The following article was the very first interview that featured embedded images in the article for the e-zine "PostMark: The Attic".  The questions were those of the e-zine, and are in bold lettering.  The answers and the images, mostly postcards, were my own.
by Larry Myers

I was born on November 22, 1933, at home in the tiny hamlet of Oswegatchie, N.Y., the 3^rd of 6 children. Our family moved to Port Leyden, N.Y. when I was in the 3^rd grade and to Lowville, N.Y., when I was in the 6^th grade. I graduated from Lowville Academy and Central School in 1952, became a Weather Observer for the Air Force from '52 to '56, and went to work for WBRV, the local radio station, as an announcer/engineer from '56 for 15 years. I learned to fly airplanes when I was at 'BRV and flew professionally beginning in '69 when I got my Instructor's Rating, transferring to the commuter, Empire Airlines, in 1979 where I flew the Swearingin Metroliner. In 1986 I became a Rural Carrier for the USPS in Boonville, and retired from the Postal Service in 1998 to devote full time to my business, The Postcard Post.

I became interested in postcards when I was working as announcer for WBRV. Someone sent a request for a song on an early 1900s postcard of my hometown of Boonville, N.Y. I was so fascinated with the picture of Boonville with a dirt road, that I started collecting postcards right then and there.

Up until the time I worked for Empire Airlines, I was a collector only, but postcard prices were getting too high to buy everything I wanted, so I started specializing in airline postcards and shortly thereafter put out a sale sheet of airline postcards I had. That sale sheet was the beginning of "The Postcard Post" which has now become the Premier Rare Airline Postcard Store on the planet.

Definitely a specialist! Although I have about 70,000 old postcards not related to airlines (anyone want to buy them?), I deal strictly in airline and airport postcards of the "pre-subscription era". That "classic era" of airline and airport cards is from about 1918 to roughly the '70's. Airlines proudly stuffed seatbacks with postcards that showed their aircraft. Airports frequently had vendors that sold views of the airport. To me, that was the "classic" or "pre-subscription" era. When that supply started to dry up, publishers satisfied the increasing demand for airline postcards by publishing such cards and making them available on a subscription basis. Any airline postcard collector knows the names of Jon Proctor (Aviation World), Fred Erdman (I.A.W.P.C.), and Mary Jayne Rowe (Mary Jayne's Railroad Specialties). These people have contributed enormously to modern-day postcard collecting, in what I call "the subscription era". While I do carry some "subscription type" airline cards, my primary focus and specialty is the "pre-subscription era". So airline and airport collectors always know where to come.

Probably the increase in prices at a much higher rate than inflation. This makes them a good investment. But one has to invest wisely. A junk postcard is always going to be a junk postcard. I also think that the ultimate source of old postcards has largely shifted from being "everyone's attic" to "the postcard show" where, at most shows, dealers spend an hour or two shopping among themselves before making their cards available to the poor soul who has been waiting out there in line for an hour. A new source, however, has already had an amazing positive influence for postcard collectors, and that is the Internet. Homepages such as mine and the big Internet auction places like eBay and Playle's have opened up an enormous opportunity for the postcard collector to obtain postcards.

The increasing prices cause many of the old-timers to give up because many can't afford to buy the prime categories. Most of us avid collectors are forced to specialize, ie, concentrate our collecting interests on narrower fields. But on the positive side, the Internet is really doing wonders for the collector of anything.

My crystal ball tells me, "we ain't seen nothin' yet!". Five years ago no one had even heard about the Internet. Now, it's a major force in our hobbies and our lives.

Probably helping the hobby. Because more people are forced to concentrate on the categories that are in less demand. And there are always categories one can afford. Ever heard of "freecards" aka "rack cards"?

There's no end in sight for the continued escalation of demand and price on quality postcards.

Postcards are like songs to me. I hear (see) one and it's my favorite until a new one comes along. Some of my favorites are displayed in my article,  Postcard Categories, especially this one by Ellen Clapsaddle.

I don't consider any of my cards as THE most valuable. I suppose if I owned a card with a picture of a member of my family on it, that would be my most valuable card. Or if I had a card with an intensely personal message that meant a lot to me, such as my wife-to-be proposing or something like that, but no such card exists for me.

Having auctioned rare airline postcards for the past 15 to 20 years has left me with not much that surprises me. My first airline postcard to sell for over $100 was a jet card, believe it or not. In the past,  nearly every one of my auctions (which I had every other month) had seen at least one card go for more than $100. But then, I dealt in very RARE airline postcards. The danger in admitting that some cards go that high is that too many dealers, not knowing airline values, will escalate their prices on anything they're not sure of. That is exactly one of the major causes of price inflation on postcards.....dealers' ignorance of true value. You can't fix a price on any one postcard. Sometimes when a given card is sold, that satisfies the entire demand for that card. Another one like it would bring zilch! That's one of the reasons I rarely repeat a card I've had in my auctions.

Collect whatever appeals to you. There are hundreds of thousands of subjects to collect. You'll find many that interest you. Collect what you can afford. But beware! The collecting bug is catching!

Larry Myers and his wife Mary are owners of The Postcard Post, specializing in rare airline postcards. Their postal address is:

The Postcard Post
2539 Millers Woods Road
Boonville NY 13309 - USA

Email Larry Myers

Larry does not have a shop, per se, but buys and sells via mail and the Internet, and sets up at selected airline memorabilia shows.