Why a Little Care Goes a Long Way

Most of us begin with good intentions: a bundle of postcards from a house clearance, a few seaside views picked up on a rainy week in Whitby, a shoebox of family cards with messages from great-aunts nobody can quite place. Then they sit in the loft, in a cardboard box, in the damp corner of a spare room. Vintage postcards are forgiving in the sense that they rarely crumble overnight, but they fade quietly. A card printed a hundred years ago can lose its colour, develop brown foxing spots and curl at the edges long before you notice anything is wrong. The good news is that a modest outlay and a little discipline will keep a collection in fine fettle for decades.

Sleeves, Albums and the Acid Question

Paper is acidic by nature, and ordinary cardboard, cheap plastic wallets and old-fashioned sticky photo albums all do harm over time. The sticky album is the worst offender: the adhesive yellows, migrates into the card, and can rarely be removed without damage. Use instead:

• Acid-free, lignin-free sleeves made from polyester or polypropylene. Avoid PVC, which gives off plasticiser fumes that attack both paper and ink.
• Rigid acid-free card backs behind fragile cards, cracked corners or chalky surfaces that scuff easily.
• Albums with acid-free pages and a slipcase, or archival boxes with a pH-neutral lining.
• Acid-free tissue for interleaving loose stacks — never cling film, foil or rubber bands.

Choose sleeves a few millimetres larger than the card so you can slide it in and out without touching the corners, and handle by the edges whenever you can.

Beating British Damp

Our climate is a collection's biggest enemy. Postcards want much the same conditions as people: a steady 18–21°C, relative humidity around 45–55%, and no dramatic swings. Lofts bake in summer and freeze in winter; garages breathe in moisture from the ground; cellars can be worse still. If you must use a loft, choose an internal, insulated cupboard rather than the open eaves.

A dry, dark room is ideal. A cupboard away from outside walls, a bedroom wardrobe or a sturdy sideboard will usually serve well. If your home feels damp, a small humidity monitor costing a few pounds will tell you far more than your fingers can. Where readings regularly top 65%, run a dehumidifier or tuck silica gel sachets into each box, replacing them as they saturate.

Keep cards out of direct sunlight and away from radiators, windowsills and hot water tanks. Ultraviolet light fades colour and weakens paper fibres, while heat dries and warps card, causing the ink to crack along creases.

Recording Provenance and Condition

Provenance adds both interest and value, and it takes only minutes to record. Note on the sleeve — in pencil, never pen — where each card was bought, when, and for how much. If it came from an album bearing an owner's name, jot that down too. Postmarks, addresses and the message itself are already part of the story: a card posted from a Kentish village in 1906 says something no catalogue entry can.

• Photograph both sides before sleeving, and file the images under the location or theme.
• Log condition honestly: creases, corner wear, foxing, fading, torn stamps. A notebook or simple spreadsheet is ample.
• Note the publisher and series number printed on the front, as these help identify printings and reissues.
• Keep original album pages or envelopes with the card if they carry a hand-written date or name.

This record protects you if you ever sell, insure or pass the collection to family, and it makes the cards far more rewarding to leaf through.

Handling and Display

Wash and dry your hands before handling, and avoid oily skin contact with the image. Cotton gloves sound reassuring but can make you clumsier; clean dry fingers are usually safer unless a card is badly damaged. Always work on a clean, flat surface, and keep drinks well away.

Displaying postcards is one of the great pleasures of collecting, so do not lock them all away. Rotate cards in frames with acid-free mounts behind UV-filtering glass or acrylic, and hang them out of direct sun. Never use adhesive tape, staples or rubber bands, and never write on the front of a card, even lightly.

Storing Bulk Collections

If your collection runs into the hundreds or thousands, a little system saves a great deal of frustration. Stand cards upright in acid-free boxes, loosely packed, rather than laying heavy stacks on top of one another — pressure marks and surface scratches are surprisingly common. Divide by county, publisher, theme or date, label each box clearly, and keep a simple index of what lives where.

Check the whole collection once a year. Look for new foxing, signs of insects, or any hint of damp in the packaging itself. Catching a problem early is far easier than reversing it, and an hour's annual attention is all most collections ever need.