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Deltiology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the practice of collecting postcards. For postcards themselves, see Postcard.
Deltiology is the study and collection of postcards. Compared to philately, the identification of a postcard's place and time of production can often be an impossible task, due to the fact that postcards, unlike stamps, are produced in a decentralised, unregulated manner. For this reason, serious collectors may choose to limit their acquisitions to cards by specific artists and publishers, or by time and location.
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That being said, there are some general rules to dating when a postcard was printed. Postcards are generally sent within a few years of their printing so the postmark helps date a postcard. If the card is original and not a reprint, a postcard's original printing date can be deduced from such things as the fashions worn by people in the card, the era in which the cars on the street were made, and other time sensitive clues.
Postcards are collected by historical societies, libraries and genealogical socities because of their importance in research such as how a city looked at a particular time in history as well as social history. Many elementary schools use postcards to teach children geography. Postcard Penpal programs have been established to help children in language arts.
Deltiologists, as postcard collectors are called, collect for a variety of reasons. Some are attracted to the postcards themselves and then narrow down their interests. Others are interested in something in particular, such as Ballet, and then decide to collect Ballet related postcards as a way to augment their interest in Ballet.
Worldwide, deltiology is the third largest hobby after stamp collecting and money collecting. As a result, there are postcard clubs in the US as well as around the world. These clubs, as well as related organizations, host postcard shows on a regular basis.