Deltiology

People collect almost everything. From baseball cards to dusts. Just kidding! Maybe pebbles but not dusts. I collect postcards. This hobby started when I graduated from college. Since I do not have the means to travel I decided to be bold and ask my traveling buddies to send me postcards when they undertake journey to a foreign soil. By 'looking' at postcard(s), it allows me to 'itinerate' from an exotic place to another. It started off as a simple aimless hobby but the more I collect the more I wonder about the origin of postcards...

In the earlier part of  19th century, writing letters enclosed in envelopes were a norm.  By the end of the 19th century the idea of writing on a piece of card without envelope evolved. There were some images printed on the postcard but the size of the image was small in order for messages to be written. Dividing the postcard into two sections for the address (left-side) and message (right-side) came into style. 

Although postcard collecting is treated as a hobby and a means of affordable communication, business-minded publishers decided to fill the postcard with white border in order to save the amount of ink used for images as the business soared. Subsequently, linen style, chrome postcards photography style and real photo postcards became the norm for today's postcards.

If you do not have any hobby why not start collecting postcards? Postcards are ubiquitously available everywhere, cheap, light and pretty, not to mention easy to store.  Additionally, postcards curb boredom -  Indulge in the rich iconic representations on the postcard, travel with the images.  From humour to nostalgia to joy to hate, welcome to the practice of deltiology - the art of collecting postcards.