With developers rewriting the history of Baristaville nearly every day, vintage images of our towns become all the more valuable. In fact, a certain antiques writer we know has actually made a study of it, despite the fact she lives in Ohio. Susan Cramer writes in with a tidbit on the resale market in postcards from Baristaville, and -- for our readers -- a contest.
In the high stakes, cut-throat world of vintage postcard collecting, Baristaville looms large as a major player. Well, maybe not, but eBayers do seem fond of views of the Bloomfield Public Library.In an effort to understand the shadowy world of Baristaville memorabilia, antiques and collectibles columnist Susan Cramer conducted a three month, exhaustive and in-depth market place study. (Yes, it was exhaustive even if I never had to actually get out of my chair). The results may shock you:
eBay Sales Results for November, December & January
Bloomfield Postcards- 19 listed, 19 sold Montclair Postcards-30 listed, 7 sold Glen Ridge- 2 listed, 0 sold<.li>
According to our analysis, these figures indicate that folks from Bloomfield have inordinate levels of civic pride, folks from Montclair are just plain cheap, and those from Glen Ridge, completely uninterested. Figures don’t lie, especially when they support market trends. It is interesting to note that the single highest price was achieved for a real photo postcard of 263 Bloomfield Ave. I bid on it, but its hefty $6 price tag was well above my means. I bought instead, a view of Mountain Slope North of Bloomfield Ave circa 1906, and a 1929 view of The Garden Theatre in Back of High School, Montclair NJ. This fabulous prize worth $7 can be yours. Visit my column here and answer the question, Baristanet employees, Suite101 employees, relatives, and Baristanet employees who are relatives may not participate in this contest.
Ok, Susan, we have a question for you. What would have happened to the value of a postcard of, say, 354 Orange Road between Wednesday of last week and today?
I've bought postcards of GR from ebay; one of them shows the house right across the street from me (24 Woodland Ave) circa 1910; another shows Woodland Ave looking W from the present high school at about the same time. I know that the GR Historical Society has obtained many, many of these postcards (including those two) over the last several years in the same way. It's a great resource, but after a while you notice that you're seeing the same few cards over and over again.