PFF: Map cards: North Carolina

Postmarked Asheville, NC, dated 6 April 2009.

North Carolina fun facts.
State Capital : Raleigh
State Tree : Long Leaf Pine
State Flower : Dogwood
State Bird : Cardinal
Highest Point : Mount Mitchell; 6,684 feet
Largest City : Charlotte
Area : 48,843 square miles
Statehood : Nov. 21, 1789 (12th state admitted)
State Motto : Esse quam videre (To be rather than to seem)
State Song : "The Old North State"

As an occasional feature for PFF, I thought I'd feature one of the online postcard collectors I've come to meet.  Today it's the turn of The Valdese Blogger to answer the inquisitive questions I've asked.

1. When did you start collecting

I've traveled a lot both as a child & adult.  I'd buy postcards or my parents would, and some would be sent to people, and some never were.  I suppose the ones that never were sent could be considered the accidental start of collecting.  So I started as a child.  (That's a long time ago)

2. What made you start?

Probably because they were cheap and I could afford them.  As I got older, it was just whatever caught my eye, if I happened to be in a place where postcards were sold.   And as I traveled around, it just seem a natural and easy thing to do.

3. Why do you continue with it?

I learn a lot.  It's amazing how many odd facts I know, and how many bits of information I've picked up because of postcards.  Water caltrops is just the latest.  And I love pictures.

4.  Do you have any favourites or specialise in a country or theme?

Short answer - no.  I'm not the type of person you'd find going through a checklist trying to collect every available example of something.  That's an interesting thing to do, and if you did manage to collect something like an example of every Curt Teich Large Letter Linen postcard ever made, you'd really have something.  If you're wired to do something like that, great, but I'm not.  I'm a visual person, which is a fancy way of saying I like pictures.   I like to look at the details, and try to imagine (or perhaps even invent) the events involved in the picture.  I find a lot of cards I hold on to have people in them.  I notice their features, their age, their clothes and any other available detail.  Many cards I have are street scenes - with traffic, buildings, signs & of course people.   Sometimes a card strikes me as unusual & I'll just keep it - an example of that is a Canadian card from the 1930's, showing a Royal Candian Mounted Policeman on a horse, a woman holding the Union Jack on the right, another woman holding an American flag on the left, and a large hotel & mountain in the background.  I have no idea how or why this postcard came into being, or what it's supposed to represent. I also have no idea if it's common or rare, but I find it very interesting. I also like cards, especially early 20th century cards, with messages on back, because it gives so much insight into the way people lived.   So I guess my collecting style in this reguard is more haphazard than disciplined, and when it's all said and done I probably won't have anything of value, but I'll have a bunch of stuff that I like.  I don't really specialize is anything.

Do go over to his blog and say hello from me!  If you would like to answer the same set of questions, just let me know.

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday.