GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — They’re not always easy to find, but their accuracy is spot on – and thousands are preserving over a century of Tri-Cities history thanks to a small Ottawa County group.
Postcards are the “best darn record” available, said Wally Ewing, a Grand Haven-based author and historian.
“You can get books, but it's so wonderful to see the scene, to the see the people, the buildings, the streets,” Ewing said. “You see how people lived, and it really reveals a lot.”
Ewing, who was born and raised on the lakeshore, started collecting Grand Haven-area postcards after he retired as an English teacher. He’s amassed between 1,500-2,000.
“I think of those postcards as yesterday's email,” he said. “They were usually very brief messages. Often it was just a way of sending a message. They didn't talk much about what was seen out front, but you learned a little about someone.”
COLLECTOR’S GROUP OF THREE
Through Ewing’s work at the Tri-Cities Historical Museum, he connected with collectors Jim “Coop” Cooper and Jack Rosema. The trio all share a fascination with history.
“I started 30 years ago; as far as how many I have, not a clue,” Cooper said. “It's your history, and even novice people that will look at your cards and say 'Oh, I remember that.’”
Every so often, they get together to share stories and recent card discoveries.
“There's a little competition, but not really," Cooper said. "We help each other out. We give each other cards sometimes or tell them where they're at, but it's just fun getting together."
Together, the three collectors have over 3,000 cards in binders, organized by locations and landmarks. They still seek out Grand Haven-area cards all over the country.
“[We find them at] postcard shows…estate sales, garage sales, stuff like that,” Rosema. “And through the other guys, we work together.”
Sites like eBay make finding rare cards easier, Ewing said.
"I used to go to malls, traveling east and west, now I also go to eBay," he said. "I've bought cards from sellers in England, Australia and other countries you would never see if you're just visiting malls."
NOT GOING ANYWHERE
There are still a lot of collectors in Ottawa County, said Doug Bies, a vendor at the West Michigan Antique Mall in Grand Haven Township.
"It's quite competitive," Bies said. "If there happens to be other postcard collectors at an auction, it will go back and forth. Price doesn't seem to be option to a collector."
People who don't collect are still interested in postcards, said Steven Vandenberg, a vendor at the Wooden Shoe Antique Mall in Holland.
"A lot of hobbies are dying like stamp collecting," Vandenberg said. "But postcards: what they're looking for changes, but the interest in the cards in general never seems to go away."
Some postcards are rarer than others, but they're all important, Ewing said.
"These are historical records of how people dressed, what the buildings looked like, how people lived," he said. "Without that, we would lose a very important part of our history."
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