• INTERESTED IN VINTAGE POSTCARDS?

    Join us as a guest at one of our ZOOM meetings. Here’s our schedule of UPCOMING  MEETINGS which are monthly except for the summer.  Or, become a TPC Facebook friend to stay connected!

ABOUT THE TORONTO POSTCARD CLUB


An association of over 250 dedicated deltiologists, we are admirers and collectors of vintage postcards.  While our home base is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada our membership hails from all across Canada, with others from the United States.

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1897 Canada Post Card

Created over 150 years ago in 1869 the postcard was the quick, new way to communicate. Cameras, photography and photo processing were new, expensive  and not yet adapted for use by laypersons.  Long distance telecommunications were not readily available.  Mail service, however, was timely and in many communities occurred twice a day. Postcards cost just a penny and needed a 1¢ stamp for domestic mail, a 2¢ stamp to send internationally. In the “Golden Age” of postcards, globally, beginning about 1902  through World War I, many millions of postcards were collected and exchanged.  In the small Dominion of Canada, circa 1905, tens of millions of postcards were in circulation. With no technology and photography in its infancy, postcards were the ‘social media’ of the times! 

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The Toronto Postcard Club was begun in 1977 when ten postcard-collecting enthusiasts met twice a month in Agincourt (Scarborough).  Since then, the club’s contribution to deltiology in Canada has been significant. In 2022, the Toronto Postcard Club proudly celebrated its 45th year. Beginning in 1982,  the Club has hosted an ANNUAL SHOW and SALE where members and dealers  meet to buy, sell, and trade vintage postcards.

 

some city!jpgWhy do we collect vintage postcards? Because they are fascinating artifacts and pieces of art from 100 years ago. Aspects of postal history, social history, early photography and photographers intrigue the postcard collector. From the postcard ‘Golden Age’ to the modern age, postcards have evolved to reflect changes in print and photography methods, and social practices.

We tend to gravitate to postcards that have a connection to our lives; home towns, occupations, genealogy, places visited.  Other popular topics include local histories of every town, village and hamlet in Canada, military events such as World War I & II, sports and leisure, domestic life, agriculture, automobiles, aircraft, religion, business and industry, disasters, politics, labour, the North, the opening of Canada’s West, and indigenous life. We study the different eras of postcards, the different kinds of postcards, the impacts of international postal regulations, early Canadian photographers and publishers, and more. The message side is often an exquisite example of cursive writing.  Vintage postcards inspire more research to better understand the view or the message on a century old piece of cardboard.

JOIN THE TORONTO POSTCARD CLUB!

It’s not just a Toronto thing! Interacting with other postcard collectors will expand your knowledge.  Become a member or  attend one of our ZOOM meetings. Go to a postcard show to see for yourself why deltiology is such a compelling hobby.

All material on this website is copyright of the Toronto Postcard Club or of the original authors. Reproduction without the express written permission of the copyright holder is prohibited. No endorsement of the content of linked websites is intended.

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