How I Got Hooked

Whenever anyone starts a new hobby there's always something that hooks them, captures their attention, and makes them want to know more. For me, it was this postcard, a seemingly boring view of some sailboats at sunset. But the fact that the sender lovingly glued pieces of silk over the embossed sails on the front of the card made me realize that postcards played a special part in communication at the start of the 20th Century.

The back shows a 1908 postmark. Only a penny postage!

This realization led me to consider that perhaps there was some significant historical value to postcards as well, and by this time I found myself looking down the rabbit hole of paper ephemera from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I started with an interest in postcards, then got hooked on old photographs, then Victorian trade cards, and now, lately, poster stamps. I was hooked, and my thirst for old things made out of paper was born.