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HOME & GARDEN An Oakville Beaver Feature · To advertise in this section call 905-845-3824 or Fax 905-337-5568 W lU N K S D A Y . H IV <:h History of the next hot collectible: postcards H ow m any o f us have been on v acation and ran dow n to the hotel lobby, g rabbed a p o stcard , scrib b led eith er "m iss you" or "w ish you were here" on the back and m ailed it to som eone back hom e? W ho w ould think th at this disposable throw aw ay w as such a h o t collectible? The form al nam e for postcard collecting is deltiology. Postcard collecting is the thirdlargest collectible hobby in the w orld, su r passed only by coin and stam p collectin g and in the United States, by baseball card c o lle c t ing. Postcards have been around for a long time. The first copyright for a postcard was issu e d in 1861 to Jo h n P. C h a rlto n o f P hiladelphia. The history of postcards has been broken dow n into seven different eras, due to the changes in regulations and printing. The Pioneer E ra, 1870-1898. In 1873, the U.S. governm ent issued its first postal card. In 1893 at the C hicago W orld's C olum bian Exposition, fu ll-co lo r p o stcard s w ere in tro duced and sold as souvenirs. O ne side was reserved for the address only. P riv ately p rin t ed cards required the tw o-cent letter postage rate, w hile g o v e rn m e n t p rin te d p o sta ls required only one cent. The Private M ailing C ard (P M C ) E ra, 1898-1901. An act o f co n g ress au th o rized private printers to produce th eir ow n p o st cards. M ost o f these w ere so u v en ir or g re e t ing cards. O nly the ad dress w as allo w ed on the stamp side and space w as left aro u n d the image for any m essages. E nhancing their usage, the postage rate w as one cent, the same as governm ent postals. The U ndivided Back E ra, 1901-1907. For the first tim e, p u b lishers w ere allow ed to use the w ords "P ost C ard" on the b ack o f p ri vately printed cards and to d rop the au th o ri zation in sc rip tio n p re v io u sly re q u ire d . W riting, how ever, w as still not perm itted on the address side. P u b lish in g o f printed p o st cards d o u b led a lm o st ev ery six m o n th s. European publishers opened offices in the United States and im ported m illions o f p o st cards. By 1907, E u ro p e a n p u b lis h e rs accounted for o v er 75% o f all p o stcards sold in the U nited States. T he U .S. post office estim ated that for the fiscal y ear ending June 30, 1908, 6 7 7 ,7 7 7 ,7 9 8 p o stca rd s w ere m ailed, m aking co llecting picture postcards the g reatest hobby that the w orld has ever seen. T he D ivid ed B ack E ra, 1907-1915, often referred to as the G olden A ge o f postcard co l lecting. On the back o f the postcard, the address was w ritten on the right side, w hile the left w as reserved fo r m essages. M ost postcards w ere printed in G erm any, w hose p rin tin g m ethods w ere regarded as the best in the w orld. H ow ever, W orld W ar I brought an end to the supply o f postcards from G erm any. E nglish and U .S. publishers tried to take up the slack, but the postcards w ere poor in quality. T hat, along w ith w ar shortages, the invention o f the phone and flu epidem ics, k illed the A m erican p o stcard hobby. T he W hite B order E ra, 1915-1930. To save ink. publishers placed w hite borders around the view o f a postcard, thus giving the era its nam e. Due to higher tariffs, European p u b lishers w ere forced out o f the U .S. m ar ket. H igher com petition in a narrow ing m ar ket fo rced m any U.S. publishers out o f b u si ness. H igher costs and the lack o f ex p eri en ced labor resulted in poor production q u al ity. M ovies w ere quickly becom ing the visu al experience o f the day. R eal photo postcard p u b lish ers began e n jo y in g g reat success. V arious ty p es o f ro ta ry drum n eg a tiv e im printers allow ed for runs o f thousands o f postcards o f an im age. T hese w ound up at roadside attractions. The L inen E ra, 1930-1945, and perhaps as late as the 1960s. T he advent o f new p rin t ing p rocesses allow ed printing on postcards w ith a high rag content, giving the card a textured feel and enabling the use o f bright p rinting dyes. B ecause o f the low cost to p ro duce these cards, they w ere very popular with roadside establishm ents for advertising and d o c u m e n tin g the d e v e lo p m e n t o f the A m erican highw ays. A m ong the best cards o f this era w ere the political hum or cards o f W orld W ar II. T h e P h o to c h ro m e, or C h rom e, E ra, 1939 to the present. U nion O il C om pany launched C hrom e postcards in th eir w estern service stations in 1939. T hey w ere easy to produce, o f high photo quality and they w ere in color. O nly during the w ar w ith supply shortages was th e ir spread slow ed. By 1945, they replaced linen and black & w hite post cards in roadside racks. P ictu re p o stca rd s h av e been issu e d in alm ost every country in the w orld and co l lecting them is truly a universal hobby. Today both old and new postcards are eagerly c o l lected as item s o f n o stalg ia, w orks o f art, exam ples o f social history or ju st fo r plain fun. -- B y Ronda Addy, M ultiA d B uilder Keep colour simple when decorating small spaces (PX) -- Every man's -- and woman's -- home should be his or her castle, but not everyone has a home with castle-like proportions. If your home's scale is on the diminutive side, here are some tips from Waverly to give those small rooms a feeling of spaciousness and charm. Keep the color palette simple. A monochro matic color scheme or one that only uses two dominant colors will visually stretch space. Although the color palette may be monochromat ic, you still can create visual interest by incorpo rating different textures and patterns. Use double-duty furniture to save space. Choose versatile pieces like an overscaled ottoman that provides extra seating but also serves as a coffee table. Upholstered dining chairs can function equally well in a dining room and as extra seating when pulled into a living room. Minimize the need for storage pieces by put ting in built-in storage. Built-ins not only house a tremendous amount, but also can camouflage space-stealing architectural elements, like vertical beams or broken-up walls. Reflective surfaces can "fool the eye" into thinking that a room is bigger than it is. Using mirrors is an old trick that works, and so does put ting glass doors on cabinets and bookshelves. Don't automatically put all of your furniture against the walls to try to make a room look big ger. Creative placement of furniture -- like float ing it in the center of the room -- often makes small spaces look larger. Take advantage of irregularities in the room's proportions for efficient furniture place ment. For example, a bay window makes a lovely spot to nestle a small sofa or chair. An awkward wall niche may be just the place to put a desk and chair or a small table. The end of a room, particu larly if the ceiling slopes downward, can be a cozy nook for a bed. Instead of space-grabbing furniture, utilize space-saving options like shelves. For example, if there's no space for a nightstand, add a long shelf behind the head of the bed or along the adjacent wall. Or, choose furniture that also can provide hidden storage. A skirted round or square plywood table can hide a lot of clutter. If certain rooms, like formal dining rooms, rarely are used, consider temporary furniture. A folding table covered with a colorful table cover, for example, can accommodate a dinner party and then be tucked away so that the room can be used for other purposes. Another dining table option is a table that can expand with leaves. Avoid elaborate, heavy window treatments that may overwhelm a small room. Choose simple window treatments, preferably ones that are installed within the window frame, like Roman blinds or shades, and make sure they let in lots of light to visually expand the room. Use wallpaper creatively to make rooms look larger and also taller. For example, Waverly offers a range of wallpapers with a subtle texture that will expand space visually. Striped wallpa pers make the room look taller, and borders create the illusion of width. Keep the floors understated. Opt for plain carpets like wool sisal or bare wood floors with small accent rugs rather than busy patterned car pets. 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