier to slide them out of two corners rather than four. My arrangements of the cards on the respective sheets are done so that the corners do not stack. For additional flexibility, some cards are mounted horizontally, vertically or at an angle - again so as to avoid "build-up" by the cards themselves and the corners. Smaller cards may be arranged 3 to a sheet, whereas a jumbo card may take up an entire sheet.
5. As the collection grows, binders are added. The "Chicago" collection outgrew the "Illinois" binder, so it found a home in its own new binder. Some county collections also outgrew the Illinois binder and were then placed in their own binder as "Lake County, IL" etc. And when subtopics of Chicago got large enough to have their own featured binder, they were relocated as well. The collection stores well in most typical bookcases. It seems easier to turn pages than it does to go through boxes.

Tips & Warnings

• As the collection grows, it may be wise to transfer it into a binder with larger diameter rings before splitting up the collection. It is up to the collector to decide what is too big and awkward or when it is the right time to expand to a new binder.
• IF a card is old and is in its own plastic sleeve, it may be to your advantage to keep the card in the sleeve and use the corners to hold it in place on the sheet.
• A full sheet protector provides the advantage to mount cards on the front and back of the sheet without fear that cards will stick to each other if they are placed face-to-face.
• If the holes of the paper should tear, use hole reinforcements to repair the sheets on both sides of the sheet for added strength.
• It is not recommended to mount cards on the back of the sheets in case of humidity causing the cards facing each other to stick together.