Lizzie Borden Society Forum

MB, Kat or anyone else that can help.....

I would love to purchase some authentic postcards of Fall River from 1900 or before. I scrolled thru ebay and it has a few listed. How do I know what is legitimate? And do any of you have other ideas on how to start a Fall River postcard collection?

Thanks for any advice!

Some years back I passed my collection of Fall River Post Cards to Stefani. Somewhere around 6 or 7 hundred cards. Scaling down on my collecting activities.

Kat and I exchanged comments on another thread (Fall River and its Environs, The Swansea City Hall) about the relevance of the Hatchet Magazine today. Well, here's an article in the affirmative. One about collecting post cards. I wrote it many years ago. (Feb/March 2007 Volume 4) Hopefully you will find some topical merit or as an elementary introduction to collecting post cards, which like any other field of collecting, can become very expensive and extensive.

https://lizzieandrewborden.com/HatchetO ... hobby.html
Here’s the link, cool!

I asked Stefani about her postcard collection: Apparently, Fall River postcards are ubiquitous due to it being a famous and major industrial city over such a long time. You can find them even in the south. But, they are found at auction sites in lots, or flea markets like Rettingers where dealers would offer collections, or antique stores. She said FR postcards are not as easily found on EBay anymore.
Eventually you will develop an eye for them so they grab yr attention while you are looking for something else. I know she would go antiquing a lot, which is really fun and rewarding because New England is the real deal for antiques.

(We had traveled cross country our whole lives thru to the 1970’s, and Stef has also been to England, Scotland, Canada and Italy, and has always collected postcards)

OK, let's talk postcards.

I once had a book collecting friend. When I first started collecting books he warned me. Don't collect postcards. They are expensive, a dime a dozen, and when it comes time to get rid of them... good luck with that. Of course I ignored him, and as an investment, he was right.

The closest I came to making money on selling them was on a set of chrome lithography postcards of the interior of Fall River Mills. Paid 300 for them and sold them on ebay 10 years later for 300. Probably the most desirable Fall River Postcard. They come in a set of like 12 or 16 cards. Can't remember how many in the set. Here's an example of some: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~ussnei/FRmill09.htm

But collecting postcards is a bit of a trap. Especially Fall River Postcards. There are so many and so many different angles and cards of the same thing. If I was a beginner I would start by collecting only the Chrome Lithography cards. They are the nicest and some of the earliest. Also you must collect them in fine if not pristine condition. Some of the categories are: Historical sites, public buildings, schools, churches, parks, city streets, Fall River Line boats, and Mills. These are the principle fields. But make certain they are in fine condition. no big chips, folded ears, expensive soil or stamping, worn corners, etc.

Lets get started with some examples. Like the Fall River Main Library. Some cards look almost exactly the same but there is a difference in the background, color, year, writing, etc, and just enough change to be desirable to the feverish collector. These cards were from my collection. The last post card is a nice Chrome-Litho

(click image to make BIG)

More:

Here are some others. This is of the old post office customs house in Fall River, where John Morse did business. The last
two cards are Chrome. Excuse the reflection of the slip plastic they are stored in:

And here we are back to public buildings. One of the most famous building in Lizze's Fall River. The old City Hall. Again, please forgive the reflection. The last two cards are chrome. The first card in the group has a little wear around the corners and a slight crease along the bottom, more than I would like to accept. But some times you get tired of waiting or see one that is scarce and jump on it. That is what I did here. Many of the city hall cards are both public building and street scene all in one card:

More:

Finally here is one of my favorite cards. Historical place. Fall River's Rolling Rock. I love the people that pose with the rock in the postcard: The last
4 cards are chrome litho cards:

Like this?

And this? we are making new postcards

Hahahahaha

I grew up around this rock. We use to play beneath it, tucking our little bodies well below the stone while someone hollered, "It's moving, it's moving

I don't have it in hand, but there's a photo of me and my mother when I was less than one, as she stood or posed in front of the rock with me back in 1952. And in the photo, if you look closely, you can still see Indians and their teepees just behind the rock.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZbJtmVOLM&t=61s

Not to be confused with Rolling rock in Andover New Hampshire or Rollingstone Boulder downtown Fitchburg MA.