I’ve long loved Victorian postcards, especially those from Halloween, Easter and Christmas.

I’ll never forget how excited I was going through the postcards my Mom had picked up at a garage sale. They were stored in one of those gold plastic hospital wash basins, and they told stories of people visiting far-flung places or sending loved ones touching greetings. I was 10 at most, and I enjoyed reading the handwritten notes on the back of the postcards as much as admiring the photos or illustrations on the front.

That wash basin was the start of my first real collection, one I have expanded on in the decades since. Mom and Dad often went to auctions, antique stores and junk shops, so they liked that I had something to look for and buy with my allowance. Even today, all but the rarest postcards are fairly cheap.

Victorian holiday postcards, especially for Christmas, Easter and Halloween, have always been among my favorites. I also liked postcards from where I grew up and other places where I have lived:

Linen postcard with Our Lady of Consolation statue from my hometown of Carey, Ohio.

Relatives and friends have helped me add to my postcard collection through the years. My oldest sibling, Carol, goes way out of her way to try and make sure I have postcards from every country she visits on vacation, and she has also picked up vintage postcards for me. This historic postcard was in a shoe box with cards Carol bought at a garage sale:

Jack Dempsey Knocks Out Jess Willard: Postcard commemorating the “Champion of the World” fight held in Toledo on July 4, 1919.

Antique or vintage postcards are favored souvenirs when I travel. Poking through dusty antique shops and markets beats souvenir shops any day, although I do buy and send my share of new postcards. I’ve found fantastic old postcards at postage stamp markets in Madrid and Paris, including this one:

I picked up this Eiffel Tower postcard at a postage stamp market in Paris.

At first I felt guilty about reading people’s notes on postcards, but I quickly got over that. Nosiness prevailed because postcards contain real stories in a very appealing package.