Campaign Postcards

Forum on Collecting Political Campaign Postcards at the 2012 Columbus National Convention

Collecting presidential campaign postcards was the theme of a forum presented at the recent APIC National in Columbus, Ohio. Hal Ottaway, Leon Rowe and Gary Faber joined forces to share their experiences over the years as well as their collections. Each had prepared large display boards showing interesting examples, while a helpful sheet about dating the various postcard styles, stampboxes and postage amounts was handed out (available on this website). Storage suggestions were made for beginning as well as advanced collectors, and terms used in the postcard world were explained. Various series and sets were shown, rarity was discussed and jugate designs shown, which are even more scarce on postcards than comparable celluloid pinbacks. Featured were the wonderful graphics, printing, embossing and creative designs found on campaign postcards, which make them true standouts of our collections.

The book, Political Postcards, published in 1984 by Bernard Greenhouse and the 1988 Tom French auction catalog of the Morris Shenk Family postcard collection were also acknowledged. Happily we are seeing more presidential postcards appear in Anderson, Hake and various online auctions, which recognize their importance in the political collecting hobby now, more than ever before.