Old postcards have turned into big business. Collecting them seems to be the third most popular hoarding hobby in the world, after stamps and coins. They are serious affairs, with their own markets, national and international fairs, online shops and exchanges – see their popularity on eBay and other dedicated websites. More importantly, with their own researchers and scholars.
Promoting the International Eucharistic Congress held in Maltain 1913.Before 1985, Maltese postcards had been eagerly collected but hardly studied.
Graham Smeed in London and myself in Malta had, independently of each other, started working on a thorough and scientific inventory of early Maltese cards. When we discovered the overlap, we opted to cooperate rather than compete.
The result was Malta Picture Postcards, 1898-1906, the first ever book dedicated to these humble witnesses of the nation’s journey.
It was an inauspicious beginning, as the book had inadvertently fallen foul of a new law which banned the use of ‘Malta’ and ‘Maltese’ in the title of any publication without the government’s prior permission. Our book was a heinous crime and was instantly confiscated. Thankfully it had been sponsored by the government-controlled Mid-Med Bank, which wangled a behind-the-scenes amnesty.
My criminal record remained spotless.
Since those pioneer beginnings, postcard studies have taken a mighty leap forward, with the splendid volumes more recently published by Anthony Abela Medici.
It is difficult not to think of them as the ultimate word.
This is the final article in a three-part series. See part one here, and two here.
Announcing the win of an international band club competition, 1912.
Used as promotion for a retail business in Sliema, 1930s.
Recording historic events – the grant of the first self-government Constitution in 1921.
Overprinted to serve as a price list for cigarettes, 1910s. Right: Recording the participation of Maltese Boy Scouts in an international scouting event, 1968.
A postcard used to exchange armed forces humour in Malta, 1920s. All cards from the author’s collection
Turned into a New Year’s greeting card.