Images of sorrow, pictures of delight
Things that go to make up a life
These lyrics from Home By The Sea (Genesis, Genesis, 1983) always come to mind when at an estate sale. No where is this more evident to me than in those boxes of greeting cards which I compulsively drag home with me.
And you do know by now that when I say ‘boxes’, I do mean real boxes, not shoe boxes, right?
These boxes of old greeting cards are gold to me — and they should be to you too. But if I say that then you and I will be elbowing one another at the next estate sale… That’s not good for me personally.
But underneath this warrior-collector and hoarding fool beats a heart of gold. So, being the nice girl that I am, I’m going to ’show & tell you’ some secrets of collecting these boxes of greeting cards, Thursday Thirteen style.
There’s gold in dem dere boxes, and its not just the greeting cards themselves.
The first thing you must do when you get a box of old greeting cards is go through them and open each and every one of them. Yes, you are going to see a lot of Jesus cards, enough foil cards to possibly damage your retinas, and more ugly & boring cards than you can imagine. But it is worth it, as you will see.
You do this for several reasons.
The first being that you have to get the cards out of, and away from, the envelopes.
The glue on the envelopes and even the paper used for them is bad news for pretty cards. Not only will the glue stick to and rip cards, but the acid will tan the cards, as shown on this vintage Valentine.
(Yes, it tans and marks the inside as well.)
The other reason you open each and every card is to read and enjoy them.
Along with greeting cards — holiday cards, sympathy cards, get well cards, thank you notes etc. — people write their best wishes & their news. Reading the cards you get a real sense of the former owner’s life.
If that seems too voyeuristic for you, consider your reading a way of keeping that person’s life and memory alive. In that sense, it’s no different than reading a biography.
But what makes a box of old greeting cards such a treasure trove is that frequently people also sent along photos and other paper items. Clippings of births, weddings, deaths, and other events are common place.
In my first really big score (5 boxes of greeting cards from one estate), I found a wedding announcement from my then-husband’s family. It was from the 1940s or so, so it was on different branches of the tree, but my then mom-in-law was thrilled because they had no record of the wedding for the genealogy project she was (constantly) working on.
Also in that box we found a $50 bill. (Because, yes, people often include money in gift cards.) That paid for my five $5 boxes twice.
It hasn’t happened again since that time, but who knows? It makes opening each card sound that much more fun now, doesn’t it?
As a collector I’ve discovered another secret about these boxes of greeting cards.
Because this person saved these cards and clippings in ‘that desk drawer’, they tended to toss into that drawer other paper items such as souvenirs, clippings and even trinkets of their own. Perhaps for that ‘one day’ scrapbook. If you’re an ephemera lover, then these boxes of ‘junk paper’ that families are too annoyed with, or bored by, to search through can be boxes of heaven.
Here are few of those glorious ephemera finds:
A 1936 receipt or a money order from Security National Bank.
A check stub for the above Doris, for her work as a teacher at Howards Grove Public Schools. (I know some teachers who feel they make the same salary now.)
A program for The Community Players of Sheboygan, 1938. (For more on such things, see here.)
A 1924 Perfect Attendance Certificate — no wonder Phipps became a teacher!
Folded inside this several page packet of family history, was this photo Christmas card from the Calveys. (From this I now know that Lorraine Pool Maersch and I share(d) a birthday — the day, not the year, thank-you-very-much.)
A slick flier on the Japanese Exhibition House, The Museum of Modern Art, Summer 1954. (You can click this to see it in more detail, however it is cropped to show the diagram/floor plan as it was too long for the scanner — if you really must see it all or know more, contact me.)
Everyone of that certain age had clippings of those poor Dionne quintuplets; Phipps was no exception.
I can’t believe I scanned any part of this… It’s a six page typed tribute (eulogy) by Janice for her dead brother, Dr. Kenneth G. Weckel. I’ve never had the guts to read it past the start of the third paragraph & I’m only showing you the top portion because I don’t want to be insensitive. One day I will read it.
Lastly, this vintage pharmacy postcard (postmarked 1959).
From Grube Pharmacy, this postcard was mailed to physicians, promoting the virtues of their pharmacy services — which included the presentation of the pharmacists home number.
And with that, she fainted.
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Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
February 7th, 2008 at 6:05 AM
Great post, I enjoyed looking at the cards. I used to live in Sheboygan!
Thanks for sharing.
February 7th, 2008 at 7:59 AM
That is so awesome! I love collecting paper items, they are much easier to store. I collect old photos and postcards, but after reading your post I might try greeting cards too. my 13 is up.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:16 AM
I love it when I corrupt folks into hoarding more stuff :p
PS My other TT post is up too
February 7th, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Stuff like this always causes a strange tickle in my belly. I think it is the power of the life experiences they witnessed. Or something. Powerful stuff.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Wow, what an interesting way to preserve and share history.
February 7th, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Yeah, I’d faint, too. Sending out the pharmacists’ home phone number? Drug addicts today would be in heaven at that.
You might have corrupted me into hoarding this sort of thing now — although I’ve got to tell you, I am putting all the old report cards and newspaper mentions of me and the Tour Manager into a scrapbook. The kids are getting a HUGE kick out of it!
February 7th, 2008 at 5:02 PM
Fascinating!
February 7th, 2008 at 8:04 PM
My great grandmother had enough old greeting cards collected to fill a spare bedroom. I don’t know what became of her collection after she died.
Happy TT. I’m talking about book covers again. This time its dogs.
February 7th, 2008 at 8:20 PM
Wow, what a great collection.
My wife’s father wins the all-time, lovable, SCAR YOUR CHILD card/find award…
After he passed away, my wife was going through his papers… mostly work related and photos… until she came across a home-made birthday card she made him when she was REALLY young… he’d written in it, “Best Card I Ever Received”…
To this day, she’s absolute in her conviction that he did this KNOWING he would die at some point and she’d find it… thus making her weep for days.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:03 PM
I have some old (1940’s-50’s) greeting cards that I do not want. Do you want them?
August 2nd, 2008 at 10:25 PM
Hi=
My hubby acquired a HUGE box of brand new greeting cards from is mom’s estate 2 year’s ago and want to know if you would be interested in buying the whole box full? His mom collected everything and so these are cards which have never been used. They are from ther the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Please let me know. We are avid Genealogists and are members of the LDS Church, so we know the value of our family’s heirlooms, but these are new, never been used or written on. And, we did find $300 in cash inside a Reminiscent magazine Elsie had stuffed it in. This was when she was still alive.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Toodles,
Teri
August 4th, 2008 at 4:17 AM
Hi Teri, I don’t know what price you have in mind — feel free to email me!
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:46 PM
I have several shoeboxes full of old used greeting and post cards that were my grandmother and aunts. They range in date from the 1920s to the 1970s. Any ideas on what I can do with them? Who I could sell or give them away to? I live in Southern California. Thank you!
August 23rd, 2008 at 1:46 PM
Cathy, the older they are, the more value they likely have… Selling online is an option, as is joining our CQ community and perhaps arranging a sale/trade there.
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:11 PM
I truly enjoyed reading Lessons In Collecting Greeting Cards
02.07.08 By Deanna Dahlsad. It’s nice to know there are other collectors out there like me.
September 5th, 2008 at 6:24 PM
What a treasure!! At Design Crafters’ we make many Christmas Cards that hopefully one day might be in someones collection! Thanks for the info!!!
September 13th, 2008 at 7:06 PM
HI, I HAVE MANY MANY MANY OLD GREETING CARDS SOME ARE OLD OLD OLD AND ON UP ARE YOU INTERESTED I LIVE IN MICHIGAN
September 15th, 2008 at 12:25 AM
Hi Lynne, Cathy, Teri & others, you can share images/photos of your cards in the CQ community — and mention they are available for sale &/or trade — all for free!
I have a very very low budget for buying right now, but if you want to have them cared for in my home, I’m open to adopting them
You can contact me at Deanna@collectorsquest.com.
October 6th, 2008 at 1:34 PM
Lynne, from Michigan with old, old, old cards. I will be traveling to Michigan around the week of Oct.20th, 08 …where do you live or can we meet I am just starting to collect and would love take them off your hands. What are you asking for them?
October 9th, 2008 at 8:27 AM
I have a very unique set of old Hallmark Get Well cards. There’s no date, but they’re obviously quite old. I contacted Hallmark but they weren’t able to tell me anything about them, even in their archives department. Note: There are 7 cards in the series, however card #1 is missing.
The label reads “‘Seven-Day’ Cheer Card Mystery Series; This clever card is really seven different cards to be sent on seven different days – a car for each day in the week. In each of these cards is an interesting mystery to solve in addition to a cheerful greeting. The solution to each mystery appears on the next card which in turn brings another mystery – and so on throughout the entire series.” The cards are unused and in great condition.
Have any of you ever seen such a set??? I’m curious to know if Hallmark did similar card series. Anyone interested in having them???
November 20th, 2008 at 9:17 PM
I have two boxes of probably seventy year old never have been used greeting cards.
They were probably inexpensive at the time. One box had twenty one beautiful
all occasion with soft glidder for $1.25. The other box is not origional. It has a
variety of card probably put in one box for convenience. I was wondering if they
have much of a monatary value now. Should I hold on to them hoping there will
be or are they just a nice keepsake?
December 2nd, 2008 at 8:25 AM
i found a box of unused greeting cards says on the box they are french folders .. they are so beautiful the art from that age was so animated but so wonderful … are they worth any money ? and as far as old recits and stuff found old telephone bills and stuff
December 4th, 2008 at 2:22 PM
Hi all,
As an ephemera collector I believe all old cards & paper have value — not necessarily the “sell it and retire” monetary value, but they are worth something to someone.
Regarding specific prices, as most of here at Collectors’ Quest have written, the real value is what another is willing to pay… You can check out these two articles for more specifics on placing a value on collectibles:
Your Collectible: What’s It Worth?
Values: To Sell Or Not To Sell, That Is The Question
I’d love to see what you all have — you can show them off in the CQ Community for FREE. And you can list them for sale too (also currently FREE) in the Marketplace.
December 10th, 2008 at 10:29 PM
great website. you gave me good ideas. I want to keep all my cards. Do you know where I can find a big scrap book like the ones around in the 90’s or before? I have searched my town but could only find scrapbooking size. I want the old kind with paper pages. Thanks.
December 13th, 2008 at 9:56 PM
Donna, I admire your desire to keep your old greeting cards & ephemera stored in a more ‘authentic’ manner — but in doing so, keeping them on paper, you risk having them deteriorate.
New books, even scrapbooking sizes which you don’t like, will (or should) have acid free pages to keep the cards from browning and falling apart. I know you can get plastic see-thru sleeves to use for postcards etc. and just slide the cards in each page — no glue or paper to damage them. It may be more expensive and less like they used to do, but your cards will last longer. Another option may be to make a book the size you like, using acid free materials.
February 14th, 2009 at 11:06 AM
i love you”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”"”
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:18 PM
Can someone help me? I’m doing a project for a library and it’s putting some sort of date of personal correspondence through cards (most of them Hallmark – someAmerican Greetings, Ambassador Cards) Does the number on the back
mean anything or have anything to do with the date it was issued? About all I
have to go on is the picture on the front.
Thank you
October 16th, 2009 at 5:04 PM
Is there a market for vintage greeting cards that have been signed by the senders? If so, where/what is the market?
January 2nd, 2010 at 1:58 AM
Hello! I just found this site tonight and am having a ball looking up posts and info. I posted on one of Val’s entries, but wanted to post here, too. I have amassed a collection of vintage greeting cards, but am having trouble identifying them and researching them. Do you have any books or resources you can recommend? I will check those two links above, but I am looking specifically for info on vintage greeting cards, like how to assess age, identify makers, etc. Thanks in advance!
Charity
January 17th, 2010 at 10:41 AM
I have a box full of old greeting card from my husband’s grandmother. Some as old as 40-50 years. I am interested in disposing of them.
April 24th, 2010 at 12:48 PM
I have four large wooden boxes full of 40-60’s unused greeting cards ranging from “It’s your 7th Birthday!” type, pop-ups, and plain thank you notes. Want them out of the garage, anyone interested?
There are perhaps 1200 cards?
Thanks,
Bill (Indiana)
July 21st, 2010 at 8:46 AM
I have an assorted collection of greeting cards that were given to me over the past 60 + years. I am going to toss them, but thought I would ask if there is a market for these cards.
August 6th, 2010 at 1:30 PM
I was sorting out two cases full of cards. I wanted to know how to store them properly. I googled and you were the first to come up. Yes, its a wonderful thing but sad too, to go through them all, so much love, so many memories. All the bad in between times are not there! Thank you.
August 21st, 2010 at 1:07 PM
I have all the cards my parents ever sent each other in 47 years of marriage. You are welcome to them if you’d like to pay the postage. Let me know.
Sharon Goddard
972.466.2121