DeltiologyOctober 10th, 2006 @ 7:01 am
My BBF HollowSquirrel went to Amsterdam last month. She took a break from (legally) smoking pot and enjoying the (legal) sex trade that is Amsterdam to mail me a postcard. (You know she wasn’t doing any of those things, right?)
My dear Mrs. Squirrel has no idea how excited that postcard made me.
You see, I’ve been an avid deltiologist since I was a little girl. (That’s just a big word for “Postcard Collector”, or “Nerd”.)
The postcard from Mrs. Squirrel has been hanging on the (totally awful) mirror in our front room since it came in the mail. It has yet to make it’s way into one of my grand, and official, Postcard Albums.
Yes, that’s albums, plural.
For some unknown reason, all of my pre-pregancy clothes are in the storage unit. But the Postcard albums, yeah there sitting on our book shelf. See the one in the back of the picture? Yeah, it has my name imprinted on it. In gold.
Do you want to see some of my favorite postcards from my collection? Good, cause you’re gonna. LOOK, damn it.
When I was about 15 my family took a road trip to LA. You would have thought that we were going to the Moon. It was all very exciting and by far the absolute coolest thing I had ever done. I saved up my money to buy postcards. I used some of that money to buy this postcard.
It’s a wax figure of Yul Brenner, the star of The King and I. Talk about foreshadowing for my own life.
My Mom works at a hospital. And lo and behold, I have a postcard from there. How exciting is this one? You can mail it out while you’re a patient. Write something on it like “wish you were here.” Or rather “I wish I WASN’T here. I mean look at this place. There are NO trees.”
My Dad went to Pittsburg for a conference one year. He was gone for a week and came back with a pile of postcards for my collection. Postcards like this one from the college the confererce was held. I’m thinking this school was voted in the top ten Official Party Schools. Maybe even the top five. (And what’s with the students all being in their 50’s? What kind of a college is this?)
Ahhhh Mesquite, Nevada. Known equally for it’s buffets, plastic ferns and excessive use of those hanging Christmas lights that look like icicles. Tragically hip.
Beaver, Utah. And like I told the lovely Jess Riley, I had a bumper sticker on my car in high school that said; “take a ride on the wide side. Visit Beaver, Utah”. (Marci, you sent this postcard to me. Wait, you didn’t actually send it to me. You just handed it to me. But you did write on it first.)
I’m thinking this is one of those free postcards you get when you stay at a hotel. I’m pretty sure it’s for the Holiday Inn. But I could be wrong. This may or may not be an actual hotel I stayed in. I’m betting I didn’t. One of my uncles probably got it for me on a business trip.
One of my uncles is a pilot. You would think that I would have requested he pick me up postcards from all over the world. But I didn’t. I was afraid he would charge me for them (he wouldn’t have) and I didn’t have that kind of money. I also didn’t have any foreign currency. It was my precious. I mean, what 8th grader had a postcard from the freakin’ United Arab Emirates?
When showing off my collection to The King I noticed what I thought was the exact same picture used on two different postcards. I was in fact wrong. Apparently Grand Junction, Wyomig and Hurricane, Utah look almost indistinguishable from each other.
While they do look almost identical, they both look very appealing. Who wouldn’t want to visit either place? Party towns? I think so.
Ha, ha. It’s Salt Lake City. At night. Get it? Ha, ha.
Oh my goodness, it’s Yellowstone at night. Who writes this stuff? It’s hi-lar-ious.
Another one of my uncles was in the military for a while and was stationed in Greece. He sent this postcard to my older brother. To be completely honest I didn’t know I had this postcard in my collection. Last I saw it, it was hidden in my brother top dresser drawer. FOR YEARS. I would see it, and it would creep me out. (I edited it for today’s post. But you see what it is, right?) It wasn’t until I was reconnected with it that I actually read what it said on the back:
My uncle typed out his message (but didn’t acutally mail it?). And tried to be clever talking about the “fine beaches and soft curves” along the Greek beaches. Ewww. My uncle was also trying to be all cool by suggesting my brother hang it up in his locker at school in an attempt to be popular. Uncle Tony, I hate to tell you that hanging a “pron postcard” (as he called it) in your locker will get you kicked out of school.
Also funny is that fact that my brother is gay. I’m not really sure why he would have saved this postcard in the first place.
These postcards are just the tip of the ice burg. I have pages and pages. All equally as awesome.
I try to convince myself that my postcard collection isn’t as dorky as I know it is. And although it is dorky, it was a fun diversion from regular life as a kid.
So tell me, what did/do you collect?
I rock · Back in the day
Carrisa
said,
October 10, 2006 at 3:52 pm
I’m lame. I collected nothing that I can recall. I did have a sticker book once but apparantly wasn’t all that into it. Nowadays I collect martini glasses. Good lord we have an entire cabinet filled with them. All kinds. Yes. We are lushes.
Audrey
said,
October 10, 2006 at 4:31 pm
Two things:
1. Grand Junction, Colorado. NOT Wyoming. There is nothing that pretty in Wyoming. There is no good reason to go to Wyoming. Nobody goes there on purpose. Colorado, on the other hand, is beautiful and everyone should visit. (Can you tell that we Coloradoans — especially those of us from a town near the Wyoming border — don’t like Wyoming?)
2. I definitely ate at that very buffet in Mesquite, Nevada. We stayed at that hotel when we were coming home from our road trip to L.A. I don’t remember how the food was, but I do remember the bed in our room being very, very uncomfortable.
Cassie
said,
October 10, 2006 at 4:32 pm
We collect shot glasses from every place we’ve been, which isn’t really too many places (I think we have, like, 4 in our collection). Your postcard collection is WAY cooler.
CPA Mom
said,
October 10, 2006 at 4:33 pm
Postcards and stamps. We can be lame together.
Mk
said,
October 10, 2006 at 4:39 pm
I have never met anyone that collects postcards and now I have this huge desire to send you postcards! Is there anything in particular that you look for in your collection? Are the quirkey ones your favorite?
I have collected odd ball things over their years but nothing has stuck. The shot glasses were packed up and stopped years a go and so was the barbie collection. The only thing I still have up and enjoy collecting is chruch birdhouses. Not regular bird houses, but ones that look like churches. I don;t know why- I am just drawn to them!
dee
said,
October 10, 2006 at 5:06 pm
I have a collection of keychains from everywhere that I have ever visited. I’m not sure when exactly I started collecting them, but I have some that I remember getting from friends back in elementary school. It is funny how a keychain can hold such memories.
Rachel
said,
October 10, 2006 at 5:50 pm
I collect stuffed animals. How lame is that, I mean, EVERYONE collected those.
Jennifer
said,
October 10, 2006 at 5:51 pm
I used to collect stamps when I was a kid, which is WAY dorkier than postcards. I even had the special tongs to pick them up, so I wouldn’t have to touch them. Like my stamps were sooooo valuable and precious! Most of them were used that I took off our family’s mail.
I keep postcards, but only if I like the picture on it AND the person who sent it to me… so I don’t keep many
I love sending postcards though. Every time I go on a trip for work to someplace random, I send postcards to my family and my boyfriend. I think it’s funny to get postcards from Philadelphia and Atlanta. Hopefully they think it’s funny too.
Jana
said,
October 10, 2006 at 5:58 pm
When I was a child, I collected stickers. I had albums of them. Cute stickers, smelly stickers, fuzzy stickers, stickers off socks, stickers off fruit….you name it. If it was a sticker, I kept it.
jessica
said,
October 10, 2006 at 6:17 pm
I
collectedstill collect pigs. Not live ones, but little figurines. I don’t know how it started, but whenever I went away I would buy one for myself and one for my BFF, and she would do the same. So we have pigs from around the world. We are weird.Jill
said,
October 10, 2006 at 6:28 pm
Hey! Remember me from high school and the old store we used to work at? My sister told me she had come across this a couple of weeks ago! You are still just as funny as I remember. I’m glad you have a great hubby and a sweet little boy!
Liz
said,
October 10, 2006 at 6:53 pm
I used to collect currency. Not US currency. (duh) But money from anywhere other than here. I have no idea why. I still have them but I don’t collect them anymore. I’m gonna start collecting postcards. That seems much cooler. Justin’s mom collects magnets. I’m rambling now so I’ll stop. HI!!
Tamara
said,
October 10, 2006 at 6:56 pm
I used to collect Hallmark ornaments. That is FAR less interesting than postcards! I guess I was a weird little kid.
janet
said,
October 10, 2006 at 7:10 pm
Mental note: Must send Isabel postcard from Mexico.
Ummm I hope this doesn’t sound too stalkerish, but can I have your address?
In the past, I have collected frogs, Kurt Cobain posters (don’t ask), and pink Mardi Gras beads. But pink only. All my collections pale in comparison to your postcards though!
anna
said,
October 10, 2006 at 8:10 pm
I collect the Dr. Seuss Hallmark Christmas ornaments. It’s kind of cheesy, but I think they are fun. We (the kids and I) have also been collecting the state quarters as they are released. They think it’s pretty cool when we find a new one. Did the King and Babboo enjoy their day home together?
alyndabear
said,
October 10, 2006 at 11:18 pm
Oh gosh, they are CLASSIC! I love the pron postcard. Hahaha. And Salt Lake at night! And Visit Beaver! Okay, I’m so immature.
*cough*
I sent my parents a pron postcard when *I* was in Amsterdam. As a joke, you see. I never did see it when I got back…
I’m not a collector, but I help other people collect. My grandma collects all things smiley-faced (her house is very yellow), my brother collects Jack Daniels stuff (how appropriate that he works at a bar), my dad collects Mustang stuff, and my mum collects both frogs and shot glasses AND Route 66 stuff. Phew.
No time to collect things myself. Except those old McDonalds Neopets Plushies, because I’m a dork like that. *hides*
Suzanne
said,
October 11, 2006 at 1:29 am
That was fun! Your collection is awesome!!
I’ve never really been a collector. I guess now I would say that I collect recipes! Woo hoo - how fun is that!!!
Lindsey
said,
October 11, 2006 at 1:49 am
When I was little I had tons of collections because I thought collecting things was SO COOL! And it is! I love your postcard collection!! I used to (ok, let’s face it, i still do) love all things sparkly. So much so that I used to save shiny candy wrappers, etc… Sad, I know.
LaLa
said,
October 11, 2006 at 8:31 am
Email me your address and I would be delighted to add to your collection!
As for my collections… erm… pencil shavings (No. I do not know why either) stamps and Australian Rugby League Footy Cards…
Now I collect makeup, skincare and jewellery, my tastes have defined themselves somewhat!
Fab post!
Erika
said,
October 11, 2006 at 10:57 am
Okay…the hospital is frightening. It looks like an airport. Or a prison.
Did you know there is a Climax, PA and an Intercourse, PA? And if memory serves they are close to each other and I think my mom sent me a postcard that had some clever saying about the two? ANYWAY…
Mrs. CPA
said,
October 11, 2006 at 6:25 pm
My husband’s father is a pilot for FedEx. He went to united Arab Emirates and drank a Pepsi, and then brought the empty can back to TP. We have carted that damn thing from every apartment and house and dorm room we ever lived in. And I hate it. I woudl have much rather had a postcard.
Lisa B
said,
October 11, 2006 at 11:04 pm
Hey do you want MORE postcards? Cause we’ve got tons from all over the place in Mo.
Didn’t collect anything. Oh, migraine meds that didn’t work. Does that count? heehee.
Durga
said,
October 12, 2006 at 1:51 am
The postcard from the uncle….the back spots looked like mosquitos invading the bum…ewwwwwww
Anyways…i love postcards too!! But I don’t collect them as such
Well, lets do this.. You send me a postcard from Seattle and I’ll send you one from Sydney!
deal or no deal?!
Katie
said,
October 12, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Hey Isabel! I’m moving to Japan in a few months…do you have any postcards from there?? I’d love to mail you some for your collection. Email me a safe address for you (PO Box or work or something - I’m not a stalker, promise…but just to keep it on the up-and-up no home addys necessary unless you want to).
I can relate to the postcard thing. I have some from our many military moves across country and even a few antiques from different flea malls. Neat.
Holla at me sometime. We leave for Japan in March…but I should still be blogging then. My email is: katiesuzanne66@hotmail.com.
Bye!
HollowSquirrel
said,
October 12, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Totally awesome post, my dear. I heart postcards, too. I sent you one from Hawaii, so I expect it to be posted on your mirror next to the Amsterdam one!!
Your edited postcard of the fine beaches & curves from Greece was perhaps even more disturbing than the original… I was like “what did your brother DO to that postcard?!?!” But then I realized what had happened. Heeelarious.
Courtney
said,
October 13, 2006 at 1:29 am
I don’t collect anything… except for cat hair on the floor in my bathroom.
BUT.
You are so cute with the wikipedia link to Foreshadowing. hee hee!
Bethiclaus
said,
October 13, 2006 at 1:36 pm
Okay, so this is actually kind of funny. I collect shot glasses. Except I don’t really drink. Almost ever. So my collection is like, the opposite. I hope it makes me look cool, in spite of the fact that I’m not.
Julie
said,
October 15, 2006 at 8:28 pm
I think that’s an awesome collection!
song
said,
October 18, 2006 at 8:15 am
I collect postcards, but i just house them in shoeboxes, not in spiffy postcard albums.
gotta get me one of those now.
Hollow Squirrel » Obscene
said,
March 22, 2007 at 9:05 pm
[…] Should I be oh-fended that Mr. Squirrel’s aunt, who we stayed with in Amsterdam, gave me this postcard during our visit? She also gave me several others from her impressive collection of free weird postcards, but still. Can I even send that? Too bad I don’t know anyone who collects postcards… […]
» Third times a charm
said,
May 22, 2007 at 3:51 pm
[…] So tell me, am I the only person above the age of 8 that still collects charms (and postcards)? […]
hola, isabel » Blog Archive » I probably should have more abandonment issues
said,
August 14, 2007 at 5:22 pm
[…] Of course they were nice enough to send me some postcards of their trip. And they brought me home a few t-shirts. They also allowed me to feed their horses and chickens while they were gone. […]