Old postcards with attachments rare, valuable

Terry & Kim Kovel

Postcards are among the most popular inexpensive collectibles today, perhaps because they are easy to find. But it takes time and searching to create a special collection.

Postcards are wanted for the postmark, the stamp, the message or the picture on the front; they can be framed and hung or displayed in scrapbooks.

Although an English postcard was mailed as early as 1840, the first U.S. postcard wasn't printed until 1873. The earliest picture postcards mailed in the U.S. probably were cards sold at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

A printed stamp was used on early postal cards by the U.S. Post Office. A rectangular stamp was glued onto a souvenir postage card, bought and mailed by tourists.

The required postage changed 21 times between 1872 and 2000, going from 1 cent to 21 cents. Today it is 35 cents.

Collectors also can date a card from its design. The "divided back" era began in 1907.

Linen cards that had texturized paper for better color printing were popular from 1931 to 1959.

Chrome-era postcards featuring Kodachrome photographs started in 1939.

The craze for collecting postcards began in 1946, and there were clubs, stores and research groups for collectors buying postcards. This postcard features a raised-metal Thanksgiving turkey in a style called a “mechanical.”

One unusual card, featuring the side of an attached metal turkey, seems great for a Thanksgiving message, but the raised turkey would not allow it to go in the mail. It's part of a group of

cards with attached or moving parts known as "mechanicals." It also has a divided back, suggesting a date as early as 1907. The postcard has an old price tag of $20.

Q: I recently bought a green Thanksgiving plate at an auction and I'm curious as to its value.

A colonial couple is pictured on the front, and underneath it says: "Speak for yourself, John." There are four other scenes around the border. The back of the platter has a picture of pilgrims, and underneath it says: "Pilgrim Exiles" and "Colonial Times by Crown Ducal, England."

A: Crown Ducal is a name used on some pieces of porcelain made by A.G. Richardson and Co., Ltd., of Tunstall and Cobridge, England, beginning in 1916.

The Colonial Times series of plates was made in the early 1930s. It includes 12 designs and was made in several colors, including blue, brown, green, mulberry and pink.

Plates were made with scalloped or smooth edges. A square plate with scalloped corners and embossed design also was made. Colonial Times plates sell for $25 to $50.

CURRENT PRICES

Current prices are recorded from antiques shows, flea markets, sales and auctions throughout the United States. Prices vary in different locations because of local economic conditions.

• Candlestick: cut glass, hollow body, intaglio flower, strawberry diamond, ray cut base, rolled rim, 14 inches, $95

• Kazak rug: geometric design, red center, blue border, hand woven, 73 by 114 inches, $545