I had a lovely day out yesterday buying old postcards at the Red Rose Postcard Fair at Barton Village Hall, Preston, Lancashire. I managed to find this lovely postcard of Fallowfield Village, Manchester for my own collection. I also managed to but a handful of postcards for stock so I had a very pleasant 5-hours meeting some lovely people.
The Red Rose Fair has around 15-dealers and for me it’s well worth the 40-minute trip up the motorway. The number of dealers have dwindled over the years but that has created more room and I do feel more comfortable sitting down as I go through dealers stock. I know buying online is very convenient but nothing can come close to having the postcards in your hand. Sifting through the dealers stock at your own pace hoping the next postcard you flip over will be the one your searching for!
While buying postcards for your own collection is very straightforward, especially if you have your collection online. This means I don’t fall into the trap of buying duplicates. There is nothing more annoying than spending £25.00 on a postcard only to get home and realise you already have it!
Buying for other people is much less straightforward so I try and focus on buying postcards that have a loyal following by a number of collectors. Making sure you have a decent profit margin can also be a problem. I saw so many postcards I would have loved to buy but they were priced exactly what I would sell them for. Even if I was to get a small discount I would probably end up out of pocket. So you have to leave these gems behind which is frustrating.
I always look out for postcards that need some research but have real potential. I purchased a lovely postcard of an air crash (see above). No publisher, unposted but someone had written on the back Isle of Grain. Thankfully, you can research the aircraft registration number online on an aviation crash database and it took me 10-minutes to find out the details of this disaster.
The aeroplane was a Bristol F2B which crashed 1st January 1924 due to engine failure. The pilot was a Flight Lieutenant and the passenger a Squadron Leader, both sadly died. Whoever wrote Isle of Grain on the back in pencil was 100% correct. It’s amazing you can find out all this information online in a very short time. This information ads real value to the postcard so can command a higher price.
The other postcards were for collectable areas of the North East, Derbyshire, Surrey and London. I feel fairly confident they will sell in time. Some will sell straight away and the others will find a home one day so I am pleased with my purchases.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Red Rose Postcard Fair then I am sure you will find it well worth the visit. They have around 6-fairs a year and you can Google the dates online. With friendly staff and dealers plus a cafe for refreshments what’s not to like!
