postcard books

[galfam]

I have several books on collecting postcards  and my fav is an old hand made mimeographed booklet of marks etc to tell who made the postcard, not complete but very helpful. But I am always looking for good research books. What are your favorites and why?

[4166mcdonnell]

Some time ago I picked up "The Postcard Century / 2000 Cards and Their Messages" by Tom Phillips. This 452-page volume shows really interesting cards from each year of the 20th century. It is a fascinating trip along the decades. I have bookmarked some pages as they contain additional information on early French publishers which I am interested in because I have so many of their cards in my stock. I also bookmarked pages identifying years and models of cars as a reference because that is a postcard topic that I collect and sell extensively.

[galfam]

I will try to keep an eye out for it sounds like what I am looking for Does it show front and back of some cards ?-- so many are either too limited or just for pricing reference and if you don't know the maker/artist it is really hard to find how many are in a set etc.  I am looking at buying about 4000 postcards that are well sorted with series or the same card with variations and I could really use a good book or two that cover a wide subject matter, Unfortuntaly I like RPPCs and a few other subjects and there are only a hand full so I will be selling most of the rest. 

[res03hrk]

I have found any great books, but I do use a website called www.metropostcard.com.  It seems to have the most extensive information on postcard collecting, artists, publishers, printing processes etc. It doesn't really address RPPC but is one of the most extensive sites I've found.

I have also started my own Logo Library that I've been using to record and save Information from multiple websites and sources. It includes, the logo, publisher name(if known), and era.  Just started documenting RPPC backstamps which can help identify age of the photo. 

Your old mimographed docs sound interesting, where did you find it?

[njrtsr]

I use http://www.playle.com/realphoto/ and http://www.playle.com/realphoto/back.php as resources for RPPC backs.

I have about 4 or 5 different books on local postcard views in the Cumberland Valley which are an invaluable resource documenting the richness of the area's history. Most importantly, they remind me of just how much rare stuff this is out there, even if much of it never makes it to ebay.

More generally, the "Images of America" series is worth seeking out. That series is very extensive and the books contain great RPPC views. They can be fun to browse through even if you don't collect the topic.

[4166mcdonnell]

For 99% only the fronts are shown. A handful have both. For every card he gives foot notes that identify the publisher.

[4166mcdonnell]

I fully agree with you. I constantly consult the Metro Postcard site and find it an invaluable source of information.

[4166mcdonnell]

Thank you very much for these 2 Playle links. I am hoping they can help me identify some RPPC's that I previously hit a brick wall on. Thanks again.

[galfam]

ITS great to see the answers from you guys  I also use Metro & Playle.  I got the booklet on ebay a few years ago  I might try to scan and see how they come out.  I think she cut out postcards and drew in others and got as many on a page as possible so it may not turn out  to well ---  I will put it on the list of my other projects and let everyone know when I get it done!