By Jim Linderman — Collecting anything is fun—somehow any group of objects always equals more than the sum of its parts. Personally, I prefer groups of three. That’s enough to show differences and similarities at the same time. But there is another reason to collect, and to collect specifically in a narrow category: Your efforts could wind up in a museum. An exhibition called “Take Me to the Water: Photographs of River Baptisms,” which was curated by Erin Barnett, assistant curator of collections at the...

The Bromance, Found in Vintage Photography

By Lisa Hix — Blogger Maria Popova, who runs the wonderfully eclectic Brain Pickings site, unearthed this gem of a book, "Dear Friends: American Photographs of Men Together, 1840-1918," by David Deitcher. These photos prove that the phenomenon of the "bromance" existed—well before Brad Pitt and George Clooney, Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey, or Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. To me, one of the more heartbreaking aspects of American culture has always been the way ideas about "tough guy"...

Walker Evans, Preeminent Photographer and Passionate Postcard Collector

By Dave Margulius — In 1994, I had the great pleasure of acquiring the complete archive of Walker Evans for the Metropolitan Museum. The archive is quite vast, including 30,000 black-and-white negatives and about 10,000 color transparencies. It includes collections of his business and personal correspondence, both letters he sent as well as those he received. It also includes his library and his collections. He had works of art by other artists, and a lot of vernacular material, including metal and wood...

When Postcards Were the Social Network

By Maribeth Keane — I worked for 35 years as a reference librarian with the Madison Public Library and I just got interested in Madison’s history through my reference work. My husband and I collect antiques of various sorts, and as we would go to antique stores or antique shows in malls, I began looking through boxes of old postcards. I just started buying Madison postcards to learn about Madison history. I’m not a Madison native. I didn’t move to Madison until 1964, but I say I’ve adopted Madison as my...

Attending the Theatre, Via Postcards

By Marty Weil — Andreas Praefcke (Ravensburg, Germany) collects postcards of old and new theatre buildings worldwide. His complete collection can be seen on his website Carthalia. I spoke to him recently about how he got interested in this unique and interesting postcard collecting theme, how he finds cards, and what some of his favorites are. : How did you become interested in collecting postcards featuring Theater buildings? : Probably my greatest passion is going to the opera wherever and...